How to Get the Most Out of Your Sleep

Do you wake up in the morning tired, groggy, and moody? Do you envy people who are chirpy and happy in the morning when you are feeling the blues? Well, know that the quality of your sleep and emotional wellbeing are correlated. Researchers agree that the deeper and longer we sleep, the more physically active, productive, and emotionally stable we are the following day.

During sleep, your body relaxes and works on recuperating and repairing itself and the brain to give you the energy required for the following day. When you toss, turn, and struggle to fall asleep, you essentially cut short your sleep cycle and diminishing the opportunity for your body to repair itself.

So, how can you get the most out of your sleep? Consider the following seven tips and enjoy better sleep at night and improve how you feel during the day.

Establish A Consistent Sleeping Cycle

Your body’s internal clock, known as the circadian rhythm, releases hormones to induce sleep or wakefulness and repeats this cycle approximately every 24 hours. When we sleep, our bodies go through stages of sleep, from ‘dozing off’ to deep sleep to wakefulness. For your body and brain to rejuvenate, you need to have slept through these sleep stages. Therefore, establish a consistent sleep routine of when to go to sleep and when to wake up. The schedule will help you regulate your sleep-wake cycle and promote quality sleep. Sticking to this routine is essential to getting the most out of your sleep.

Expose yourself to Early Morning sunlight

Getting enough sunlight between 8 am and 10 am can be effective in increasing your sleep quality. Early morning sunlight influences your body’s internal clock and helps to regulate your sleep pattern and wakefulness.

Exercise For Better Sleep

Regular physical exercises done during the day can help you to sleep faster and more soundly. Aerobic exercises promote the production of serotonin, a hormone that stabilizes your emotions and decreases stress hormones. After you exercise, you feel tired. As your body temperature cools down, you feel drowsy and fall asleep faster when you go to bed.

Exercising stimulates endorphins hormones which increase brain activity and can keep you awake. So, avoid engaging in vigorous exercises 60 to 90 minutes before going to bed.

Consume Lighter Meals at Night

Avoid eating a large meal late at night as it can slow down your body’s metabolism and increase the likelihood of you tossing and turning at night. Having a light meal for dinner, at least 2 or 3 hours before your bedtime, will assist to slow down your body’s metabolism in preparation for sleep.

Therapy for Better Sleep

There are different therapies that can help us sleep better. One of them is called “white noise therapy.” This means listening to soothing sounds like rain or gentle waves, which can cover up other noises that might disturb our sleep. Another helpful therapy is “aromatherapy.” This involves using pleasant-smelling oils like lavender to help our minds and bodies relax. A newer option that’s gaining attention is red light therapy. This therapy uses special low-intensity red lights. These lights have been found to influence our body’s natural sleep hormone called melatonin. Normally, our bodies produce more melatonin when it’s dark, making us feel sleepy. Red light therapy can actually encourage the production of melatonin even when it’s not dark, which can be useful if you struggle with falling asleep.

Avoid Caffeine and Nicotine That Interfere with Sleep

Avoid taking any caffeine or nicotine drinks or products at least four to six hours before going to bed. The stimulating effects of caffeine (found in coffee, tea, and carbonated fluids) and nicotine (found in tobacco products) take hours to wear off and affect the quality of your sleep.

Create a Relaxing Atmosphere

Ensure that your bedroom is dark, quiet, relaxing and maintains cool temperatures. Consider removing electronics like the TV, computers, mobile phones from your bedroom. If your room is not dark enough, hang up blackout curtains, or wear an eye mask to block light.

Invest In a Good Mattress

A good firm mattress and pillow impact your quality of sleep. If you already don’t have comfortable bedding, get the best mattress in a box to improve the quality of your sleep. Check out Chiropractor approved mattresses to assure the soundest sleep.

Conclusion

Since sleep is a big part of how you spend your life, take back control of improving the quality of your sleep. Implement some or all the above suggestions and improve your sleep, brighten your emotions, productivity, and mental health.

