Why is it I can’t sleep?
We have all experienced moments where no matter what we do we can’t sleep; however for some of us sleepless nights are a part of every day life, inhibiting our ability to think, concentrate and deal with stress. Yet, what are the causes? If you too are one of the 25% of adults who suffer from insomnia, there could be a number of reasons why you can’t sleep.
Your mind:
whether it is your job stressing you out or there is a problem subconsciously playing on your mind; anxiety, depression and stress can all prevent you from experiencing a restful night’s sleep. The problem many of us have is that we are unable to switch off after a long and stressful day… Instead, stressful situations are allowed to build up, forcing our unconscious mind to relieve the situation over and over again! If this sounds like you, there are a number of solutions you can look into to ensure your ‘can’t sleep’ blues are a thing of the past… the simplest being voicing your concerns to a loved one. Often stress builds up because you feel you are alone and have got no one to talk to. Yet, by simply speaking to a friend or a loved one about your concerns, and hearing their response, you can help to alleviate this stress, and ultimately set your mind at ease. Other techniques you can utilise are having a hot relaxing bath; doing yoga (where you can channel your energy away from these negative thoughts) or finding an activity to calm your senses.
Pain:
physical ailments such as backache and arthritis can often leave you unable to sleep. We recommend speaking to your physician to see if they can prescribe something to treat your pain. However, if you’d prefer to use a more natural treatment to ease your discomfort taking a hot bath 30 minutes before you go to bed can help. The heat from the water will help to relax and soothe your aching muscles, leaving you feeling supple and calm.
Menopause:
for many women entering the menopause, finding that you can’t sleep is a common side effect. This is often due to your hormones being out of balance and sending your body into hot flushes. To help combat this, we recommend finding ways to help keep your body cool such as opening a window or using a fan. However, we strongly suggest speaking to a physician who can offer you tips for dealing with your menopause more effectively.
Living conditions:
the simplest of things can trigger a sleepless night, such as being too hot or too cold. Fortunately triggers like these can easily be remedied. If your bedroom is too hot, make it cooler by using a fan. Too cold, add an extra blanket to your bed. Too noisy, invest in some ear plugs. Too light, buy thicker curtains or introduce a blackout curtain to your bedroom.
Caffeine:
caffeine (coffee) is notorious for its ability to help you stay awake; however drink it too close to your bedtime and this very same drink could be stopping you from sleeping. If you love coffee, try to avoid drinking it for at least 5 hours before you go to bed. This will allow the effects of caffeine to leave your system and enable you to sleep for longer. As you can see from above, there are a number of reasons why you can’t sleep – many of which can be remedied – however, if you are looking for a safe and effective way to regain control of your sleeping patterns, the support of a natural sleeping aid such as NightCalm can help.
Derived from the Griffonia plant, the 5HTP within this nutritious plant can help to stimulate the natural production of serotonin within your brain, which in turn can help to regulate your body’s mood, appetite, concentration and most importantly your sleep.And made only from 100% naturally derived ingredients; NightCalm safely works in harmony with your body to improve your sleep patterns and ensure that you get to sleep faster and for longer.
Night terror: Sleep disruption in childhood is a common?
The sleep disruption found among children is a common concern among the large number of parents. The sleep disorder found among the children generally roots to anxiety and other psychological issues. Children affected by this problem usually come out of their sleep out of blue with strong distress. This then follows a poor controlled panic attack and the lack of alertness and poor interaction with other people. This lasts for around one to ten minutes till the agitation suddenly breaks. At times the kids also get up and walk for a while in their sleep. The kids affected do not remember anything though can have some vague recall of the event the following day.
The symptoms of Night terror
There are couple of symptoms of night terror, these include- sudden awakening from slumber, screaming, rapid heart rate, constant fear or terror during the night time, may get vague sense of scaring images the following day and so on. Kids and also adults often complain that they see snakes, wild animals, spiders in their room, and generally are unable to fully awake, seen with lots of discomfort, while they could recollect what they experienced the previous night. You will find these symptoms usually in the early morning and this may range from few minutes to 20 minutes. When you find these symptoms of night terror, make sure you consult the medical expert for a tangible solution.
The Diagnosis
The doctors usually diagnose night terrors through the help of waking up early pattern or history and the screams the child makes when he gets up from the sleep. Generally night terrors are confused with the term nightmare, but the difference with the latter is that you can easily console and make your child comfortable, which is not the case with the former. So in many cases no other advance medical test is carried out, however, if the night terror is severe then the child may require a psychological evaluation.
