Snoring

Sleeping near a person who snores can seriously interrupt sleep. “If only the snoring would stop,” you think. Then it does. Peaceful as it is, that’s not always a healthy sign. Snoring is related to a condition known as sleep apnea.

If you have sleep apnea, your nighttime breathing is interrupted and doesn’t return promptly. Sleep apnea can be a life threatening condition. The airflow into your body is delayed by more than 10 seconds.

That may not sound like much, but it’s a serious situation. This breathing interruption can happen up to five times in an hour during sleep.  If you snore loudly and nightly, you’re at higher risk for sleep apnea than the occasional snorer.

Other signs of sleep apnea are episodes of daytime fatigue and emotional distress or skill deficits when you’re tired. Sleep apnea seems to start most often in middle age and afflicts more men than women.

Risk factors for sleep apnea are:

1. Overweight by more than 120% of your appropriate body weight

1. Large neck girth. That’s determined by using a tape measure. The danger level is 17” or greater for men and 16” or greater for women.

1. Hypertension whether treated or untreated by medication

1. Narrow nasal passages

A medically supervised sleep study is needed to diagnose sleep apnea.  A home monitor can be used for children as well as adults to monitor breathing interruptions.  You have a number of options for treating sleep apnea.

You can be fitted for a dental appliance, an orthodontia device that you wear at night. Basically this appliance changes the tongue placement so that the airway is clear for breathing.

Losing weight is also important to moderating sleep apnea. Along with losing weight, you need to be in an exercise program. Many people report that their sleep apnea completely disappears once they lose weight and get back to a normal, healthy range.

Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) masks are worn over the nose and mouth to force air into the nasal passages in a continuous flow. This may not be the most comfortable way to sleep, but it has been highly effective and most people get used to the machine and rely on it to deliver a good night’s sleep.

If all else fails, there are surgical procedures such as widening the palate, restructuring nasal cavities or taking out the tonsils to aid in a sleep apnea disorder.  Make sure you don’t ignore your snoring and mistake it as something harmless because if it’s sleep apnea, you’re putting your life at risk!

Teens Body Clock

Everyone knows that teens are hard to rouse in the mornings. Getting them up in time for school is an ongoing battle and at the weekends you may not see them until dinner time. Where is the bubbly little kid that woke you at dawn only a few years ago?

Lately scientists have been telling us that teenagers have a different diurnal rhythm than the rest of us. They say that their sleep hormone, melatonin kicks in later than ours does  and that is why they stay up later and sleep in as long as they can in the morning. Yet they also tell us, teens require an average of 9.5 hours sleep a night. So they are continually sleep deprived and its all because of their body clock.

Do you believe in this? I have to say I am highly skeptical. Has it occurred to the researchers that the body clock is pushed forward because the teenagers retire late and sleep late in the morning? Going to bed late is exactly what causes this problem in anyone, not just in teens.

If teenagers are different from the rest of us how come this didn’t happen in years gone by? I went to a boarding school where we were woken at 6.30 am and went to bed at 9.00 pm throughout our teens. No- one  suffered from sleep deprivation and neither did we have trouble falling asleep when lights went out!

So I don’t buy it I am afraid. Teens need to be sent to bed in reasonable time and parents must ensure they turn off the lights, the computer, the cell phone and anything else that might stop their kid from going to sleep. Just like they did when their child was younger.

Sleep deprivation in teens must not be ignored as it will cause problems if not dealt with.  It can be the cause of  depression or moodiness and will severely impact on schoolwork.  If they are drivers they are very likely to have an accident by falling asleep at the wheel.

By setting a reasonable bed time and getting up time the teenager will not get sleep deprived and will regulate their body clock more easily. Don’t allow them to stay up all night at the weekend either as that will simply cause a problem on Monday. Make sure they go to bed in time to get their 9.5 hours sleep every night. You will find them much easier to live with if you do.

Do you know what binaural beats are? I see that this term is being written about more these days and often without any real explanation. So I will have a go at filling that gap.

Binaural beats are a way of delivering sounds to induce brainwave entrainment. Brainwave entrainment is fully explained here: Magnetic Sounds but briefly it is the process by which sound is used to guide the brain’s electrical pulses into a new rhythm. In the case of insomnia brainwave entrainment can guide the brain’s pulses into the rhythm of sleep. You see when we are sleeping our brainwaves are pulsing at a different rate than when we are awake. The sleeping rhythm is much slower than when we are wide awake and busy.