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About The Author

Taylor Parker is an American based writer and blogger. She is very passionate about family, fashion, health, and lifestyle. Taylor writes mostly lifestyle articles, but also you’ll find her in home improvement and other niches. You can follow her on Facebook and Twitter

9 Reasons Why Getting a Good Night’s Sleep Is Good for Your Health

According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, most adults need at least seven hours of good-quality sleep every night for good health and overall well-being. Unfortunately, many people have no qualms sacrificing precious hours of sleep when they’re having fun or trying to beat deadlines. They regard sleep as a luxury, thinking that what they can gain from limiting their hours of shut-eye is more important than the cost of insufficient sleep.

Perhaps you are one of those who easily give up sleep because you’re busy with so many things. If so, you may want to think twice. Take note that poor quality sleep and not sleeping long enough, especially over a long period, can impact your physical, mental, and psychological health more than you realize.

On the contrary, getting enough high-quality sleep offers numerous benefits that could help you live a better and more productive life. Indeed, it’s a good idea to start investing in high-quality womens sleepwear and adopting other healthy sleep habits. From reducing stress and improving memory to boosting immunity and minimizing the risk of developing severe medical conditions, here are several reasons why getting a good night’s sleep can be beneficial to your health:

Sleep Improves Learning and Memory

Getting adequate sleep is essential when learning something new and strengthening the memories you’ve formed in your waking hours. One sleep study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) found that getting a good night’s rest before learning is beneficial for preparing the brain to absorb new information and form memories. When studying or learning a new skill, getting a full night of sleep within 24 hours after is also vital for retaining new information.

When you get insufficient sleep, you are unknowingly reducing your learning ability by as much as 40 percent. It’s worth noting that lack of sleep significantly affects the hippocampus, which is the part of the brain that plays a crucial role in learning and memory.

Sleep Can Alleviate Stress

When you get enough high-quality sleep every night, your mind and body are well-rested, giving you more energy and increased mental clarity. That means you are in a better position to tackle any stressful situations you may encounter during the day.

In contrast, inadequate sleep causes your body to go on heightened alert. As a result, your blood pressure increases, your body releases more stress hormones, and the vicious cycle of stress and lack of sleep begins. Simply put: stress leads to insufficient sleep, and the loss of sleep leads to more stress.

Sleep Can Support Your Body’s Immune System

You know full well that when your body gets enough rest, your immune system has more strength to fight off infections and other diseases. That is why you hardly ever suffer from colds and flu when you sleep adequately. A recent study published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine further reinforced the positive benefits of sound sleep in improving immunity.

The findings of the said study indicate that sleep can boost the function of immune cells known as T cells, especially when it comes to activating integrins. Integrins are a sticky type of protein, and they play a crucial role in a successful immune response. Researchers found that, compared to the T cells of those who stayed awake throughout the night, the T cells of people who slept soundly showed higher levels of integrin activation.

Sleep Can Reduce the Risk of Diabetes

Diabetes is a disease that affects the body’s ability to properly process sugar (glucose) from food, resulting in the accumulation of extra sugar in the bloodstream. Left untreated, it can lead to harmful consequences, including damage to major organs and tissues.

In the U.S., diabetes is known to affect over 30 million Americans. If you want to lessen your chances of developing this medical condition, getting sufficient and good-quality sleep every night can help significantly.

Multiple studies have shown how decreased sleep duration or quality may increase the risk of having or developing diabetes. For instance, a 2006 study published in JAMA Internal Medicine found that sleep loss is linked to increased diabetes risk. Improving length and quality of sleep has also been found to improve blood sugar control and mitigate the effects of type 2 diabetes.

Sleep Makes You More Resistant to the Common Cold

The common cold is the leading cause of school and work absences across the country. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), adults experience an average of two to three colds annually. Although there is no known cure for this viral infection, you can practice healthy habits to make you less susceptible to colds, like getting enough hours of sleep.

This is further supported by a recent study led by a professor from Carnegie Mellon University. According to their findings, people who averaged less than seven hours of sleep every night were three times more likely to develop cold symptoms when exposed to the cold virus. Meanwhile, individuals who sleep for eight hours or more were less likely to experience the same. Moreover, those who got sufficient and good quality sleep were also least likely to suffer from the common cold.

Sleep Can Keep You from Gaining Weight

You may not realize it, but a good night’s sleep is a significant factor in preventing weight gain. People who get less than six hours of sleep every night are more likely to have excess body weight compared to those who get around eight hours of sleep.