The Treatment
Generally your child requires no specific treatment when he gets routine night terrors, instead he should be comforted. Since these occur when your child is stressed or over tired, hence make sure they have a good sleep and get sufficient rest to alleviate this problem of night terror. For kids who get regular night terror, it is recommended to wake up your child the time they encounter this problem. This can help you to interrupt or change the sleep cycle of your child and prevent the night terrors. The medicine like Benzodiazepine is rarely recommended by the doctors, these are meant to reduce the sleep disorder.
Last Word
Night terror is also known as Pavor nocturnes or simply sleeps terror disorder. These are generally found among the children of age ranging from two to six years though it can also be seen at any age as well. So as young parents whenever you come across such situation, make sure you do not panic or over react. Act cool and in a calm way. Speak to your doctor, be a right support to your child and make him free from the overburden things like excessive Television or Video games or even study load. Giving them right comfort and ease can help you get rid of this problem.
Stop Snoring Now – A Proven Stop Snoring Method
This post was written for nightcalmsleep.gracei.info by Karien Jones
About the author: Karien is a blogger by profession. She loves writing on luxury and technology. Beside this she is fond of books. She recently bought a book on parenting from a fare.
Getting the Hours You Need: How Much Sleep Do You Need?
Sleep is an essential requirement for the healthy functioning of our bodies and our minds. Apart from the repair of the physical body, sleep is also critical for cognitive functions such as speech, memory, and problem solving. It has also been found that sleep deprivation can cause severe neurologic impairments. Sleep is also when we dream. Dreaming is the brain’s own system tool to perform what can be likened to defragmentation of a computer hard drive.
The question that scientists; sleep researchers and students of productivity have sought an answer to is – how much sleep does a person need. There is no middle of the road answer to this as sleep requirements depend on a host of extrinsic and intrinsic factors. However, over the years of study, certain broad guidelines have emerged that can help you determine how much sleep you need.
1.) Learn to differentiate between minimum and optimum sleep:
Sleep is a requirement just like food; you can perhaps get by with less than what you need, but somewhere down the line, the deficit will start showing up. You will find that you are able to function with few hours of sleep, but what you will not notice immediately is how this sleep debt builds up and impairs your ability to process information efficiently. Like any other debt, this too has to be repaid, often with interest, and you will find yourself going into a sleepathon periodically to clear this debt. Instead of trying to get by on minimum sleep and then bingeing on the weekends, understand and address your sleeping pattern and get 6 to 7.5 hours of sleep on a regular basis including the weekends.
2.) Factor in your age, physical condition, and physical environment:
Teens and younger children have a higher need for sleep than adults. Most adults require 6 to 7.5 hours of quality sleep. More about quality of sleep later. If you are recovering from an illness or if you are pregnant, your sleep needs will be higher. Newborns need between 12 and 18 hours, while toddlers and preschoolers need 12 to 14 hours. People with sedentary lifestyles tend to need more sleep than those with active lifestyles. Scientists believe this has to do with more efficient metabolism among physically active people. Your environment during waking and sleeping hours also plays a role in the amount of sleep you need. If you are in a noisy and brightly lit environment, your need for sleep will be more than if you are working or sleeping in a quiet and dimly lit space.
3.) The quality of sleep is important:
It is essential to understand that sleep is a time when the body and mind goes into a restore and repair mode. During this time, it has cycles of light and deep sleep, and these different stages of sleep address different functions. From realigning joints, muscles and sinews, to transferring short term memory to long term storage, the body and mind undertake a large number of tasks when you are sleeping. These cycles are between 80-90 minutes, and good quality sleep is one where one awakens at the end of these cycles, and not in the middle of them. Having a noise free and light free environment is also important to assure good quality sleep. If the quality of your sleep is good, you will awaken refreshed with 6-7.5 hours of sleep. However, if your sleep quality is poor, you will need more hours to feel refreshed.
Sleep has fascinated human beings from time immemorial. Ancient cultures have likened it to death, to an alternate plane of existence, and to a meeting time with ancestors. While Thomas Edison called it a waste of time, the fact remains that as a species, we spend a third of our lifetime indulging in it. Calculate your sleep requirements based on the information you now have, and profit from the healing properties of Mother Nature’s miracle medicine – sleep.
Stop Snoring Now – A Proven Stop Snoring Method
This post was written for nightcalmsleep.gracei.info by Karien Jones
About the author: Karien is a blogger and writer who is passionate about travelling and loves writing on entertainment and lifestyle. Beside this she invests her free time in cooking. These days she is busy in writing an article on luxury apartments
10 Health benefits of a good night’s sleep
The secret of good health is ‘sound sleep’. Adequate sleep helps in the systematic functioning of your body. It is essential for normal immunity system and healthy cell growth in your body. What you benefit more from good sleep is a healthy nervous system which further helps you in learning better. When problems like sleep comes in the way of your daily routine and hamper your ability of normal functioning; it is an indication that you are suffering from sleep disorders. If you are taking sleep of less than 6 to 7 hours, then you are developing the risks of diseases. What a good sleep gives you; visit this catalogue of 10 health benefits from sleep.
