The Sleep Secret

TGIF!!!!! Thank God It’s Friday!

Although we are all pretty thankful that Friday is here, and the work week is over, (for most folks), remember; sleep loss, and insomnia never take a day off. Oops, I guess that should be “Sleep loss and insomnia never take a night off.”

Anyways, I hope that these sleep tips that we have given out during Sleep Awareness Week have helped you out.

Here are today’s tips:

No Lights: Remember that a dark bedroom can help your body “know” it’s time for rest. Light triggers a lot in us and is associated with our waking hours. To help the body adjust to a regular sleep cycle, make an effort to distinguish between daytime and bedtime.

When it’s time to sleep, keep light sources to a minimum, including when you get up to go to the bathroom. As with a TV, computer, or video game, you’ll want to avoid anything that can stimulate your brain or body out of rest. Even if your eyes are closed, light in your bedroom can disrupt your sleep.

Sleep  Habit : Don’t Go Back for Seconds! It’s a Thanksgiving ritual for many – stuff yourself so full you have no choice but to waddle down the hall and flop into bed for a nap.

But eating too much – especially near bedtime – can wreak havoc on your sleep schedule.  Being overly stuffed with food can make sleeping uncomfortable, and if you’re one of the unlucky ones to suffer from indigestion, it can be a painful experience, too.  Instead, eat just enough to quell your hunger and go to bed satisfied, but not distressed.

Throughout Sleep Awareness Week this year, we have given out many valuable, and I truly hope life changing tips.

If these steps are taken, in addition to noise reduction and a few other considerations, such as making a separate sleeping area for pets (that are used to sleeping with you) – then you should be on your way to eliminating some of the factors that may have been contributing to your persistent sleep problems.

I look forward to hearing all the positive results you have made in your life.

Thomas “Trapper” Sherwood; CMH
Certified Master Hypnotist
http://www.sleepsecretaudio.com

Ok, I admit it, I’ve done this one! Read on as I am sure you have too.

Welcome to day four of Sleep Awareness Week!

Keep the Clock Out of Sight: If you can, try to keep your clock out of sight. Set your alarm and then put it somewhere else or turn it away from you – out of your general view. For instance, instead of having the clock on the nightstand, put it on the dresser in the far corner.

If a clock is visible, you may find yourself staring at it or waking up periodically to look at it. If you’re making an effort to create a good sleep environment, it means that you’re aware of an impairment.

If you’re trying to break the cycle of sleeplessness, then it’s important that you don’t focus on time. Seeing how early it is or how little time has passed, can only lead to frustration.

FYI… I don’t even have a clock in my bedroom anymore, and since “Throwing it out” a couple of years ago, I get a much better night’s sleep.

Sleep Habit: No Napping! Just as eating in between meals ruins your appetite, napping between deep sleep can prevent many sleep disorder sufferers from being able to fall asleep and get a full night’s rest.

For some, a nap is just the medicine they need to re-energize for the day, but if you’re suffering from sleep deprivation, a nap may cause more harm than good.  Even though in the beginning you may feel extremely sleepy, try to save your slumber for the middle of the night and not for a mid-day luxury.

OK! We are heading into the last day of Sleep Awareness Week tomorrow. Please join us again.

I look forward to receiving your comments with your thoughts.

Sincerely,

Thomas “Trapper” Sherwood; CMH
Certified Master Hypnotist
http://www.sleepsecretaudio.com

Greetings to the “Hump Day” edition of Sleep Awareness Week!

The first tip today may sound like a very simple one concerning sleep and insomnia related issues, but many times it is over looked.

Comfortable Bed: One symptom of a sleep disorder or impairment is tossing and turning during the night, and one reason you may be restless is because your mattress is uncomfortable.

As with most anything in life, what’s “right” for you (and your back, your posture, your comfort) is specific to your body. However, research has shown that supple mattresses may be more conducive to a good night’s rest versus a firmer one.