As you may know, lack of sleep causes numerous changes in the body, including an increase in ghrelin and a decrease in leptin levels. Ghrelin is the hormone that triggers feelings of hunger, while leptin is responsible for making you feel full. Essentially, you have increased appetite and reduced feelings of fullness when you fail to get enough sleep. That means you will most likely engage in excessive eating to satisfy your hunger.

Sleep Is Good for the Heart

Heart disease is the number one cause of death in the country. CDC statistics show that one person dies every 36 seconds because of it.

If you want to keep your heart healthy, you cannot afford to keep sleeping less than the required hours each night. In fact, a 2008 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that even reducing your sleep to six hours per night can be dangerous. The short sleep duration increases the risk of coronary artery calcification, which is a predictor of future heart attacks and deaths caused by heart ailments.

Sleep Improves Your Mood

Perhaps your own experience is enough for you to appreciate the role of good sleep in improving your mood. Think about the last time you spent a night tossing and turning in bed. Perhaps you were more irritable, anxious, or even stressed.

Now compare that experience to the times when you were able to get adequate and satisfying sleep. Odds are, you felt more relaxed and happy. After all, it is relatively easy to deal with life’s minor nuisances and challenges if your mind and body are well-rested and you have sufficient energy.

Sleep Heals Your Body

While it may seem like your body is doing nothing as you sleep, it’s actually hard at work attending to physiological issues during this period. For one, your brain releases hormones that support tissue growth to mend blood vessels. This process helps to address sore and damaged muscles and heal wounds. A good night’s sleep also triggers the production of more white blood cells to combat pathogens that can deter healing. Good quality sleep also gives your body a much-needed break so that it can relax and recover.

The benefits discussed above are just some of the ways sleep contributes to good health. With all of this information in mind, one thing is clear: sleep is essential to a healthy body and happy life. Hopefully, reading this article was enough to convince you to improve the duration and quality of your sleep.

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4 Ways in which Sleep is therapeutic

Alright, don’t judge me yet. Don’t tell me I am not a Doctor and I have no right or even the proper education to tell you about therapies for healthy living or best health practices. Well, all I can say is that I am a writer and it is my job to know, but most importantly, say certain things. The things I say are determined by so many factors, but common of them is how well I have slept and what argument I just had with a friend or family member. The last case I had was about “sleep junkies” and the benefits it has to them. I’ll begin this article with a story of myself. While I was in high school, I developed this knack for staying up late, and most times, never sleeping. Now, there were two main problems, firstly, at that age, we think that staying up all night is the cool thing to do and the second; bad habits crawl up to you unknowingly and just become part of your system. These practices enter deep inside us till they become living standards. On the other hand, a couple of my friends in college were “sleep junkies,” and my sleepless-self envied them. Over time, I noticed that my lack of sleep was detrimental to my being and it stifled me on so many occasions; I even resulted to getting addicted to caffeine, anything to help me stay up but while this was going on, my friends were living their normal life. So, after some weeks of research I discovered my favorite mattresses through sleepjunkie, and i also discovered the following;

Sleep reduces anxiety and depression

Whenever there are little amounts of sleep, a person I very likely to suffer from depression, paranoia, and anxiety. All these are induced by the lack of sleep. Also, too much sleep could be a sign of depression on its own as it shows that the person is trying to avoid contact with people and would rather be alone. Either way, both extremes are very wrong. Lack of sleep could also have other signs such as anger and quick temperament. Sleep is a remedy because it enables complete rest of the entire body to occur, it is the time when there is enough replenishment of energy in the body.

Enough sleep helps us maintain a high level of consciousness whenever we are awake

A lot of accidents occur when the level of consciousness we are supposed to have is down. A lot of the time, his reduction is caused by lack of sleep. Because, when you deprive your body of sleep, the body fights back to send signals to your brain informing you that there is a need for some rest. If you don’t pay heed to these warnings, the body might go into a state where it is trying to sleep. When this happens, there might be a very brief moment where our level of consciousness is reduced.

General wellbeing

If you feel like you have a sleep condition, which stops you from getting good quality sleep each night, it’s best to consult your doctor right away. Snoring or having difficulty breathing during sleep are common symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea, hindering your body from getting the right amount of oxygen it needs during sleep.

