Sleep

New Study Shows What Disrupted Sleep Does To Your Mental Health

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sleepAlanna Ketler – We all know just how important it is to have a good nights rest, unfortunately for many of us, this is a fleeting dream. New research has emerged showing just how impactful a disrupted body clock and natural circadian rhythm can be for our mental health.

Researchers from the U.K. came to this conclusion after studying the circadian rhythm, which is our natural waking and sleeping patterns throughout the 24-hour sleep cycle.

Lead author of the study, Laura Lyall, a research associate in mental health and well-being at Glasgow University said in a statement, “In the largest such study ever conducted, we found a robust association between disruption of circadian rhythms and mood disorders.

“Previous studies have identified associations between disrupted circadian rhythms and poor mental health, but these were only small samples.”

The Study

Scientists from the University of Glasgow studied data collected on over 90,000 adults between the ages of 37 and 73 years old in the U.K., between 2006 and 2010. Each participant in the study wore an activity tracker on their wrist for 7 days between 2013 and 2015. Continue reading →

The Science Behind Power Naps & Why They’re So Good For You

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sleepArjun Walia – We recently came across a great article about sleeping at Healthy Holistic Living (HHL), and wanted to archive it on our website alongside a few that we’ve already posted on this subject. Sleep is still somewhat of an enigma in the scientific world – from the correct way to sleep to why we need it, the study of sleep still has a long way to go before we fully understand its intricacies.

As HHL points out, approximately 85% of all mammalian species sleep more than once a day, and scientists are not completely clear if humans are naturally monophasic as opposed to polyphasic. Has modern society conditioned us to be so, just as it has influenced so many other aspects of our health?

If we examine the topic from a historical perspective, the work of historian Roger Ekirch of Virginia Tech is a good start. In 2001 he published a paper that included over 15 years of research. It cited an overwhelming amount of historical evidence which reveals that humans used to in fact sleep in two separate blocks of time. You can read more about that (and access the paper) here.

Regardless of our historical sleep habits, however, it’s quite clear that many human beings suffer from a lack of sleep for various reasons, one of which very well may be that we don’t take time out during the day to have a nap. Continue reading →

Can’t Sleep? Shuffle Cards And/Or Fold Towels

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“Conventional treatments like over-the-counter sleeping pills and prescription drugs contain many risks. One study found taking as little as 18 such pills every year could even increase your risk of premature death.” E Renter

FoldTowelsInsomnia isn’t just a bad night’s sleep; it’s a sleep disorder, where sufferers may go days or weeks without a full night of rest. There are numerous prescription and over-the-counter solutions for insomniacs, but they all come with a lengthy list of side effects. Rather than trying the latest pill, you could try one of the many herbal insomnia remedies, or a phenomenon gaining traction online known as autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR).

ASMR is “designed to evoke a tingling sensation that travels over the scalp or other parts of the body in response to auditory, olfactory, or visual forms of stimulation,” as described by The New York Times. It’s the sights and sounds that can lull you into relaxation and ultimately into a sound sleep.

Fingernails tapping a hard surface, the sound of turning pages, a whispering voice, or someone repeating tasks like shuffling cards or folding towels—all of these (and more) are examples of the stimuli used in ASMR and can easily be found on YouTube. Continue reading →

Where Are We When We’re Not Here?

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“To say we are continually held in place by our physical body is like saying a rain cloud will never surrender a drop of water. Sooner or later thoughts will wander and stray and raindrops will fall in a staccato rhythm consistent with the mood and energy of the moment.” J Wash

Dreamtime
Image Source: http://nhne-pulse.org/dream-the-greatest-movie-ever-made/colorful-drawing-of-woman-dreaming/

Dear Humans, Today I would like to return to your awareness an aspect of the Human condition that ventures past the confines of the physical realm and into the vast and infinite beyond. It’s our nature to migrate away from our bodies although we never really think of it that way. It’s not difficult to see that we’re not entirely in one place all of the time. Our thoughts are often elsewhere, transitory and elusive, and virtually immune to the entanglements of time and space. We are free to go anywhere— to visit the past and present and even walk future paths replete with its uncertainties.

So how much of you are with us at this moment? If you were to hazard a guess what percentage might you come up with? For my part, I feel no more than eighty to ninety percent “here” as I write this article. My ten to twenty has wandered off again, much to the displeasure of my editor who has reminded me I’m up against a deadline. My thoughts typically stray to faraway places and familiar faces. And where my thoughts go— I go.

In the following paragraphs we will use our nets of wonder to try and capture that fleeting butterfly bouncing freely out before us. It’s my supposition that we are mostly where our “thoughts” take us. Here we find that distance is relative. Two people can be a thousand miles apart and still feel closely connected. Likewise, many of us know the feeling of being near someone yet feeling as though they are a million miles away. It’s not enough to be physically close when the butterfly has left the garden.

Welcome to Dream Land

Continue reading →

Better Sleep Is Easier Than You Think

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“. . . magnesium and potassium rich foods found in dark leafy greens, bananas, nuts, seeds, citrus or tomatoes, for example, aid in relaxation and circulation.”  T Lynn

Studies done in the area of sleep and diet have uncovered that consumption of certain foods can dramatically improve sleep.  While many turn to melatonin pills they don’t work the same way in the body as melatonin found in food or the natural hormone produced in the body that regulates the sleep-wake cycle.

Kiwi and cherries show promise

KiwiCherryResearch in Taiwan at the Taipei Medical University studied the correlation between sleep and kiwi fruit.  The 4 week study showed both the quality and quantity of sleep was improved dramatically if 2 kiwis were eaten 1 hour before bed. (1)

Research from Louisiana State University studied older adults with insomnia and the correlation of sleep to cherry juice.  They found that drinking 8 ounces of Montmorency tart cherry juice twice a day resulted in an average of 84 more minutes of sleep each night in that population. (2)  Research from the University of Pennsylvania, University of Rochester and the VA Center of Canadaigua came to the same conclusions. (3)

Fruits constituents may be to thank for better snoozing Continue reading →