| More Ways to Get Quality Sleep Last week's Mind, Body, Spirit Newsletter covered four natural and effective ways to get to sleep. Today we present five additional tips for getting quality rest and sleep. - To minimize early waking, try to postpone the evening meal until after dusk and schedule some kind of stimulating activity in the early evening.
- If your mind is too active when you get into bed, you will not be able to fall asleep - no matter how tired you are. Learn and practice one or more relaxation techniques that can help you disengage from thoughts.
- Consider natural sleep aids. Valerian and melatonin are both effective remedies for occasional insomnia.
- Determine how much sleep is optimal for you. People vary in their need for sleep, from as little as four hours a night to as many as ten. Most require seven to eight hours, but ideal amounts can change over time. You can adjust your bedtime and see how you feel after sleeping for various amounts of time, or simply note how much you slept on days that feel right.
- If you do wake early, try to use the time productively. Read or write for an hour, then try to go back to sleep until morning. Think of the yin-yang symbol, which symbolizes harmony with a small dot of white on a black background and vice versa. Seen from this perspective, a period of nighttime wakefulness complements your daytime nap.
Meditation is simply directed concentration, and involves learning to focus your awareness and direct it onto an object: your breath, a phrase or word repeated silently, a memorized inspirational passage, or an image in the mind's eye. In addition to aiding rest and relaxation, the benefits of meditation are numerous - it can help lower blood pressure, decrease heart and respiratory rates, increase blood flow, enhance immune function, reduce perception of pain and relieve chronic pain due to arthritis and other disorders, maintain a level mood, and bring awareness and mindfulness to everyday aspects of life. SpontaneousHappiness.com focuses on meditation throughout its eight-week plan, with videos and articles and an exclusive weekend meditation practice. Start your 10-day free trial now and see if it's right for you! |
| Age Gracefully
It's not about the lines on the face - it's about the wisdom behind them. Rather than lamenting the passing of the years, celebrate what you have achieved, learned and earned, for your benefit and the benefit of others. Begin today - start your 14-day free trial of Dr. Weil on Healthy Aging now! |
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