Definitely avoid sleeping on a lumpy mattress if it can be helped. A new mattress may be in order if you’ve outgrown your current one, either in size or comfort.  If you have a spouse who prefers a different type of mattress, consider getting the type of bed where each of you set the mattress to your perfect number.

Sleep Habit: Move Your Body Toward Sleep! Exercise may be the medicine you need to engage in a deep slumber tonight.  Insomnia occurs less frequently in those who exercise on a regular basis for at least 20-30 minutes a day.

You don’t want to exercise near bedtime, but in the morning or afternoon instead.  Studies have shown that many sedentary individuals who suffered from insomnia found their sleep disorder disappeared once they began an exercise regimen.

When you exercise, you’re relieving tension and increasing your body’s production of endorphins.  You don’t have to exercise vigorously – a moderate walk is enough to aid you in your quest for sleep.

That’s all the Sleep Awareness Week Tips for today, join us again tomorrow!

As always, thanks for reading, and please, leave us your comments.

Thomas “Trapper” Sherwood; CMH
Certified Master Hypnotist
http://www.sleepsecretaudio.com

PS….follow me on twitter  http://www.twitter.com/trappersherwood or http://www.twitter.com/sleepsecret

Welcome to Tuesday,  and your Sleep Awareness Week Tip for today

Ideal Temperature: When creating a good sleep environment, you need to make sure you minimize any discomfort. Being too cold or too hot can disrupt a comfortable sleep and once disrupted (for a person with a sleep disorder) it may be difficult to get back into a deep slumber.

Keeping the room at a constant, ideal temperature will help you get and stay asleep. While it’s debatable as to what the best temperature is, it can be agreed upon that anything about 75 degrees Fahrenheit is too warm and anything below 54 degrees, too cold.

Try a median between 60–70 degrees (65) as a compromise, but the deciding factor should be you personally and what you find to be “ideal.”  If you keep kicking the covers off or shivering yourself awake, adjust the temperature until it’s just right – and make note of what that number is for you.

Your two for Tuesday Sleep Habit tip is:

Sleep  Habit : Just Say “No” to Stimulants! You might recognize you have trouble sleeping, but don’t even think that 24-ounce Coca Cola you had at 9 PM could be the cause.

Caffeine, as well as other stimulants like electronic gadgets (video games, Television, and the Internet) can all contribute to your sleeplessness.  Avoid products like alcohol, tobacco, chocolate, and sodas during the evening hours – save them for the daytime when you’re telling your body it’s okay to be alert and awake.

That’s all for Sleep Awareness Week Tips for today

Tomorrow is “Hump Day” join us for more tips!

Thomas “Trapper” Sherwood; CMH
Certified Master Hypnotist
http://www.sleepsecretaudio.com

Anxiety, stress, jet lag, a medical condition – all could be causes of a sleep disorder or impairment. While treatment of such problems will vary from person to person, a good sleep environment is never a bad idea.

By creating such an environment, it could prove the necessary first step on your road to a better night’s sleep (and all the positive effects that come with it). Here is your first of five essentials tips we will be bringing you all this week to keep in mind when creating your own “good sleep environment.”

1. Keep the Bedroom a Place of Rest: These days, many of us have notebook computers, wireless Internet, and other mobile devices that make it possible for us to transform any room into an office.

But if you suffer from a sleep disorder, make sure you keep your bedroom a bedroom – a place of rest away from work and play. Don’t allow the bedroom to become an office, a playroom, or a TV room. Those who suffer from sleep disorders need to eliminate all distractions in the form of noise, light, or activity.

To go along with your Sleep Environment Tips this week, we are also going to include some sleep habit tips.

Sleep  Habit #1: Stick to a Schedule!  If you’re trying to go to bed at 8 PM one night and 2 AM the next, your poor body can’t get on a steady cycle of sleep.  It needs a routine so that it can differentiate between daytime tasks and nighttime rest.

Those who get in bed at the same time each night and wake up on schedule each morning program their bodies to relax, like a science!  If you want to include naps in your schedule, make sure they’re at the same time each day, too.  Just be aware that naps can impede your nighttime sleep if they’re too long.

