"Only a minority (usually less than 20%) of a population at risk is prepared to take action at any given time. Thus, action-oriented advice mis-serves individuals in the early stages." -Prochaska and DeClementi Whether you're looking to quit smoking, eat better, or make some other lifestyle change, it is important to note that it's not … Continue reading Stages of Change for Health and Wellness
Tag: #insomnia
Sleep, the Immune System, and Chronic Inflammation
Immune molecules can induce sleep in dogs and humans! Before coronavirus took over our world, infectious diseases had been on a decades-long decline in terms of cause of death and impact in the public health sphere. Indeed, present pandemic aside, the leading cause of death for the past 100 years or so have generally been … Continue reading Sleep, the Immune System, and Chronic Inflammation
Sleep from a Chinese Medicine Perspective
As a sleep coach, I have been increasingly building insights from Chinese Medicine into my practice. Before we delve too much into sleep, it is important to note that in Chinese Medicine, there are 5 elements which correspond to many things, including personality. You can take a quiz here which should give you a fairly … Continue reading Sleep from a Chinese Medicine Perspective
Attachment as the Cause of all Suffering (a Comeuppance)
Irony materializes as a surprisingly heavy beach load Well, the blogging has definitely slowed down this summer. I wrote at the start of the season how I wasn't sure what summer would look like with a pandemic confounding it all. Sure, there are not trips home and fireworks in the same way, but I've found … Continue reading Attachment as the Cause of all Suffering (a Comeuppance)
Anxiety and Insomnia While the World Burns
The prevalence of anxiety in the US population was high (around 20%) before COVID. It has spiraled since then (current estimates are around 35%), with no signs of abating anytime soon. And if all that weren't enough, as I write this, Minneapolis is literally on fire (part of a broader national emergency needing urgent attention … Continue reading Anxiety and Insomnia While the World Burns
Sleep and Mental Health
Sleep and mental health are closely related. The DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual) which categorizes mental disorders contains countless references to sleep as a symptom. Various mental disorders can involve both insomnia and hypersomnia (a tendency to sleep too much). There are also references to nightmares and disturbed dreams. On the other side, long-term sleep … Continue reading Sleep and Mental Health
Brain Cleansing – How Good Sleep Can Reduce the Risk of Dementia
It's common knowledge that sleep is important for health and wellness, but why? We've known for decades that REM sleep helps the brain with learning and memorization of things. We've also known that REM's lesser-known sibling Non-REM (insanely creative, I know) is crucial for helping the body regulate itself and restoring tissue. But in recent … Continue reading Brain Cleansing – How Good Sleep Can Reduce the Risk of Dementia
Chill Your Brain for Insomnia… Literally!
When I was in sleep research over a decade ago, I remember reading some experimental protocols suggesting that one could help people get to sleep by cooling their brain. At first glance, it sounded crazy. But then I thought a bit more about it. We already know that the body uses temperature as a cue … Continue reading Chill Your Brain for Insomnia… Literally!
Sleep Hygiene Roundup
If you are having trouble sleeping, sometimes improving your environment to make it more welcoming for sleep can be an important first step. In this blog, we’ll review some best practices, as well as some favorite products to help improve your sleep. The Basics: As a first step, you can inventory your bedroom for the … Continue reading Sleep Hygiene Roundup
Insomnia Approaches
Everyone has trouble sleeping from time to time. Chronic insomnia is something which happens more regularly and interferes with daytime functioning in some way or another (the technical definition is having 3 nights or more per week of poor sleep for at least a month or more). Insomnia is more frequent in women, particularly those … Continue reading Insomnia Approaches
Meditation for Neurotics
Prescription for anxiety relief: I always thought meditation was something other kinds of people did. The calm types. I didn't think it was possible someone with likely ADHD and anxiety could ever sit still long enough to actually focus on anything (or nothing). About a year ago, I saw my doctor for spiraling out of … Continue reading Meditation for Neurotics