How to Get Good Sleep and 5 Reasons You Don't

How to get adequate sleep should be a top priority of everyone. Sleep is vital for the body to refresh and rejuvenate, both mentally and physically. However, increasing numbers of people are sleep deprived or experience low sleep quality.

5 Reasons You Don't Get Good Sleep

So, what can you do to achieve good sleep?

There are many reasons for poor sleep. However, in general, the following could assist in achieving a good night’s sleep:

Environment – The physical environment in which sleep occurs is critical. It should be restful and conducive to sleep. At bedtime, this means it should be quiet and dark. The bed and mattress should be comfortable, and temperature maintained at a comfortable level. While this may vary based on individual preference, a room temperature of between 65 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit seems to suit most people.

Mental state - Reliving the stresses and problems of a long day is the surest way to interrupt and spoil a night’s sleep. A mental state is a critical factor in achieving refreshing sleep. If you are unable to quiet the internal dialog, rest, even if it comes, will be interrupted and unsatisfying. Leaving work outside the bedroom could be one way to disconnect from the stresses of the day. Listening to relaxing music, meditating, or doing breathing exercises before bed may also help to achieve a more refreshing night’s rest.

Lifestyle factors - Diet and exercise are prominent in the sleep arena too. Exercise, even moderate exercise, can help to improve sleep patterns. As little as 30 minutes a day has been shown to help. On the other hand, being overweight is one of the most common causes of sleep apnea, a condition that obstructs the airways during sleep. Sleep apnea is a potentially life-threatening condition that enormously decreases the quality of sleep.

Avoid Caffeine - Consuming coffee or any other drink with caffeine should be avoided immediately before sleep. In some individuals, caffeine could affect sleep even ten hours later. Caffeine is a diuretic, and its consumption before bed could result in the need to urinate during the night. Alcohol should also be avoided just before bedtime. Although alcohol may initially cause drowsiness and induce sleep, its metabolism affects sleep quality and may interruptions later in the sleep cycle. It is probably a good idea to reduce the consumption of all liquids immediately before bed to avoid urination at night.

Routine - One of the best ways to achieve a good night’s sleep is to establish a pattern of regular sleeping hours and habits. It is better to stick to this routine and pay off any sleep debts with power naps during the day rather than deviate from the pattern. We regulate sleep by our “Body clock” or circadian rhythm, which in turn is governed by light and darkness. Being exposed to bright light stimulates the brain and keeps us awake and alert. Conversely, darker environments stimulate the production of melatonin, which is instrumental in creating drowsiness and the desire to sleep. However, increasingly sedentary lifestyles with limited exposure to sunlight and increasing exposure to bright lights at night can affect these delicate cycles causing sleep disruption. Therefore, exposure to bright TV screens or reading in bed on backlit devices such as e-readers and iPads is not advisable. Making sure exposure to bright light occurs at appropriate times can help to reset the sleep-wake cycle. Melatonin supplements may also help in the short term.

How to Get Good Sleep and 5 Reasons You Don't - Conclusion

Although managing these factors could improve the quality and duration of sleep, some sleep disorders, such as sleep apnea or narcolepsy, may require medical intervention. It is essential to seek appropriate treatment in these cases.

How to Stay Positive in the Worst of Times and Enjoy Your Life

If you let what you see and hear every day influence the way you feel, then you might struggle to stay positive in these troubled times.

Sensationalism sells, so bad news, not good news is the content of most front line stories, whether on TV, radio, on paper, or the web. When was the last time you remember an uplifting story hitting the headlines?

If you watch and listen to that sort of content regularly, how can you stay positive? You could decide not to listen to radio news, turn off the TV when the information comes on, be careful which sections of the paper you read, or just not read one at all. If some earth-shattering event takes place, you can be sure that someone will tell you.

So how can you get positive vibrations happening in your life if you surround yourself with people full of doom and gloom? Here are a few suggestions that people have found useful; it would not take you long to find others that appeal to you as an individual.

Listen to music, go for a walk, look at flowers in bloom in people's gardens, hear birds singing, find a park where children are playing, and listen to their laughter. Maybe there is a pond with ducks; see how eagerly they greet visitors! Now, do not be all negative and say they are just looking for food; of course, they are but let them entertain you with their antics anyway.

Phone a friend, pay a visit, go out for a coffee together, and listen to what they are saying to you. Often when we hear the troubles that someone else has, we realize that we would not swap our problems for theirs, and this helps us to be happier with our lot.