Thomas “Trapper” Sherwood: CMH
Certified Master Hypnotist
http://www.sleepsecretaudio.com

Greetings,

Sleep Awareness Week starts this week, and also, I wanted to make you aware that we change clocks to Daylights Saving Time, Saturday March 20th 2010.

Please book mark this page and return often not only this week, but throughout the year as we always have some type of sleep issue that we cover.

This week we will focus on some “How To Tips.”

Anything from the essentials to getting a good night’s sleep, to also good sleeping habits, to clearing insomnia from your life.

Remember, not every sleep tip we mention will work for everyone.  The solution is to find what works, and maybe a combination of a few, works for you.  Sometimes you may have to make lifestyle changes, try to keep a sleep journal,(as mentioned in a previous post here), and seek out help from your doctor if signs and symptoms worsen.

To a good night’s sleep, and remember to change your clocks back for Daylights Savings Time March 20th, 2010

Sincerely,

Thomas “Trapper” Sherwood; CMH
Certified Master Hypnotist
http://sleepsecretaudio.com

I want you to take a second and visualize closing your eyes for just a few minutes and gaining all the amazing benefits you get from a full eight hours of sleeping.

This probably perked up your curiosity huh?

You could most likely go clubbing long after the roosters crowed. Or shuffle your time between two high-paying jobs without worrying exactly how many hours of sleep you can get in approximately.

Do you understand what circadian rhythm is? Circadian rhythm is simply our internal 24-hour biological clock. Therefore, the Circadian Rhythm Sleep Disorders are those linked to the time of sleep within any 24-hour period. Sometimes these disorders are brought about by instances controllable by the individual like shift work or change in time zones. Some though, are because of other factors like neurological mechanisms.

One very frequent type of the Circadian Rhythm Sleep Disorder is the Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome (DSPS). This disorder is characterized by a delay of a person’s sleeping time; insomnia or sleepiness; inability to wake up at a specific time; depression is possibly evident;especially if this has been ongoing for three months.

Since that these affected individuals are considered “owls” or “night people”, they work best and are in their best mood in the later parts of the day. Some have attempted to “remedy” themselves of this disorder and have turned to sleeping pills to induce sleep. However, people have become dependent on the pills, so some experts have suggested meditation techniques.

As a person who has suffered with bouts of insomnia, and one not liking the potential side affects of sleeping pills or drugs, we recommend all natural ways to fall asleep at night.

What are your thoughts? Are prescription drugs like Ambien safe? Please leave me a comment, I’d love to hear from you.

Thomas “Trapper” Sherwood; CMH
Certified Master Hypnotist
http://mindvacationmeditation.com
http://sleepsecretaudio.com

PS…Is there anything that gives a promise of all the benefits of sleep in a fraction of the time. Try http://www.sleepsecretaudio.com An all natural way to fall asleep safely.

My good friend Mary McManus aka @gracefullady on Twitter where we met, was talking to me about how important it is for her to get sleep and rest.

Did you know she is a polio and post polio survivor, and a finisher in the Boston Marathon?

Fatigue is the number one symptom which she has to manage. She decided to keep a journal of her fatigue symptoms, ( I Highly recommend you do the same) to see if there was any correlation between the sleep and rest she was getting and the symptoms of fatigue.

Now while this may seem like a no brainer, many people do not pay attention to how they feel throughout the day. It is easy for the ‘tail to wag the dog’. People feel cranky, irritable, fatigued and so they reach for caffeine or chocolate or a quick fix never bothering to take the time to examine the root cause of feeling this way.

Mary began to notice that when she rested when her body said to stop, or took a quick power nap to refresh and when she slept well and for the number of hours she required, she did in fact have more energy throughout the day. She also noticed through keeping her journal that saying yes to a breakfast meeting and having to get up at 5:30 am even for one day, required a week of recovery time.

So she has decided to avoid early morning meetings and flights whenever possible.

She would not have this insight without keeping a journal and determining what her body needs to function at its optimal best.

