Sleep
How A Visit To The Sauna Could Benefit You
As I was working out at the gym last night, I decided to to check out something that I’ve always looked past and thought was crazy. Since I ate a rather large dinner right before working out, I wanted to see how the sauna room might help me digest and allow me to relax. It took some time for the hot rocks to get the temperature up to 150 degrees, but once it did, that room was baking…
A Release Of Tension
Before doing any research, I came to my own conclusion that about 20 minutes in the sauna would do wonders on my very tensed, and tight back. As the acupuncturist told me the other day as she massaged my back, I needed to keep my body and back very warm to promote blood circulation. One thing she did not mention for me to visit was a sauna, BINGO! Luckily my assumption was correct. When I did research later on, saunas greatly increase the heart rate, about double. This definitely increases blood flow throughout the body, including to those areas of the body that are in pain and feel tensed. From the warmth of the sauna, the increased blood flow helps relieve contracted muscles and aching joints. This is exactly what the doctor ordered! After I spent 20 minutes in the sauna, and now that I sit here 10 hours later writing this article, my back feels much more relaxed and my aching neck is almost nonexistent.
A Great Way To Relax
Saunas have proven to be beneficial to our physical health, but it also works wonders on our psychological side. As I am right in the middle of finals week at my university, I figured the sauna would also be a wonderful way to relieve some stress and just find a quiet place to relax for a bit. I know there are some out there that are not appealed to a hot, possibly steamy room, but I love ‘em! Through the drips and drops of sweat off of my body, I felt a complete release of tension and an overall peace. The heart pulse rises, but the mental functions slow. I laid down and closed my eyes for about 15 of the 20 minutes and felt completely relaxed. As research shows, saunas also prepare the body for a great night’s sleep. Those that have problems sleeping or have a condition such as insomnia, saunas would definitely aid in finally getting that much needed complete rest.
A Possible Exercise Replacement
Replacing any type of exercise was not my intention of the sauna, but it was definitely a plus. As the sauna reaches very high temperatures, such as 160 degrees, the heart rate nearly doubles. I took my pulse after being in for over 10 minutes and I definitely noticed that my pulse felt very similar to as when I’m running. It was difficult for my head to wrap around how my pulse could be so high by just laying down in a sauna, but I guess it works. While sitting down in a sauna, you are actually burning calories and losing weight, believe it or not. Just as your heart rate increases with exercise, along with your metabolism, saunas allow the body to do the same. 15-20 minutes in the sauna is about equivalent to 1-2 hours of brisk walking or 1 hour of exercise. Now you can burn all of the unwanted fat by never lifting a finger!
Detoxify In The Sauna
As we all know that when you’re in a sauna, you sweat buckets (or maybe that was just me last night). Along with the other benefits, saunas trigger the body to release unwanted toxins through the act of sweating. Since sweating is the way that our body rids nearly a third of its toxins, saunas provide a very important relief. When our body temperature rises, we detox as the sweat releases through our pores. This is also a great, purifying way for people with skin conditions to cleanse their pores. Saunas have shown that those with acne and other skin conditions benefit from the rise in temperature and the increase of oxygen and nutrients to the skin.
Guide to Home Saunas & Sauna Kits – Everything you ever wanted to know about home saunas and building your own. Finnish, steam, infrared and portable saunas, sauna kits and heater options.
Photo credit: ansik
Simple Ways To Improve Sleep
What are your pre-bedtime rituals?
Are you finding yourself surfing the net or watching some late night TV?
As these activities seem to feel like they calm you down, they may actually stealing some of your much needed sleep from you. Studies have shown that when people spend nearly 2 hours of casually checking out online websites or sitting and watching television, over a third has had more problems with their sleep than those that avoided these. These activities definitely feel like they are calming to the body, but they actually stimulate various brain functions that prove detrimental to one’s sleep. Television and computers exposes us to a light that seems to completely mess up sleep cycles and rhythms. This light causes many of us to spend extra time trying to fall asleep because of the added stimulation to parts of the brain, such as the pineal gland.
Try a few of these ideas to help the quality of your sleep:
- Find a routine. Just as anything else, routines help to get you in the habit of doing something. Pick a time to hit the sack and stick with it. Getting your 6 to 8 hours per night is key.
- Relax to music. Pick out some music that is very easy to listen to, such as white noise or soothing natural sounds. There are even programs for your computer that provide these sounds specifically for sleep.
- Do some stretching. Each night before bed and when you wake in the morning, do some light stretching. Loosen up any parts of your body that may seem tight; when you hit the bed you’ll fall asleep like a baby.
- Keep the temperature low. Any room temperature over 70 degrees heats the body too much and makes it more difficult to fall asleep. Watch those heaters this winter!