Feel Grateful for What You Have

Feel grateful for all the good things in your life, and do not focus on areas that don't make you happy.

The late Zig Ziglar, a motivational speaker acclaimed throughout the world and famous for the saying, "have an attitude of gratitude," also said, "the more you are grateful for what you have, the more you will have to be grateful for."

Oprah Winfrey, who used to urge her viewers to keep a Gratitude Journal, also highlighted this idea of gratitude for what you have. Another variation is to jot down three things you feel grateful for just before you go to bed, or perhaps when you get up in the morning.

How you feel when you first get up can often color your whole day. If you have to go to a job you dislike, you are likely to start out feeling negative and stay that way all day. Is there much chance of feeling good by evening? If you can hear the rain and have to walk to a bus stop, do you feel good straight away or do you think grumpy because maybe your clothes or your feet will get wet?

Try replacing these automatic adverse reactions with positive ones by remembering that you have a job and the income it brings when many other worthy people do not. Perhaps think instead that without the rain, water supplies would dry up and crops would not grow, flowers would not look so bright and cheerful in gardens as you pass by.

Turn Negatives Into Positives

Zig Ziglar told a story about a woman who had complained to him very bitterly about her job and co-workers. He advised her to write down whatever positives she could think of, such as the regular weekly income, the benefits the job brought, and vacation time, then stare into a mirror every day and tell herself how much she loved her job.

When he ran into her again six weeks later, she reported that she was doing wonderfully well and was amazed at how much the people she worked with had changed!

This is the power of attitude. The wonderful thing about attitude is that you have absolute control over your own. You can change it any time you want to; you do not need permission from anyone or approval from anyone; your attitude about anything and everything is your own choice.

How to Stay Positive in the Worst of Times - Conclusion

Yes, times are tough for many people; those who have lost jobs will have poor health and hefty medical bills, those who have lost loved ones; the list can go on and on. Every person faces challenges of some kind during their lifetime; it is by overcoming these challenges that you become a better person, more compassionate, more forgiving, more understanding, and less judgmental about others.

If times are tough for you, give gratitude to a road test and see how it can change your life.

Seniors Should Walk To Create a Healthy Lifestyle

Seniors should walk to create a healthy lifestyle. Being active is actually one of the primary keys to living a healthy lifestyle. The thing is that many individuals just can not manage to find the time to fit this into their everyday lives.

You will find those unfortunate individuals who are extremely overweight and just can not exercise without leading to physical discomfort for themselves. Something you should understand is that you don't need to start lifting weights everyday in order to get started.

Walking is truly one of those simple and easy ways to start getting the exercise you absolutely need. Walking can actually lead to some great benefits for your overall health and we are going to go over them here.

One of the primary health benefits of walking is that it can help your heart and your cardiovascular system. Each time you go out and take a walk your heart has to work a little harder to send the oxygenated blood all the way through your body.

The legs are certainly not just the only part of your body to get this extra blood but your arms as well as your swinging them as you walk. Naturally your heart is not getting an extensive workout but that extra pumping will defiantly help to enhance your heart. Your heart health is very important and each and every little thing you do that can help your heart you should do.

Your cardiovascular system is additionally something which can be greatly benefited by walking. Inhaling and exhaling harder is among the beneficial side effects connected with walking. I am certain you realize that the harder you breathe the more robust your lungs get, but you will also be supplying your blood with more oxygen that also means your muscles are receiving more oxygen. This is rather simple, as you breathe harder you get more oxygen, this oxygen ends up in your blood which is then carried to your muscles. Excellent cardiovascular health is essential to maintaining a healthy life.

One thing you should understand about walking is that you won't have to buy any high priced equipment or even sign up for a gym. When it comes to choosing the time to take a walk, just get up 1/2 an hour earlier each morning and go for a walk.

You need to know that when you get up your metabolism is quite sluggish. You'll be able to get your metabolism working by taking a walk as soon as you get up. This is also a good thing to do before you sit down for your breakfast so that you can have your metabolism working before you eat. This also helps you to shed the calories from your breakfast as opposed to having it all turn into fat.

Also you really should try to walk right after your dinner as this will also help burn off calories. And whenever you can, try to take a walk throughout the day if time allows for it.

This isn't something which you need to start by walking 10 miles every day. You can start off taking brief walks and simply raise the distance after a while. Not to mention if you keep with it and you keep walking further and further you might also begin to see that your pants will appear to be getting bigger.