Sleep With Me: How Much Do You Really Need?

Photo Credit: Chrisbeatcancer.com

'“Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise”

Benjamin Franklin was right. You need sleep. Sleep is when your body detoxifies and heals itself.

We've all heard that most people need 6-8 hours of sleep per night, but you may need much more, like 9-10. If you’re getting less than 7 hours, you may be sleep deprived. Not getting enough sleep night after night leads to a “sleep deficit” that keeps growing. And with that sleep deficit comes a gradual degradation of your health. Studies have shown that sleep deprivation can lead to weight gain, a weak immune system, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.

I know a few night owls who always seem to be sick with something. They catch everything that goes around. Sound familiar?'

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Can Earthing Reduce Snoring?

'It’s called “earthing.” What once was perhaps the most natural state of human existence, being “earthed” or “grounded” has become quite rare in our era of rubber soled shoes and insulated living. Simply put, earthing is making sure your body is electrically grounded to the earth. Among it’s many benefits, it turns out that earthing can actually help reduce snoring!


When I first read through my copy of Earthing: The Most Important Health Discovery Ever?, I got hung up on all the sleep benefits of earthing. As a mother who has had a steady 8+ years of regularly interrupted sleep (I’ve been pregnant or nursing this whole time), it’s not hard to imagine why I found all the sleep benefits so appealing. Anything that can improve the quality of the sleep I do get is paramount.


So when my mom suggested that my dad’s snoring is greatly reduced when he sleeps on his earthing sheet, I said “Really? Are you sure? Why is that?”'






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If You Live Alone, You Have a Higher Risk of Heart Disease and Death

'Loneliness has been linked with poor sleep quality, a depressed immune system and even alzheimer's, but now an international study also showed that living alone was associated with an increased risk of overall mortality and cardiovascular death according to a report published Online First by Archives of Internal Medicine.'




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Living together: Return of the extended family

'It used to be axiomatic - that we'd leave home as young as possible and get as far away as possible from our parents.

It was the affluent culture we nurtured in Britain that has done much to dismantle the notion of the extended family. But this has had unforeseen consequences, not least in creating the "Sandwich Generation", those of us caught between the demands of aged parents and young children.

As a result, many are now returning to the idea of the extended family - or multi-generational living, where extended families of three, or even four, generations live together. It's increasingly a solution for those juggling work, children, elderly parents and financial constraints.'

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Make your own Buckwheat Pillow

Organic Buckwheat hulls for $3.00 a pound HERE

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Light at Night Creates Changes in Brain Related to Depression

'Exposure to even a dim night-time light may cause physical changes in the brain linked to depression, according to an Ohio State University hamster study.


The research shows that female Siberian hamsters who were exposed nightly to dim light for eight weeks experienced considerable physical changes in the hippocampus.  This is the first study to definitively show that light at night, by itself, may be linked to changes in the hippocampus.'


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Why You Need to Sleep Late To Restore Your Brain Power

'Evidence demonstrates that sleeping in on the weekend is a smart idea after a tough week at work (or anywhere else). I’ve been known to sleep late myself on occasion, but always with a twinge of guilt, since we’re told that it’s better to go to sleep and get up at the same time every day. But juggling my job, kids, household tasks and other requirements all week sometimes leaves me weary and sleep-deprived by Friday afternoon -- and I bet you know exactly how I feel. 

Americans have a sleep debt that makes the national budget deficit look minor, warns Matthew Edlund, MD, MOH, an expert on rest, biological clocks, performance and sleep based in Sarasota, Florida, and author of the new book, The Power of Rest. Sleep is as important to health as food and water, and we should stop feeling guilty for allotting time for our bodies to rest, recharge and regenerate, he said.'

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Counting Sheep to Reverse the Clock: How Getting Enough Sleep Slows Aging

by Karen-Aune

'Getting adequate sleep each night is one of the cornerstones of maintaining optimal health. Most experts agree that getting 6-8 hours of restful, rejuvenating sleep each night is essential to maintaining optimal focus, concentration, mood and energy levels. Adequate rest also plays a crucial role in keeping immune function at its peak, which is an especially important consideration during cold and flu season.

Getting enough sleep also has many other benefits that many people don’t know about, the most compelling of which is its ability to slow the aging process.'

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Sleep Better Now: 3 Ways Your Heart Can Help...

'One of the things to remember and have compassion for during this Sleep Challenge is the challenge of insomnia. It can be just plain harder to sleep these days even when we try. People's stress levels are on the increase and that also means stress hormones are changing our sleep patterns.

Graph from Institute of HeartMath

'We are overloaded with too much to do, or over-stimulated with too much we'd like to do. Either way, the result is the same. If we don't get enough sleep, it builds up until we're exhausted, mentally foggy, irritable and running on empty emotionally.'

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