When we are having trouble sleeping it can be because we are stressed and unable to relax to allow our brainwaves to slow down. If we can’t relax it is not possible to sleep. You may have heard of  ‘alpha rhythm’ which is often mentioned in relation to meditation. Alpha is a relaxed rate of pulsation that happens when we slow down or close our eyes. Before we sleep we first drift into alpha rhythm, or we do if we are able to relax. Brainwave entrainment can be used to help this process along. That is why we can use it to overcome insomnia.

For insomnia you would listen to an audio that had the sleep rhythms embedded in it. We use background music to make it easier to listen to. The embedded beats guide the brainwaves into alpha, theta and then into delta over 40 to 60  minutes. You can also listen again if you wake up in the night. It is all very natural and there is nothing subliminal in it.

There are different ways in which entrainment is induced. One of these ways is by using binaural beats. This is a method that presents a different sound to each ear and that sound combines in the brain to form a new frequency which is the difference between the two frequencies being played to it. This is why you need to wear headphones to listen to binaural beats.

A similar way to use sound for  entrainment is with ‘isochronic tones’. In spite of the fact that binaural beats are better known,  isochronic tones are more effective at inducing entrainment.These tones can be listened to without headphones because the sound from the left and the right speakers, although different, will combine before entering the ears.

There are other ways to induce entrainment, the simplest being monaural beats. In In this there is only one beat , it could be a simple drum beat. Entrainment can also be used using light combined with sound.

The Sleep Sound Insomnia Program uses isochronic tones so that sleep can be induced very effectively and without the need for headphones. The sounds are embedded in soothing music and nature sounds.

Brainwave Rhythms During The Stages of Sleep

Do you count sheep?

What insomnia cures have you tried?  Have you had any lasting success?

You know that my insomnia program uses brainwave entrainment so I would be interested in hearing from you on that topic .

By the way I am getting some really great feedback on my free email course ‘How To Sleep’ which is a series of sleep tips by email’. Lots of people are finding it very helpful which I love to hear. Here is one comment I got last week:

hi thanx for the tips… i am actually feeling much better with all your recommendations…Moreover, i used to take lexotanil 1.5mg but now i am taking only half of it…Also, i used to take 3 pills of stablon and now it is reduced to 2 per day only…As for laroxyl 40 mg, i am taking only 5 drops per night…thanx a lot for all your tips…i will be visiting Mr Dr (neurologue) this week. Bye Noorie

and another said in relation to the free relaxation audio that goes with the email course:

That was a compilation of some of the most beautiful tones I’ve heard. I kept thinking I could feel or see it somehow. It didn’t make me sleepy of course but immediately all my vitals slowed and steadied. I could have easily handled anything. No exterior sounds phased and stray thoughts never finished. The bell tone though…after the first one, they all pierced my skull like a nail…each less than the previous one until I finally couldn’t feel it at all…strange? I guess you hear all kinds of thoughts but there’s mine. I had a great time…I should do this more often. Thanks! Tracey Holland

So I feel as if I am doing some good in the world, which is a nice feeling! If you want to join the happy people you can sign up above.

Updated Sleep Sound mp3 downloads are now available. They are: Go To Sleep mp3 and Sleep Waves  mp3  for listening to in bed  and Alpha Relax mp3 for daytime meditation. The meditation when practiced daily will help you to reduce stress and anxiety both of which are a major cause of insomnia. These are all part of the Sleep Sound  Insomnia Relief Program.  If you bought the previous version of the Sleep Sound Program you are welcome to download the new ones for free.

These new insomnia audios with brainwave entrainment  are getting some great feedback from customers who have downloaded them. You do not need to use headphones for these audios as they use isochronic tones rather than binaural beats.

Just contact me using the contact form on this blog to get your updated program. You must include your name, receipt number and the email address you used to purchase the Sleep Sound program. I need this or I will not be able to find you on our customer list.

The CDs for the Sleep Sound program will be ready soon too.I am waiting for the proofs to arrive which is expected any day now.   I will put a notice here when they are ready. If you are waiting for the CDs you subscribe to the RSS feed (click on the link to the right that says ’subscribe in a reader) so that you will know when the sleep Sound CDs are released.

Sleep CDs

Sleep Tips for Insomniacs

This is a video of a Choral Music Piece which was based on the “42 Simple Tips To Help You Get to Sleep” on the webpage of Mick Winters. Very unusual! Not sure if you will be able to hear all the words.

