Memory Foam

Say NO to feeling tired and irritable!  If you are regularly experiencing sleepless nights it is time to take action.  Try these easy steps to help fall asleep and call me in the morning to let me know how your sleep was!

1. Choose Your Beverages Carefully - A warm drink at night is a soothing choice.  We need to ensure our warm beverages do not contain stimulants that will make it harder to go to sleep.  Try tea or warm milk.
2. Make a List, Check It Twice - Having a notepad and pen close to your bed is a great alternative to worrying about the concerns of the day or the next day when you lay your head to rest.  By placing them on paper, visualize emptying your mind so eventually there is nothing left to worry about except falling asleep.
3. Slow Down the Body - You cannot expect to put on the emergency brake at the end of a busy day and have your body fall to sleep the minute you lay your head down.  Take time to unwind - perhaps by reading a book or listening to music with our pillow designed for a comfortable night’s sleep.

We are working together to ensure a better night’s sleep and quality of life in your waking hours.

We are all eagerly anticipating Thanksgiving.  A time to share with friends and family, to laugh, eat, visit but none of us want to fall asleep while Uncle George is reminiscing of holidays past!

Take a look at these easy steps to avoid being embarrassed by nodding off at the holiday table:

• Treat this special meal as ‘normal’ as you can by eating small, healthy meals up to the time you sit down for the big meal.  Do not go the other extreme and starve yourself in anticipation of the feast being prepared.
• Limit the size of your portions - don’t worry, you can have more tomorrow!
• Drink water with your meal and eat slowly so your body can send the message to your brain how full you are becoming.
• If you are full - stop eating!
• Put on your shoes and go for a walk after the meal to aid digestion.

It may be hard to enforce these tips on everyone so make sure you have plenty of pillows available for those who need them!

It’s so close, only a few hours away really!  You can probably smell the turkey basting now…it’s American Thanksgiving!  Turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and gravy, pumpkin pie and the afternoon nap!

Is there some way to avoid the heavy eyes after enjoying the great foods of the holiday?  Is the turkey to blame or could there be other causes?   For the sake of the poor turkey who has had to suffer so much already - let us see if we can find other causes!

Unfortunatley we cannot let the turkey completely off the hoook.  What the turkey does contribute is an amino acid called L-trytophan which travels in our blood stream from the digestive system and later enters the brain.  Once in the brain this amino acid changes into another chemical called serotonin which calms us down and helps us to sleep.

There are other factors which would contribute to feeling less energetic.  A Thanksgiving meal tends to be high in fats which takes a lot of energy to digest also.

Alcohol acts as a depressant to our nervous system so when you lift that glass of wine to wish cheers to friends and family - you are adding to the nap factor!

We discover the turkey cannot be blamed alone for our relaxed, sit back holiday feeling.  If you cannot resist the need to snooze - make sure you are resting comfortably on a memory-foam pillow this holiday!

I am sure it comes as no surprise to read encouragement to stay active.  Physical activity is important for each of us to maintain a strong heart and lungs and to minimize the effect of viruses on our immune systems.  There are numerous activities a person can do to stay active but the important point is to “just do it” as our famous Nike commercials remind us!

I am here to let you know that while maintaining an active lifestyle it is very important to give your body adequate sleep.  This allows time for the body to regenerate and repair itself from the stresses of training.  The immune system is enhanced and the risk of contracting serious diseases is greatly reduced.

While an active lifestyle will benefit your health it will also allow you to fall asleep faster, have a deeper sleep and feel less tired and more alert during the daytime. 

These two seem to fit together like a hand in a glove, why not try them on for size?

It is so important to pay attention to how our bodies “talk” to us to let us know when things may not be quite right.  As adults we may be so used to “feeling” a certain way that we think it is normal!  Take a few minutes to take stock of your health and start with your nose!   Parents of younger children also need to pay attention to their children’s nose as it is the best indicator of a healthy or unhealthy body.

If our noses are running it may indicate the oncoming of a cold or perhaps it is allergies.  Clear fluid from the nose would indicate allergies are present and that we are not just suffering from a cold.

Determining whether we have indoor or outdoor allergies requires an appointment with an allergist who within a 1/2 hour can give you the conclusive evidence!  With a few safe and easy tests which are pain free, you can end your wondering!  A few pricks are made on the skin with injections of various compounds such as dust, grass, pollen, etc.  If there is a red reaction on the skin surrounding the pricked area within 10-15 minutes, we know that there is a sensitivity.

If indoor or outdoor allergies are pin-pointed consideration may need to be given towards:

• closing windows in the home or bedroom
• running the air conditioner more moderately
• frequent changing of the filters on the furnace
• choosing carefully whether activities should be done inside or outside depending what the season is
• considering vacations by water which eliminate many pollens
• eliminating feather pillows and choosing hypo allergenic

By a few easy considerations life can become easier for those allergy-sufferers!

