How to Create a Sleep Haven and Catch Some Z's

(ARA) - You know the feeling. You're in bed, but you can't fall asleep. Your mind is racing and you're tossing and turning so you read a book or watch television until the wee hours of the morning. Getting good quality sleep is vital to our health, so it pays to create a sleep haven and improve your rest.

Cure Sleep Apnea Without Cpap

A recent sleep survey conducted for AmericInn Hotels found that six in ten U.S. adults (62 percent) had trouble falling asleep at least one night per week and nearly 10 percent had a tough time sleeping every single night. That's a total of 3.1 billion hours of sleep lost in America each week or 161 billion hours per year.

So what are the leading causes of all this lost sleep in our country? The survey found economic fears (36 percent) lead the reasons for American sleeplessness followed by high energy prices (29 percent), health and medical concerns (28 percent), stress over politics (22 percent) and concerns about war and global terrorism (12 percent). No wonder America is having a hard time sleeping.

"With all the worries and concerns of modern life, sleeplessness is happening whether we like it or not," says Dr. Christopher Drake, bioscientific investigator at Henry Ford Hospital Sleep Disorders and Research Center. "But continued bouts of insomnia can wear down the immune system, leaving the body vulnerable to illness. The key is to get a handle on the source of the stress causing sleeplessness before it becomes a full-blown medical issue."

Stressed out Americans need to create their own bastion of peace so they can rest and renew their mind and bodies to handle the demands of modern life. Drake recommends turning your bedroom, or hotel room when traveling, into a sleep haven, a place of peace and serenity that gives your body every possible advantage of achieving a restful night's sleep.

Below are 10 easy tips periodic insomnia sufferers can use to create their own sleep haven, whether at home or on the road:

1. Cut out all caffeine. If you're caffeine-sensitive, it's not just coffee that is your biggest sleep culprit. Avoid tea, sodas and anything with chocolate.

2. Make your bed. Ever noticed how much more comfortable a freshly made bed is? The uniform snugness of the sheets can create a cradle effect around the body and the fresh smell of clean sheets can mimic the feel of a luxurious hotel bed.

3. Leave work out of the bedroom. Keeping your bedroom free of anything work-related is key in creating a true sleep haven. That means leaving files, laptop computers or PDAs on the kitchen table, not the nightstand. This may be difficult when traveling, but try to keep the bed and side tables free of work-related clutter.

4. Eliminate outside noise. If you live in a noisy neighborhood, shut your windows and use air conditioning during the summer months. If you reside in an apartment or are staying in a hotel that doesn't use soundproofing construction like AmericInn Hotels does, invest in noise-canceling headphones, white noise or sound effect machine.

5. Block out all light. When at home, use double thick curtains like the ones you find in hotels. Make sure you turn off all electronics in your room that emit light, including DVD players. A piece of masking tape over the display works great.

6. Avoid using alcohol and nicotine before bedtime. Even though alcohol may initially help you fall asleep due to its sedating effects, it causes severe sleep disruption during the second half of the night with frequent and long duration awakenings. Also, studies have shown that smoking before bed delays the time to fall asleep and is associated with a worsening insomnia in some individuals.

7. Banish the TV. Watching TV while in bed stimulates the mind, encouraging restlessness. Consider listening to classical music, but stay away from news or talk radio.

8. Distract your mind. Break away from daily stresses by reading a book before going to sleep at night. Counting sheep isn't just a silly remedy. The combination of the counting and the visualization distracts your mind and lulls or bores you to sleep.

9. Workout in the morning. If traveling, take advantage of your hotel's exercise room. By adding an extra hour in your morning for some cardio-vascular exercise you will stay energized throughout the day and sleep better at night. Beware of working out too close to bedtime, as it can leave you over stimulated.

10. Pay attention to your eating habits. Eating right while traveling is always a challenge since many restaurant entrees are loaded with calories and served in huge portion sizes. Try picking healthier food options and you don't have to clean your plate even if your mother used to make you. Finally, make sure you don't eat more than two hours before bedtime, so your food has time to digest.

Hobby is a great Relaxation Technique

What makes hobby to a great relaxation method. It helps you focus your thoughts on something other than your worries.... They help you focus on something else other than your work, your worries and your stress filled life. They offer a haven of relaxation.

Stress is the result of working too hard. Chronic stress affects your health, body and lifestyle.

Many people are doing it because hobbies relieve stress! And stress relief means a happier, healthier body.

It´s very important to choose a hobby you like, that you feel passionate about in order to relax and have some fun. Fun is an crucial function of life. When you have fun you forget almost everything. If you don't then your chosen hobby might create more stress!

Sometimes it´s difficult to find something to relax with, but if you understand the importance of wellbeing then you're ready to find some time to engage yourself in something you like. When you are stressed out then you observe that your mind isn't clear, you´re tired and foggy all the time, unconcentrated and irritated. With some hobbies you will find yourself full of vitality. YOU CAN ACTUALLY BE HAPPY AND RELAXED

You have to find what gives you happiness every day. Celebrate your life all along the way. Find what makes you truly happy in life and pursue it.

For a sample relaxation technique, try this simple hobbies:

1. -Model Trains
2. -Gardening
3. -Landscaping
4. -Cooking
5. -Woodworking
6. -Yoga

Engage yourself in a hobby that relaxes your mind.

"Pampering Yourself at home"

Pointers for Pampering Yourself in Just 30 Minutes a Week

(ARA) - Work, children, spouses, school and friends – your life is hectic. It’s hard to find time to do it all, let alone a half hour of quiet time for yourself. Yet setting aside just 30 minutes of “me time” each week can help you look refreshed and feel beautiful for days. Here are some tips for making the most of your weekly pampering routine.