Here is what the composer said about it:

“In my search for a suitable text for a choral composition on the subject of insomnia, I turned to that indispensable tool of the sleepless everywhere: the Internet! My late-night surfing led me to Mick Winter’s amusing “41 Simple Tips? to Help You Get to Sleep. Mr. Winter graciously granted me permission to set some of his words. Mick’s text proved an inspiration, allowing me much opportunity for mood contrasts and word painting, in the great Handelian tradition.”

It is rather good too. There are some quite off beat suggestions there that you mightn’t have heard before. For example:

Quiet Ears

This technique is an ancient Eastern meditation as well as a great way to fall asleep.

1. Lie on your back with your hands behind your head, fingers interlocked, and your palms cupping the back of your head. Get as relaxed as possible (This position make take a little while to get used to).
2. Place your thumbs in your ears so that you are pressing the outer flap of your ear and blocking the entrance to the ear canal.
3. Lie quietly and listen for a high-pitched sound that you will gradually hear inside your head.

Lie there for 10 to 15 minutes and concentrate on that sound. Then put your arms to your sides and go to sleep. (Don’t worry about all the stories of people who have ringing in their ears. This is different — and natural.)

So here is the video that was written around the sleep tips site.

How about that?  Will you give it a try?

I haven’t yet so would love to know if it works for you.

Sleep facts: We can’t choose how much sleep we need. Science tells us that our genes determine our sleep needs.  So if you have ever wondered why some people seem to be able to function well on only 6 hours sleep a night while you are a complete zombie after sleeping less than 8 now you know.  The answer is in your genes.

Those fortunate souls who need less sleep are born with a variant of a gene called PER3 that regulates their sleep needs.  This gene variant allows them to thrive on less sleep, in fact they are even more energetic than the 8 hour sleepers. It seems that their sleep needs are simply lower. (Sleep Needs Study Citation)

“Short-term and chronic disruptions in the length of optimal sleep can have serious consequences on cognition, mood and physical health, including cancer and endocrine function,” says the senior author of the study, Ying-Hui Fu, UCSF professor of neurology.”

Unfortunately there isn’t anything you can do to change your genes so at this point this finding will only be of practical importance to sleep researchers. Learning about genetic variation in sleep needs is a help though. Now you have the perfect answer to anyone who thinks you could do better!

Sleep Deprivation

In a separate study, led by led by Pierre Maquet, MD, at the University of Lìege in Belgium and Derk-Jan Dijk, PhD, at the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom and reported in the June 24 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience helps explain why sleep deprivation affects some people more than others.

“…After staying awake all night, those who are genetically vulnerable to sleep deprivation showed reduced brain activity, while those who are genetically resilient showed expanded brain activity, the study found. The findings help explain individual differences in the ability to compensate for lack of sleep.”

So, in light of this, do those programs that say they can train you to need less sleep make sense? I don’t think so. We are what we are and sleep facts can’t be changed.

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Tension and Sleep are Incompatible

Anxiety and a busy mind are the enemies of sleep, we need to be able to relax in order to sleep well. Today I want to explain a bit more about brainwave entrainment and how it can help you to relax  and sleep at night.

The main thing such a program needs to do is to calm your mind and stop the mind chatter. It must also relax  your body, because muscles tend to be held very tightly when we are stressed. It becomes such as habit to hold our muscles in that we don’t even notice it.  Lying in bed trying to sleep we may be totally unaware that our neck muscles are tense, that we are clenching our jaws, that our shoulders are tight.

How Can Brainwave Entrainment Help You Relax?

Brainwave entrainment (BWE) can be used to relax you by changing the rate at which your bran waves pulse.    coaxes your brain into slowing down and moving into the type of brainwave activity associated with relaxation and sleep. When this happens the rest of your body follows and relaxes.

Sleep researchers have found that as brain synchronization occurs other bodily processes also began to slow down. Heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, respiration rate and muscle tension all slow down. The listener becomes very deeply relaxed and will fall asleep. This is the process that is used by Sleep Sound to help you to overcome insomnia.

How Brainwave Entrainment

The brain is made up of billions of cells, called neurones. As they communicate with each other they produce electricity which can be measured using an EEG machine (electroencephalogram). The EEG shows a wave like pattern which changes in shape depending on our activities.

When we are alert and busy brain activity is faster and the waves closer together. When we are very relaxed or falling asleep they are much slower and further apart. BWE can change the rate at which the brain waves are produced. It uses sound or light to present a different rhythm to the brain.

It has been shown in many studies, starting in the 1930s, that the brain will alter its rhythm and synchronize with the tone or beat it hears. “Entrainment” simply means that the brain follows or synchronizes with the new beat.