- Avoid alcohol. It may seem like a good way to get to sleep really quick, but once the effect wears off on the body, many people wake up in the middle of the night with difficulty trying to fall back asleep.
- Watch your snacking. It’s never good to go to sleep feeling hungry, but watch how much you eat. Blood sugar levels are raised after eating but then drops during sleep, which causes many to wake up.
- Move the clock. If you are having trouble falling asleep and a clock is in view, move it! It will only cause more worry about trying to fall asleep.
- Don’t make up sleep. If you happen to lose some sleep during the week, don’t try and make it up by sleeping extra hours on the weekend. Doing this will throw off any kind of rhythm you have with sleeping.
- Keep the bed for sleeping. The bed needs to be thought of as a place to calm down and relax. If you are watching television or playing on a computer on, or even near the bed, it will always be on your mind when you try to go to sleep.
- Move the TV and computer. Along the lines as the previous tip, remove any television and computers from the bed room if they become a distraction. Having these in the room could feed the urge watch TV or use a computer in bed.
Photo credit: dickuhne
Picking the Right Pillow
About two months ago I began getting stiff and sore necks as I woke up. This was not a problem that arose every morning, but was often enough to question what the heck was going on. Eventually I went to the chiropractor and found out that one of the disks in my neck was out of line. Read my previous post, Chiropractics: A Life Adjustment, and check out all the fun I went though. As the exact cause of my misaligned neck was not known, my sleeping positions and pillows at home are two prime culprits. At the time I was sleeping on my stomach, mainly, which is the worst sleeping position. I was told to immediately stop doing this and to flip onto my back for sleeping. With the pillows I had, along with many other pillows out there, while sleeping on my stomach, my neck was being either pushed up or slumping down and twisted to the side. In relation to the position of where my misaligned disk was, the C7 (just above the shirt-line), it made sense that this might be my reason for stiff necks.
The only two healthy methods to sleep is either on our backs or our sides. I will not even bring up the stomach sleeping, as many chiropractors think very poorly of it, and it would require some magical pillow that I’ve never seen before. Here are some suggestions to finding the right pillow, depending on the type of sleeper you are…
- Side Sleepers: Find a pillow that is supportive enough to fill the space between your shoulder and head. The goal is to find a pillow that will fill that gap without allowing the head to slump down or be pushed up. You need to keep that neck perfectly straight throughout the night!
- Back Sleepers: One of those memory foam, or slightly rounded-shaped pillows might be best for you. For this sleeping style, you want a pillow that isn’t as stiff as one you would use for sleeping on your side. Find a medium firmness pillow that is just high enough to keep the neck aligned without pushing the neck too high. Still, keep that neck straight! A plus with the shaped pillows is that there is sometimes a curve for the lower neck to fit in to. This is helpful because it lifts the lower neck enough to allow the spine to hold its natural curve.
Choosing the correct firmness, shape, and all of that might take some work. It’s worth shopping around for and taking the time to rest your head on pillow after pillow in the store. You might look a little funny testing all pillows, but it’s definitely worth spending the extra time. I purchased a memory foam pillow for my back sleeping and a thicker pillow for my side sleeping; ever since then I have not have any neck pains in the morning. So, don’t settle for that old pillow on the bed anymore, go take care of yourself!
Napping is a Very Powerful Tool
Most people associate nappers with lazy people. You sleep all night and still need a nap in the middle of the day. You must have went to bed too late or are just plain lazy. Studies have actually shown lately that there is a little more to napping than meets the eye. There are numerous benefits.
- Naps improve alertness and stamina.
- Naps can lift productivity and mood.
- They can lower stress.
- They can improve memory and learning.
- Brain activity stays high throughout the day after naps.
The optimum nap time is about 20 minutes but no more. When you sleep for 20 minutes you go through the first 2 cycles of sleep where you really relax and fall in to a slight sleep. Any more than that and you start to fall in to the third cycle of sleep which is a deeper, slow wave sleep. If you start to slip in to this stage of sleep, you may wake up groggy and tired. This is the opposite effect of what you want. So set an alarm clock to get the optimum level of sleep.
When taking a nap, follow these steps:
- Avoid drinking caffeine, sugar, or fatty foods before naps.
- Eat foods with calcium or protein which promote sleep.
- Find a dark place to sleep or use an eye shade.
- Find a quiet place to sleep where you won’t be disturbed.
- Sleep with a blanket to raise body temperature.
- White noise works for some people to help them relax.
- Set an alarm to make sure you don’t fall in to too deep of a sleep.
Power naps are very beneficial. Take advantage of them to improve your life. For more information on the subject and the source of this material, check out this article at Men’s Journal.
-M
