Aaah.. Poison Ivy. No, scratch that - I mean OW! Poison Ivy! Spoiling camping trips and nature hikes since the dawn of Man. And sleep. There is nothing worse than trying to sleep while dealing with the itchiness that poison ivy brings. Growing up in the rural midwest, this tiny, three-leafed plant is one of the first things us kids were taught to look out for when … [Read more...]

Qigong (pronounced Chi-Kung) is an ancient Chinese system of posturing techniques and breathing exercises designed to focus the body’s energy toward a specific purpose such as lowering anxiety, enhancing self-awareness, exercise, and as you probably could have guessed, the promotion of healthy sleep. In this article, we’ll explore the advantages of Qigong as a … [Read more...]

I’ve let my pets sleep on my bed with me for as long as I can remember. In fact, when I think back on my fondest childhood memories, the ones that I treasure most are the ones in which my dog would run downstairs to wake me up in the morning, sniffing my face and licking my ears, only to wind up falling asleep, himself, at the foot of my bed. How can you have a bad day … [Read more...]

able. Doing it five days a week for your entire adult life is just bullying yourself. Think about it. If you were to intentionally plan a bad day for yourself, would it start by waking up naturally, or by jolting awake to the most annoying sound in the world? I’m assuming the latter. Now, you may be saying to yourself, “that sounds great and all, but I have to be … [Read more...]

Let’s face it. All aspects of a broken arm suck. But there is one thing in particular that a broken arm can have a particularly negative impact on. Your sleep. As you lay yourself down, your arm will rest below the level of your heart, resulting in an increase in swelling, and along with it pain. And if there is one thing that can stop you from sleeping properly, it’s … [Read more...]

Toothaches are a painful annoyance no matter what time they strike. Unfortunately, most people find that their symptoms are worst at night when they’re trying to sleep. Why is this? The answer is simple: Blood circulation. When your body is lying flat, blood is better able to circulate toward the head and neck, increasing pressure and leaving sensitive … [Read more...]

As the old Turkish proverb goes: He who sleeps on the floor cannot fall out of bed. We’ve all slept on the floor at some point in our lives, perhaps during a camping trip, an all-nighter at a friend’s dorm, or maybe just the simple family get-together in a small house. And while the floor probably wasn’t your first choice in such occasions, many people … [Read more...]

Pillows and sleep go hand in hand. In fact, they’re so deeply rooted in the human sleep cycle that references to the comfy contrivance date back as far as 7000 B.C, when ancient Mesopotamians used stone blocks to prop their heads. Fortunately, we’ve come a long way since then, what with the manufacture of cloth and all, but the question remains: Do we even … [Read more...]

The history of the contact lens is a long, strange, and mostly uncomfortable one, with original lenses composed of hard glass that could only be worn for a few hours at a time. Fortunately, we’ve come a long way since then, and with the recent development of silicone hydrogel, contacts have become more thin and breathable than ever before, allowing for extended periods of … [Read more...]

A wise man once said: You don’t appreciate breathing out of both nostrils until one is taken from you. Isn’t that the truth? Few things in life are more frustrating than trying to sleep with a plugged nose. There’s just no sleep number specific enough, nor pillow sufficiently soft to outweigh the discomfort of a stuffed-up schnoz. Fortunately, when … [Read more...]