So for example, to induce sleep we can slow the brain waves so that they produce a slower more relaxed wave  pattern. We use the wave pattern of sleep to induce the brain to slow down into a sleep state.

The power of sound has always been known. Tribal drums beat a regular rhythm to send the listeners into a mystical state. That’s brainwave entrainment too. The state induced just depends on the rhythm you hear .

That is what the Sleep Sound Audio does. It doesn’t sound like tribal drums, it sounds like relaxing music and it is pleasant to listen to.

Meanwhile check out the Sleep Sound Downloads

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I wish this had been written when my babies were babies. My daughter, a psych graduate, discovered this plan and it really worked for her baby. (I pinched her book so I could learn more and tell you about it. I hope to send it back before she notices!)  All the reviewers on Amazon.com give it 5 stars. One even wished she could give it 10.

I have never seen a product with such fullsome endorsements before. You must try  The 90-Minute Baby Sleep Program to help your baby sleep. It will restore you from zombie status to fully functioning human being again!

Product Description
For every parent who struggles with their baby’s sleep (and for every parent who wishes their toddler had better sleep habits), finally a straightforward, all-natural solution to help baby get the sleep she needs—both through the night and during the day.

A sleep researcher with a Ph.D. in neuroscience, Dr. Polly Moore has created a simple, foolproof method based on the basic human rest and activity cycle (BRAC), which occurs every hour and a half. According to the BRAC, baby should go back for a nap a mere 90 minutes after waking up—that’s right: 90 minutes.

The program is called N.A.P.S.—Note time when baby wakes up, Add 90 minutes, Play, feed, or pursue other activities, then, at the end of the 90 minutes, Soothe baby back to sleep. When baby wakes up again, whether after a short or a long nap, start the cycle over. And, although it sounds counterintuitive, frequent napping actually helps baby sleep through the night.

In a reassuring and accessible style, Dr. Moore explains how and why the program works; the benefits of napping—a happier, healthier baby with a headstart on cognitive development and emotional intelligence; how to implement it for babies at various ages, from two weeks to a year; and how to use it to solve common sleep programs, such as a baby’s need to be held, baby waking up too early in the morning, baby getting a second wind before bedtime, baby confusing day and night, and more. The Wire-O-bound book includes a guided journal for recording baby’s sleepy signals and sleep difficulties, a daily log for keeping track of baby’s nap times, and space to note baby’s milestones—all peppered with humorous, inspirational quotes.

From the Back Cover
Introducing a kinder, gentler, all-natural method to help your baby get the sleep he needs. Developed by Dr. Polly Moore, The 90-Minute Baby Sleep Program and its breakthrough N.A.P.S. plan work in conjunction with your baby’s basic rest and activity cycle. The method is simple, foolproof, and yields long-lasting results: truly restful daytime naps and consistent nighttime sleep.

Maybe you could try this method on yourself too if nothing else has worked. I don’t see why not after all our sleep does follow a 90 minute cycle too.

Go on try it! Its only $9.95 at Amazon.com Click here: “The 90-Minute Baby Sleep Plan”

UK residents can check this baby sleep book at Amazon.co.uk

I would love some feedback from anyone who has used this method. My daughter says her baby was so much more content once she implemented this.It really saved her sanity!

When you have Restless Legs Syndrome you are likely to be feeling desperate to find a cure. There isn’t a completely reliable cure to restless legs syndrome unfortunately. Whenever you see anything medical that is called a ’syndrome’ beware. It usually means they don’t know what causes it and there is no real cure- just lots of things you can try and you might find one or two combined that help. This leads to frustration on the part of the suffer of the syndrome. If you have restless legs syndrome (RSL) perhaps you are feeling frustrated and even  a little desperate.

I have been searching for some practical tips for dealing with restless leg syndrome. These are for you if you have already been checked out by your doctor but still haven’t found a cure.  Some or all of these are worth trying, either alone or in combination.

Tips To Help With Restless Leg Syndrome

1. Follow the steps discussed under  Sleep Hygiene 1 and Sleep Hygiene part 2
   
2. Mild RLS has sometimes been helped by regular exercise in the late afternoons. This may make the RSL worse from a couple of weeks, but don’t give up because after this time the condition sometimes has been found to improve
   
3. Take a hot bath  just before bedtime.
   
4. Some people have found massaging their legs to be helpful.
   
5. Stretching your legs, calves, hips and ankles just before bed.
   

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