Doctors often prescribe oxygen or continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy through the right type of CPAP machine to treat this condition. This comes with a mask that delivers oxygen to your lungs and opens up your airways. In turn, this helps alleviate your symptoms and gives you a proper rest at night.

The importance of rest and sleep can be overlooked, but it shouldn’t be. Sleep ensures the body and all its part function correctly, thereby making sure the person is up to his/her daily task(s). If you are busy during the day, sleep at night. If you are active at night, sleep during the day. In whatever situation, try your possible best to get enough sleep.

Build Your Health by Building a Better Lifestyle

As it is always said that health is wealth, you should always try your best to keep your body healthy. A healthy person looks confident, good, and puts their wellbeing first.. Those who do not practice self care often have mood swings and aren’t able to maintain their body weight. A healthy body generally means a body maintained with good nutrition and regular exercise, unlike the one stuffed with harmful food and supplements.

People try various types of healthy foods and supplements to keep their body fit, and also if a person has a healthy body there are various benefits like –

• Helps reduce weight – A person who is overweight may have various types of diseases like heart disease, type 2 diabetes, poor bone density, cancer, etc. A person with overweight should always eat healthy food that includes vegetables, fruits, beans, and foods that are low in calories.

• Improves heart health – If you don’t include healthy food in your diet, then it may lead to high blood pressure or hypertension. This can further lead to diseases like heart failure, heart attack, or stroke. So it is necessary to eat healthy food and supplements to keep your body healthy.

• Reduces the risk of cancer – Eating oily food daily can increase the risk of cancer. In contrast, daily exercise and eating food containing antioxidants can reduce a person’s risk of diagnosing cancer. If a person is overweight, then there are many chances that he could be diagnosed with cancer. So a person should have balanced body weight to reduce the risk of cancer.

• Better mood – Tempermant matters and a healthier person has an improved mood and confidence. An unhealthy person often deals with low self-esteem. He or she feels shy and under-confident in public and always thinks that others will make fun of him. All such thoughts may lead to depression, irritation, and sadness in a person.

• Improves memory of a person – A healthy diet helps in maintaining brain health of a person. A person should include vitamin D, vitamin C, Vitamin E, fish, omega – 3 fatty acids, flavonoids, and polyphenols to improve his memory.

• Strong bones and teeth – If a person includes calcium and magnesium in his diet, it will keep his bones and teeth strong. Healthy bones of a person reduce the risk of bone issues in later life like osteoporosis.

• Helps in diabetes management – Healthy diet manages blood glucose level, keeps blood pressure and cholesterol level within target ranges, prevents complications of diabetes, and maintains moderate body weight. A person with diabetes should limit the intake of sugar and salt in their diet. They should also avoid fried foods that are high in saturated and Trans fats.

As health is one of the most important parts of human life and everyone should try something or the other to keep their body healthy, which is free from diseases. People should also try to have glowing skin that is pimple-free as it can easily enhance their looks.

Some people try various types of food supplements that include diverse food items recommended by websites to maintain their body weight. They also try different types of oils and products to get glowing and healthy skin. But in the end, what happens is that they don’t get the desired results because of which they feel dissatisfied, and it also causes irritation in a person, which results in negative health of a person.

On the internet, you can find a number of sites that will give you various types of health advice. But the best one you should always go for is Nifty Lifestyle as they provide you advice related to natural supplements, healthy nutrition, and general wellness. If you choose Nifty Wellness Lifestyle, you will get the right and accurate information regarding what type of foods and supplements you should eat to keep your body healthy.

Here are some tips that you can follow for a healthy and fit lifestyle:

Exercise Daily:

Make sure you exercise daily for at least an hour. You don’t have to be tough on yourself by running, cycling, etc., but you should have some type of moderate-level physical exercise. If you want to lose some weight quickly, then you need to do a higher-level exercise. For example, you can walk at a brisk pace for at least an hour or jog and set specific intervals to spring during that hour.

Keep in mind that the exercise doesn’t harm or cause pain to your muscles. Also, remember that when you start high-intensity exercise for the first time, it will cause a little ache in your muscles. It may be irritating at times, but it also shows that your body is changing for the better. Make sure to keep yourself hydrated, stretch at regular intervals, and eat food with a decent amount of protein after your workout.

