Lifehacker highlights this lovely idea:
Some people prefer to write into a diary, while others use a normal notepad. Whatever works for you is perfectly fine. Others yet use a gratitude journal. I love this, because it helps me to focus on the positive things in my life, rather than the negatives.
What techniques do you use to help you sleep?
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Tagged: diary, journal, sleep
Those of you who live and commute in London may have already seen this feature in the freesheet Metro last week. The main piece came from Helia Pheonix, relating her experiences with insomnia:
I counted sheep. I drank milk and ate bananas. I tried warm baths. Like all kids, I dreaded bedtimes but, in my case, it was because bedtime meant hours of anxiety because I just couldn’t fall asleep.
Dreading bedtime isn’t something which affects only children, but thousands of people in the UK.
Helia managed to solve her problems through relaxation techniques, and a strong support network, both essential to modify your sleeping habits when suffering from insomnia.
The three page feature in the Metro also discussed the common misconception about eight hours of sleep being required and the norm, and tips for improving your sleep. It’s great to see a mainstream media outlet covering this.
Have you had similar experiences? Did you read the piece? What do you think.
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Tagged: feature, insomnia, metro, misconceptions, newspaper, tips
The three corollaries of the null hypothesis ['sleep is not required'] do not seem to square well with the available evidence: there is no convincing case of a species that does not sleep, no clear instance of an animal that forgoes sleep without some compensatory mechanism, and no indication that one can truly go without sleep without paying a high price. What many concluded long ago still seems to hold: the case is strong for sleep serving one or more essential functions. But which ones?
The excellent ‘Mind Hacks‘ website pointed me in the direction of this article on whether sleep is neccessary. Its a long held debate, mostly fueled through a lack of understanding as to what sleep is really for. If you’ve not read Mind Hacks, the book or blog, it is worth a visit, as they regularly have very interesting pieces on neuroscience.
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A recent UCLA study has shown that loss of sleep has physiological effects on the body, as well as psychological and emotional impact.
Loss of sleep, even for a few hours during the night, can prompt one’s immune system to turn against healthy tissue and organs, UCLA scientists have found, based on measurements of levels of nuclear factor (NF)-KB, a transcription factor that serves a vital role in the body’s inflammatory signaling.
via http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080902075211.htm
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Tagged: inflammation, report, science, study, UCLA