1.) Sleep helps in the normal functioning of your heart:
You need seven to nine hours of sleep for a healthy heart. Short sleep predicts a number of cardiovascular diseases. Studies have found that people who sleep less than six to nine hours are more likely to die from heart diseases and strokes. Both, regular or occasional sleeplessness, have a negative impact on the human body. During sleep our blood pressure tends to be lower and if sleep deprives it puts an unhealthy pressure on heart and causes severe heart problems. Against that, normal sleep ensures normal blood pressure levels.
2.) Sleep prevents the risks of diseases:
Lack of sleep greatly increases the risk of breast cancer. People who work and watch late night movies are likely to invite this trouble for them. During sleep, the sleep hormone, melatonin is secreted and less sleep decreases its secretion, which further lowers the levels of chemical in the body associated with the risk of breast cancer.So, the bottom line is you strictly need eight hours of sleep in a day.
3.) Sleep makes you stress free:
Quality sleep is required to make you free from stress. Sleep takes care of the regular pressure of everyday life and resolves a great deal of stress related issues. The stress response hormone, Cortisol gets affected by the lack of sleep. If you take quality sleep for seven to eight hours, it will help in releasing less Cortisol, which helps you in awakening fresh in the morning. The vicious cycle of this hormone keeps you stressed and tired in the morning.
4.) Quality sleep gives you an alert mind:
This is one of the other benefits from a good sleep. Sleep helps you in developing intellectually and settles your emotions and saves you from spontaneous decisions. Cutting down your sleep may leads to several emotional and psychological problems. And against that, a good sleep leaves you highly optimistic, knowledge hungry and energetic, in a nutshell prepares you for the next day.
5.) Sleep helps in losing weight:
If you sleep less, then the hormone which controls appetite causes more hunger. Hence if you sleep less, you eat more. So, follow the opposite, sleep more and eat less which will save you from getting obese.
6.) Sleep helps in repairing your body:
Sleep is the best time when your body gets repair from the everyday damages. The stress caused in the day is cured in the night time while sleeping. It is a routine task which sleep performs. The protein molecules help in building and repairing blocked cells. Moreover, it is the best time to get your UV rays exposure treated ant that too, with quality sleep.
7.) Sleep curbs inflammation:
Inflammation is linked to the cardiac arrest, diabetes and arthritis. People who take good and adequate hours of sleep have no risk of higher blood levels of inflammatory proteins which is a root cause of all these problems.
8.) Sleep sharpens attention:
People who take sound sleep of seven to nine hours are more likely to be hyperactive, attentive and of sharp mind. Sleep can cure your problems of less or no concentration. During sleep, some electrical changes in your body occurs which helps in maintaining an attentive mind.
9.) Sound sleep gives you an instinct of ‘romance’:
A chemical, serotonin in your body helps in regulating digestion and in central nervous system, it helps in boosting your mood. If the level of this chemical gets lower in the body, it gives abrupt bad moods and leaves you less intimate. And if the chemical is in balanced state, it makes you romantic and intimate towards your partner.
10.) Sleep controls body temperature:
Cool body means, feeling of tiredness and sleepiness prevails and warm body keeps you awake. A good sleep is required to keep your body temperature balanced which saves you from feeling drowsy and taking nap in the office. You can overcome from this state and your body will remain active.
So, sleep well and stay healthy!
Stop Snoring Now – A Proven Stop Snoring Method
This post was written for nightcalmsleep.gracei.info by Karien Jones
About the author: Karien is a blogger by profession. She loves writing on beauty and fashion trends. Beside this she is fond of books. These days she is busy in writing an article on most expensive watches.
Sleep Better: 10 Tips For A Good Night’s Sleep!
Work pressures, family problems, physical illness etc. account for mental instability of a person and its direct impact on the person’s sleep. The day long behavior of a person depends upon how well he or she has slept last night. Nothing is better than a better sleep in the night, and if you do not get the proper sleep, then you will be less active in the coming day.
Some people are blessed with healthy sleep while some don’t get a chance even after consuming the sleeping pills. In addition to the things as said above, there are also other reasons behind this. Your daily schedule, diet, bed time habits, physical and mental stress and medicines all contribute a lot to the night’s slumber. So, in order to get a complete rest, you need to concentrate on all the above said things. The following tips can help immensely for those who face problems during sleep.
Set a regular sleep and wake up time:
Sleep at the time when you normally feel tired. Fix a time to get up. For a person, 7 to 8 hours sleep is widely recommended by the doctors. Try not to change the schedule on weekends or holidays otherwise your body timer will be disturbed.