Mary uses the Sleep Secret Audio to ensure that she gets a good night’s sleep and has the tools she needs to take power naps without waking up with that groggy, fuzzy, “where am I” feeling. By monitoring her fatigue levels as well as her moods, her ability to think clearly, and having the energy she needs to be her best through a ’sleep journal’, she discovered first hand how crucial it is to get a good night’s sleep and experience restorative rest.

Thomas “Trapper” Sherwood; CMH
Certified Master Hypnotist

PS… What is YOUR Sleep Journal telling you?

PPS…looking to optimize your sleep? Try our World Famous Sleep Secret Audio. Guaranteed to help you fall asleep FAST!
Visit http://www.sleepsecretaudio.com

I just came across this short, but informative article from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and wanted to share the information with you.

Did you know that regularly running short on sleep can easily make a child increase weight? Researchers found that in a look at data from the National Institutes of Health.

Julie Lumeng of the University of Michigan compared the amount of sleep kids got in the third grade with their weight in the sixth grade. Her study was in the journal Pediatrics.

“Children who were getting less sleep in the third grade were more likely to be overweight three years later in sixth grade, compared to the children who were getting more sleep.’”

Lumeng says that, for each added hour of sleep, the risk of overweight later falls about 40 percent. It’s another reason for kids to get enough sleep. And, Lumeng says, no TV in the bedroom – it makes it harder for the kid to go to sleep.

Something to think about. Your thoughts on this post?

Thomas “Trapper” Sherwood; CMH
Certified Master Hypnotist

PS…if your child is having problems falling asleep at night, give them the gift of the Sleep Secret Audio. The mp3 sleep audio can be listened through their ipod as they lay down at night, and the peaceful, serene music, and the guided words will help them drift off to sleep, and stay asleep. This is an all natural, and no drugs or pills solution to sleep loss. Check it out at http://www.sleepsecretaudio.com

Numerous of us may complain about not being capable to get to sleep on occasion but we may possibly not be dealing with insomnia. Insomnia is in reality a sleep dysfunction of itself which is portrayed by not being able to rest for much more than a a small amount of moments at a time. Insomniacs frequently are not able to sleep at all at night and it effects them in the course of the daytime as well. This can appear  in various  types. Transient insomnia generally last from a number of days to numerous months. Acute insomnia lasts for up to six months and is typically characterized by a lack of ability to be able to sleep well. Chronic insomnia last for many years and it can either be a disorder all of its own or it might be a symptom of an underlying dilemma.

The fact of the problem is, a lot of of individuals that think they have insomnia when they are in fact not dealing with this disorder at all. There are a lot of different sleep problems that we may be dealing with and unfortunately, it can be difficult to diagnose which one we have. For example, many of us have a difficult time sleeping because we are dealing with stressful situations for the duration of the day. It can be difficult to get our minds to stop dwelling on the stressful things whenever we lie down to go to sleep. Although this is frustrating and it certainly is a sleep disorder, it cannot be considered insomnia.

That is why it is imperative for us to understand what is causing our sleeping problems before we uncover out how to cure it. Depending on what is at the actual of the dilemma will make a big difference in what type of organic cure we attempt. Of course, it is always a good idea to try some relaxation methods, get some exercise and eat a well-balanced diet. All of these things are going to help you sleep better, regardless of whether you have insomnia or not.

If you want to cure your sleeping difficulty naturally, you should try keeping a sleep log for several weeks or perhaps even months. Recognizing the habits that are lurking behind your sleeping problems can go a long way in assisting you to detect the issue. Once you recognize what is at the root of the problem, you will no doubt be able to obtain a natural cure that will aid you to get the sleep that you have to have.

Thomas “Trapper” Sherwood; CMH
Certified Master Hypnotist

PS…For an all natural solution to your sleep loss problems, check out http://www.sleepsecretaudio.com These are mp3 audios that you listen to as you lay down at night and they will guide you in falling asleep and staying asleep. Guaranteed!