* Make time during a shower or bath to exfoliate with a scented body wash, using a sponge or cloth. Concentrate on the areas where skin toughens up like the elbows and knees. Follow up with moisturizer on all areas of your body to keep skin smooth and soft. If your hair is feeling flat and dry from winter’s cold temperatures, try applying a hydrating masque before you blow dry your hair. These concentrated conditioners saturate and smooth the strands, nourishing the scalp for healthy, shining hair all season long.

* Flip on the humidifier as you emerge from the shower. Winter air is much drier than in the summer months, and the body notices it. Having a humidifier running in the bedroom keeps the skin softer and reduces breakage in the hair. Plus, humidifiers also can help with your breathing by loosening up the airways and defeating congestion.

* Treat your teeth to some pampering as well. Remember that smooth, polished feeling you get when you run your tongue over your teeth after walking out of the dentist's office? Now you can enjoy this intensely clean feeling at home. Crest Weekly Clean Intensive Cleaning Paste polishes teeth with ingredients similar to what dentists use, says Dr. Michael Apa, a dentist in New York City, and should be used as a complement to your regular brushing and flossing routine.

* Soak your feet in warm water with salts. Use a pumice stone to soften heels and calluses before giving yourself a foot and lower leg massage to relieve any remaining tension. Also, make professional pedicures last by touching up nail polish in between appointments.

* Finally, before crawling under the covers for a blissful night's sleep, continue the moisturizing treatment for your hands and feet. Lotion helps your nails grow strong and also slows down the signs of aging. Apply lotion on your hands and feet – avoiding the spaces between your toes – and slip on socks or gloves to hold in the moisture while you dream. Make sure you remove any jewelry before this treatment to protect the metal and stones.

Laugh Your Way to Stress Relief

The profits of laughter actually go deeper than we recognize. There are various responses inside your body that take place when you laugh and they all immediately assist with Stress Relief.

Even after a truly bad day having a good laugh can help place everything into perspective. It is a great way to bring out stress, and to improve the expectation of your day.

Laughter is among the best medicines for illness, depressive disorder, anxiety, relaxation, internal respiration and stress. To this instant their released research has displayed that laughter brings down blood pressure, keeps down stress hormones, increases muscle flexion, and rises the immune system. … laughter creates healthy or positive emotions and is a great technique of Natural Stress Relief.

·Increased aerobic activity which applies your diaphragm a work-out and gains your body’s power to distribute oxygen.

·An addition in positive emotions that can attend in the battle of disease.

·Reduction of stress hormones including adrenaline, cortisol, dopac, and growth hormone.

·Improved and strengthened immune system.

·Improved blood pressure. This appears to have a more detectable effect in women.

·The cleansing of your lungs and respiratory system. When you laugh you empty your lungs and breathe refreshed air into your respiratory system.

It is far easier to be cheerful than to be grouchy and you will use less energy if you view your day from a happy perspective.


Relaxation Idea

Watch Cartoons!

There's a reason the Cartoon Network shows cartoons 24 hours. It's not for kids anymore! Watching cartoon and laughing at absurd situations helps us to relax and blank out our own troubles for a while.

Fun Relaxation Techniques

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Relaxing Can Be Fun

Relaxing isn't all hard exercise. Yes, it can be difficult once in a while – specially if you're just beginning to connect with places where you've expressed fear or stress for a long time. When you start to open up to the energies in your body, you may experience a period of frustration, or discomfort. However, it's possible to move through this phase fairly quickly, and reach a place where you'll be able to sense your body and learn to relax.

What fun relaxation techniques can parents do with theirs children and teens?

Children are encouraged to express themselves through music, creative movement and music-related activities. The goal is for children to enjoy their musical experiences and that enjoyment builds their self-esteem through positive and fun interactions.

These incorporate ”fun relaxation techniques” and provide opportunities for children to express themselves through singing, the use of rhythm instruments, dancing with scarves or ribbons and trying out several musical props.

You are never too young or too old. Many people who start taking music lessons as adults are doing so because they didn’t or weren’t able to when they were younger. There is usually much more carrying on than just improving musical skills. These lessons are often about coming through fears or old bad habits (negative self-talk) that have expanded over the years.

Children and adults alike enjoy these easy, imaginative, creative and fun relaxation techniques, for creating optimism, resilience and happiness.

The research proves that physically active healthy people have better cognitive ability and more zest for life than their inactive counterparts. Most people are very surprised to discover the link between their energy and vitality and their performance at work and home. Get prepared to experience inspired to take your health & physical fitness to the next level with fun relaxation techniques.

Three quick and fun relaxation techniques for you and your loved ones.

Happy Stretch

· While sitting down intertwine your fingers behind your head.

· Relax your elbows and shoulders.

· Smile, breathe, and stretch your elbows back.

· Feel your shoulder tightness releasing.

Repeat this calming exercise throughout your flight.

"Tension is who you believe you should be. Relaxation is who you are."

E-mail Meditation

While you are reading your e-mail, remember to breathe slowly and focus your attention on your breath. Make the out-breath two times longer than the in-breath. This will instantly calm you.

"Kind words may be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are really endless."

Together

Grab your friend or loved one and try this partner stretch.

· Stand side-by-side.

· Lift your outside leg up and place your foot on your inside upper thigh.

· If your foot slips, you can hold it up with your hand.

· Wrap your inside arm around your partner's waist and hold tight for balance and support.

· Stand tall and feel your head rise toward the sky.

· Breathe in unison and relax into the pose.

· Take 5 deep breaths.

· Switch sides with your partner and stretch the other leg.

"Happiness is made to be shared."