Say a big ‘No’ to sleep at day-time:
The popular Power-naps, during afternoon or just few hours before your sleep time will let you to stay awake late in the night. These naps give you adequate energy to work in the office hours and make you feel fresh. But these have a long negative impact on the body in terms of healthy body.
Avoid intake of tea and coffee:
Tea or coffee contains caffeine, which limits you to take rest. So, avoid consuming them before going to sleep.
Physical exercises:
If your work is mostly of sitting and you have very less physical movements during daytime, then involve yourself in the exercises. It will give you strength and also a healthy sleep.
Make room for no noise:
Switch off your T.V., radio, computer, music system before going to bed. Switching off your mobiles will be of great help too. Avoid any kind of noisy distractions. If noises are coming out from the window then it is advised to close them.
Switch the lights off in night:
On lights won’t let you sleep. So, it is advised to switch them off make the room dark to make a perfect atmosphere for sleeping and avoid any distractions.
Light massages:
Light body or head massages before sleeping will help you to get a sound sleep. Ask any of your family members to help you with a massage.
Meditate:
Meditation is a great source of handling any kind of stress. Meditation just before your sleep time will definitely remove all your tension and you can go to sleep happily.
Quit smoking and drinking:
Smoking and drinking disturb your sleep time. Also, they are injurious to health. So, in order to have a sound sleep, stay away from them.
In short it can be said that, making some changes to your sleeping habits can definitely help you to sleep better. It will take some time for your body to adjust but once it gets habituated no one can keep you away from your good night’s sleep.
Stop Snoring Now – A Proven Stop Snoring Method
This post was written for nightcalmsleep.gracei.info by Karien Jones
About the author: Karien is a blogger by profession. She loves writing on health and parenting. Beside this she is fond of gadgets. These days she is busy in writing an article on teen pregnancy.
Best ways to natural sleep
If you too struggle to fall asleep at night or benefit from a restful 8 hours sleep, then the following checklist can provide you with a detailed guide of all the best ways to experience natural sleep every single night.
1.) Take a sleeping aid:
Natural sleeping aids such as NightCalm are a simple, yet effective way to overcome sleep deprivation and experience peaceful, natural sleep.Enriched in 5HTP, this naturally derived amino acid encourages increased serotonin production within your brain which is needed to help regulate your body’s natural sleeping patterns. But this is not all…With NightCalm’s support, you can confidently experience improved sleeping patterns, better concentration, a healthier sexual appetite, as well as beat depression, anxiety, stress and migraines – all of which are proven, negative side effects of having too little sleep!
2.) Darken your house:
A few hours before you go to bed, start making your house dark – even if it is still light outside. This will help to set the mood and help your body to recognise that it is time to calm down.
3.) Eat carbohydrates:
It is never good to go to bed on an empty stomach, especially when 12 hours could pass before you eat again (between your evening meal and breakfast). By eating some potatoes, rice, pasta, porridge or bread, you can curb this hunger and prevent hunger pangs from waking you up. However, it is important to note that you SHOULD NOT eat immediately before you go to bed, as a full stomach will leave you feeling uncomfortable and bloated.
4.) Try to relax:
Calming techniques such as reading, listening to music and doing yoga in a dimly lit room can help to encourage natural sleep. To relax, begin by relaxing your jaw and letting your mouth hang open slightly. Your face is a natural indicator of when you are stressed, so by beginning here and helping your muscles to calm, you can help your worries to drift away. Next work your way up from your toes to your ankles, knees etc, making sure that each section is relaxed before you move onto the next. A good trick is to imagine your tensions flowing from out of your body through your toes, fingers and the top of your head. Try to imagine a tingling sensation as you release them.
5.) Breathing exercises:
Closing your eyes take slow deep breaths through your nose and into your abdomen. Repeat this for 5 minutes and make sure you do them every night to ensure relaxed, natural sleep.
6.) Electrical equipment:
Keep electrical equipment such as phone chargers, clocks and alarms a few feet away from the bed as they create force-fields which can affect your brain and disrupt your natural sleep patterns.
7. Temperature:
Keep your bedroom temperature below 70 degrees F. If you get cold, try wearing socks and using extra blankets.
8.) Music:
As mentioned earlier, listening to music can help you to relax before you go to bed. However, sleep music can also help to block out white noise (floors creaking, dogs barking, traffic) and help your brain to relax and enter into natural sleep.
9.) Drinks:
Stop drinking caffeinated drinks such as coffee at least 5 hours before you go to bed. Coffee is a notorious stimulant which takes hours to break down and leave your system. Other drinks to avoid include alcohol, tea and fizzy drinks.
10.) Have a relaxing bath:
Having a hot bath or shower before you go to bed can help your body’s temperature to drop, which aids in natural sleep.