My wife has several nicknames for me, and they aren’t all cute and endearing. For instance, she’s dubbed me the Lumber Mill because of all the logs I seem to be sawing all night long. When we first got married, my snoring was slightly annoying but never enough to keep her awake. It has only gotten noisier over the years, and lately I’ve been trying every snoring remedy I can find just to avoid sleeping on the couch.

Last month, my wife had had all she could stand. It was either stop snoring or make myself comfortable on the family Barcalounger. As a last-ditch effort, I ordered a snore-no-more pillow online and within a few days I had returned to a silent state of slumber. My wife can’t stop raving about it, and although I wouldn’t know the difference anyway, it’s comforting to know that I’m not sawing logs quite so loudly anymore.

If you have been the brunt of all the snoring jokes at your office party or a family meal, you may be laughing it off yourself and not realizing that the solution may be right under your nose!

Even though we joke about snoring, the effects of snoring are not so funny.  Can you relate to any one of these?

• lack of sleep for yourself or your partner?
• tiredness throughout the day?
• poor concentration?

These are just the effects we can see and feel but over time the “unseen” effects take their toll on our bodies.

You may be only one small change away from eliminating your snoring problem.  If your snoring is a result of poor posture while you sleep, consider the Snore-No-More pillow for a better night’s sleep.  This pillow has been designed by a doctor to help reduce snoring while improving your sleeping posture to provide luxurious comfort.

The many roles that women have today can make anyone tired just reading them!  Wife, mother, maid, taxi driver, party organizer, secretary, cheerleader, income earner, counsellor, etc.  In all these things one area overlooked is the care and maintenance of the body of a woman!  Research indicates that lack of sleep effects women most when it comes to risk of heart disease. 

A healthy heart is directly related to how long we sleep, according to a growing body of evidence.  It is estimated that Americans are getting an average of 6.7 hours of sleep during the week.  Based on research, those who sleep less than 5 hours a night, are more susceptible to cardiovascular disease  compared to those who get a full 8 hour rest.

In a world where access to what we need, when we need it, is so common place, it becomes increasingly difficult to turn our minds and bodies to the ‘OFF’ position.  This produces a vicious cycle for us as we become busier, we get less sleep, then we become more stressed, leading to problems falling asleep, then we reap the rewards - impaired work performance, questionable judgment, increased risk to auto accidents as we fall asleep at the wheel.

Do not let ‘tired’ be the new normal for you.  For your heart’s sake women, and the safety of those around you, try hitting the snooze button and get a bit more sleep.

Insomnia affects all people of all ages.  While women often deal with lack of sleep more than men, even children are not immune to insomnia.

We tend to be timid to mention this concern to our family doctor.  There could be an underlying fear of receiving a prescription of sleeping pills.  There are some home remedies that can be considered and yes, they even may be suggested by your doctor.  We’ ve included some tips below if you still wish to avoid that visit to the family doctor!

Here are some actions to achieve healthy sleep:

• View your bed as a place for sleeping, not for reading or watching a movie or doing work on.  Take the time and money necessary to ensure you have a good quality mattress and pillow.
• Keep your sleeping area quiet, a comfortable temperature and coverings on the windows.
• Maintain a regular sleeping routine, even on holidays!
• Avoid caffeine, nicotine, sugar and alcohol before bedtime.
• Allow 3 hours after eating a large meal before going to bed as well as limiting liquid intake.
• Enjoy a quiet activity an hour before bed such as reading.
• Avoid taking naps during the day.

Working towards healthy sleep habits will allow you to rest and recharge both physically and mentally to be ready for each day.

A study appearing in the journal, Science, has indicated a connection between lack of sleep and the development of Alzheimer’s disease.  Read on to discover one more reason to get a good nights sleep.

In studying Alzheimer’s patients, a high level of a protein known as amyloid beta exists.  As this protein accumulates it appears to cause a build-up of plaque which leads to cell death and the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.

By creating this same scenario for mice, scientists watched, as the mice were awake, the beta-amyloid levels increased, while they decreased as they slept.  Another aspect put to this study was forcing the mice to remain awake which significantly accelerated the plaque formation.

The question begins to form in the researcher’s mind  if sleeping longer could actually prevent the plaque from forming or perhaps deter its growth completely?

The results of this research encourage each one of us to get the proper rest our individual bodies need.  If you believe you have sleeping disorders, there may be long-term benefits to finding answers to treat those disorders.

It is estimated that by 2010 over 35 million people around the world wil be dealing with Alzheimer’s or some form of dementia.  It is in our best interest to do everything we can to delay or perhaps prevent this disease.  Let’s start by getting a restful nights sleep every day.