Consume Right Food and Portion Each Meal:

No matter how badly you are tempted to eat candy or sweets, try to stay away from them. This is because the sugar in candy or sweets will not help you to get in shape. Even it is just a single candy, one will lead to another. If you want to get in shape, you will need to focus on fruits and vegetables as they provide the right amount of nutrition to your body. For example, apples are great at keeping your stomach full for up to three to four hours. Additionally, greens vegetables like broccoli and green beans keep your digestive system clean and running.

Track your calories and food intake per day:

Knowing the number of calories you eat will help you plan the exercise for the day. Have you ever wondered why body builder’s masses are so big? That is because they are serious about their meals and healthy calorie intake. Contrarily, if you want to lose weight and get in the right shape, then you need to exercise more than your calorie intake.

Get enough sleep:

It is essential to get enough sleep to recharge your body’s batteries, so make sure you get at least eight of sleep daily. Besides, if you feel tired after coming from work, you can take a small nap before exercising. Make sure you nap for only half an hour as it will prevent you from staying up later at night.

How to Care for Ourselves in Uncertain Times

By now you might be tired of the “home-improvement” mantras that are flying around.

“Now you have time, how about you lose some weight, start a new workout routine, get a degree in meditation or how about clinical psychology?”

Yup, we can forget that we are in forced quarantine and not on a voluntary extended vacation. I can understand the desire to make sense of the craziness we are collectively experiencing right now to be productive despite the change of workflow and to use the new-found time that some are experiencing for something of value. But we are also experiencing a lot of loss around this quarantine. The loss of our routines, our freedom, perhaps weddings or other events, maybe even our health or the health of loved ones. It is a time that has brought up all sorts of emotions- fear, sadness, frustration and boredom. To pretend that all this is not happening would be to deny our real emotions and human experience.

And yet there is something to be said for the importance of keeping ourselves safe and sane during this time. And part of keeping ourselves safe is keeping ourselves healthy. There may be much that we cannot control right now but thankfully this is something we can control!

Eat clean–

It’s not about your weight, it’s about nourishing yourself mind and body. Our food choices not only impact our weight, but impact our health and just as important right now, our mood!

Opt for lots of colors- eating a variety of fruits and veggies will provide you with all the different vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that help keep you healthy. Also studies show a higher consumption of fruits and veggies have a lower incidence of depression.
Consider 2 servings of fatty fish like salmon in your diet per week which is a lean source of protein and has omega fatty acids that can boost mood
Opt for good carbs like grains and beans that help stabilize blood sugar in place of processed carbs that give you a short term energy boost followed by a crash.

Remember that this is not an all or nothing proposition. You don’t need to do everything all the time in order to reap its benefits. Do your best, when you can, knowing it is the best thing for you.

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5 Rituals to Help You Sleep Like a Goddess

How To Sleep Like A Dream…

Sleep Like a Goddess

We know how much professionals stress the importance of having a balanced diet, drinking enough water and having plenty of quality sleep.

And although you pay attention that you eat enough greens and that you have your water bottle with you at all times, you can easily forget to pay attention to the quality of your sleep. This may affect you negatively in different ways, from feeling fatigued to experiencing breakouts.

In order to avoid all of this, we bring you five rituals that will help you sleep, feel, and look like a true goddess.

Enjoy a cup of herbal tea before bed

A delicious, warm drink will help your body, as well as your mind, disconnect and relax. You can opt for chamomile, valerian root or another herbal tea with a calming effect, or you can even make an interesting blend of several different herbs. Pour some hot water in your favorite mug and let the tea rest while you take your makeup off. Then slip into a pair of comfy pajamas and enjoy your hot beverage while you slowly detach yourself from all the stress of the day. Only when you feel at ease and calm will you be able to experience a night of good-quality sleep.

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Features for the Best Couple-Friendly Mattress

Something that oftentimes gets overlooked when a couple decides to live together is what is the best, most quality mattress for both individuals to get optimal rest. Let’s face it, every couple needs a mattress for the most exciting of bedroom activities (*wink*) and oh yeah some good sleep.

Choosing a mattress for a couple is a different ball game because it must be perfectly suited to the couple and of course ensure they can enjoy their sex life.

Here are 5 important features you should look for when shopping for a couple-friendly mattress.

1. Firmness

A common dilemma with couples when it comes to choosing the right mattress is the difference in the desired sleep position. One might be a back sleeper, the other a side sleeper. This can result in a need for a different firmness preference.

It is going to be pretty difficult to change how one partner sleeps because they’ve probably slept that way their entire lifetime. Therefore, while trying to purchase a couple-friendly mattress, look out for dual firmness. This way, the mattress will support the body in every sleeping posture.

Motion isolation

Some people are very sensitive to the slightest movement during their sleep. When a partner shifts in bed at night, they might end up waking the other partner.

The need for a mattress that isolates noise and motion on the bed, or at least keeps it to a minimum, is best for these couples. Also, a mattress with good motion isolation are often the best beds for sex (SleepDelivered.com).

Weight limit

Weight limit of mattresses should be considered in purchasing a couple-friendly mattress because exceeding the weight limit of a mattress can cause damages to the bed; which eventually reduces the overall lifespan of your mattress. In most cases, couples go for mattresses with a weight limit of at least 600 pounds. Also, if the kids will be sleeping with the couple (when they arrive) then, consider going for mattresses with a higher weight limit.

Support

Support is similar to firmness, although a bit different. While firmness indicates how soft or hard a bed is, support indicates the ability of your mattress to maintain a flat and surface which eventually assists sleepers in alleviating pressure from their spines. A mattress that lacks support often leads to the sagging right in the middle of the mattress. This further increases the chances of back pain. So, it is advisable to go for mattresses that provide adequate support.

Durability and ease of movement

In the course of your relationship with your partner, there are chances you might have to move from one house to another- and you obviously can’t leave your mattress behind. With regards to this, you should consider purchasing a mattress which can be easily moved around. Not only should that, couple-friendly mattresses should have the ability to last a long time (they should be durable). Durability takes away the need to buy another mattress in a short while. Good mattresses, if well maintained could last for 8-10 years. This kind of mattresses should be on top of your list.

Don’t forget to do proper research before shopping for a new mattress. The reason is simple: a good mattress means good sleep and good sleep means more energy to have fun with your partner.

Going To Bed Angry Is Better For Your Relationship In The Long Run

It’s a universal truth that every couple argues. Some couples argue a lot, some couples argue a little – my boyfriend and I argue more than we do anything else. But, overall, every couple goes through their own problems from time to time. There is no such thing as a “perfect relationship,”—everyone has their sh*t.

When we argue with our SO in our relationship, we’ve been socially constructed to solve the problems that come about right then and there—never giving ourselves a break or time to process any thoughts or changes. We’ve been told that if we truly care about our relationship, we’ll fight tooth and nail to make it work and make it better. We have to find a way to figure it out and we have to do it right then and there.

I’m sure you’ve heard of the saying “never go to bed angry.”

Basically, that saying is as old as the nature of love and marriage. As time has progressed, society has progressed. We’re constantly on—working, running around, trying to do everything in the small frame of 24 hours that we have. We don’t usually have time to decompress and relax. When we have long days, we yearn to come home to our SO and enjoy our time with them, getting that “break” we truly need.

When that break ends in explosions and fights, it’s almost impossible for us not to get frustrated. The real issue is that society tells us, when we argue with our significant other, we should do whatever we can to solve it and not let ourselves leave without solving the issue at hand.

People think that if you stay up all night long trying to solve problems, it proves some big notion that you care about your relationship enough to lose sleep over it and that means your relationship is strong and resilient and rainbows/butterflies/sunshine-y great.

I call bullsh*t.

When you fight with your SO, it’s healthy to go to bed angry.

I’m serious. Think about it like this—

When you fight with your SO about something important, it takes a lot of energy out of you to argue back and forth with them. Many of times when you disagree, it’s more than just a little thing – there’s a lot of depth to your argument which means, there’s a lot to talk about. The more you talk, the later it gets.

Ever stay up talking to someone super late at night and realize after a while, you stop making sense? You start to become so overtired that your mind is working on overdrive, you start to get foggy and it’s super hard to think clearly and maintain a solid thought process.

If you’re arguing with your SO, you’ll want to have your foundation solid and strong – but, if you argue into the late, late hours of the night, you’ll probably end up making things worse not better. You’ll be so exhausted that your argument will start to sound insane and your mind will start to clutter.

Now, if you choose to sleep on it, instead of arguing all night long, it’ll help in many ways. By allowing both you and your SO to “sleep on it,” you give each other time to process the argument and what happened/what went wrong. Many of times, this allows you and your SO to better understand the other’s argument and stance, which means, you may come into the next conversation with a new, compromising and calm perspective.

As well, you’ll have a clear head and a better sense of your emotions – you may decide you and your partner can agree to disagree and move on from the argument at hand. You may decide that there are ways to meet in the middle and make both of you happy. But, you wouldn’t have realized all of these things at 4 a.m. after you’d been fighting for five hours.

So, if you find yourself disagreeing with your SO and it goes on into the late night – give yourself a break. Get some rest, sleep on it, allow yourself to detox from the arguments and get some rest. I promise you in the morning, you will thank me.

A Guide to Choosing A Mattress For Couples

Choosing A Mattress Together

There are few things that are more essential to the health and well-being of a couple than sleep. If you have problems sleeping you could find that this translates into problems in your daily life and your relationship. As sleep is important for proper functioning it is important that you have a mattress which is comfortable and sturdy. To ensure that you are getting the right mattress you need to consider certain factors.

Things To Consider Before Buying

One of the points to consider before buying is that there is enough space. While this may seem like an obvious point, couples should be sleeping on queen or king-sized beds and not doubles. Most couples will start with a full-size mattress, but this is actually too narrow for 2 people and will result in disturbances during the night. These disturbances from movement can reduce the duration and frequency of deep sleep which is something that you need.

So, If your kiddos and your pets tend to climb into your bed leaving you no room, you may consider buying a mattress that’s larger than a king size. Yes, they do exist!

You and your partner should also have a discussion about what you both need from your new mattress. Your new mattress is one of the most important buys of your new home and both of you will need to be comfortable with it. You should consider how soft or firm the mattress needs to be. It is important that you find a common happiness before you buy the bed.

But before anything else, you need to have a budget in mind. Although crucial for your sleep health and overall well-being, a mattress shouldn’t break the bank. The best you can do is look for an affordable mattress taking into consideration the type of material, firmness, sleeping positions, etc.

If you are unable to agree then you will need to compromise. If you want a soft bed while your partner wants a firm on you will need to look at other options. It is possible to get a mattress that is plush firm, cushion firm or medium firm. There are also some mattresses that offer different firmness on the two sides. Of course, the most economical option would be to get a mattress pad for one side of the bed.

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12 Things To Know Before Dating A Professional Napper

They don’t call napping a profession for nothing. It’s not just a skill, it’s a lifestyle in which you learn to appreciate the impeccable beauty of short term sleep.

Which is why there are a few things to know when dating someone who is one of the chosen professional nappers out there:

We will fall asleep during our alone time. Cuddling or watching TV together, especially when we watch TV with you. About ten minutes into the show or movie (usually movies), you’ll probably hear our soft snores. So make sure it’s your favorite TV show or film so you’re opened to watching it again…and again…and again.
Do not interrupt our nap time. Please. It is a vital time for us and unless you want to see our wrath, do not mess around with our naps. Just don’t do it. Seriously.
Unless you want to join us in our nap time. In that case, you’re a keeper.
But be careful when you do…because than we’ll have a time when we take a nap together for what’s supposed to be twenty minutes, but wake up four hours later feeling like we’re in the next century.
If we’ve suddenly stopped texting you…don’t panic because it’s not you, we’re probably just taking a nap. Just wait a few hours.
That also goes for dates. Of course we won’t do this all the time, but there will be few times where we cancel or postpone dates because we just gotta have that nap and unless you want to have a date with a cranky person who’s having trouble surviving human interactions, I suggest you allow it.
And if we happen to be late to places. Blame it on the nap.
Try not to be alarmed when we wake up…because I can guarantee you we’ll be looking like a chia pet. In addition…
Make sure to have a snack or two…because there is a such things as nap munchies that are arguably as strong as weed munchies and bare in mind that twix ain’t got nothin on pringles.
We’ll be a bit jealous of your ability to do errands without taking a nap first or even afterwards. A little bit. Like a tiny bit.
We’ve added your body to the list of places to take naps on. Bed, couches, carpet floor, your stomach, etc. But beware, there will be drool. Lots of drool.
There’s so much we want to do with you…but we’ll just settle for a nap. Join us.