Snews Tagged "sleep aids"

5 iPhone Hacks For Better Sleep

While living in today’s fast-paced world, it’s not uncommon to skip sleep here and there. However, many of us are so sleep-deprived that we’re paying for it with our mental and physical well-being. That said, a top cause of sleep disturbances ends up in bed with most of us every single night: our smartphones. If you’ve ever laid awake scrolling through your iPhone, you’re in luck! Apple devices also offer several built-in sleep tools that can help you achieve and maintain your best shut-eye yet. For example, if you’re in the market for a white noise machine but you own an iPhone, you’ve already got a built-in white noise machine right in your pocket! Worried about blue light exposure from electronics keeping you up at night? Red light iPhone filters offer a built-in screen temperature adjustment that turns on and off every night and morning. All you have to do is set it up and select your desired schedule. Scroll your way to enhanced sleep tonight!

January 19, 2024
6 min read

5 Effective Sleep Habits From Around the Globe

Americans are far behind other countries when it comes to our average sleep duration. With the hustle and bustle of everyday life, prioritizing sleep is a challenge. Luckily, many other countries around the globe have passed down unique sleep habits for generations…and they’ve been passed down because they work! A night-time foot soak is popular in China, while Scandinavians swear by bedding essentials like sleeping with two different duvets rather than one if you have a sleeping partner. Swedish bedtime snacks are proven to help you fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer, while Salvadorans have made hammock naps a daily practice within their culture for years. Chamomile tea has been passed down from ancient times for the improvement of health and sleep – and so have certain breathing patterns! Implement these global lifestyle hacks for your most restorative sleep yet.

November 17, 2023
5 min read

3 Hacks to Overcome Jet Lag

Air travel has revolutionized the way we work and vacation, but it’s come at a price: jet lag. This temporary sleep disruption affects travelers who quickly find themselves in a much different time zone than the one their internal clock is “set” to back home. Luckily, a couple of handy hacks can help you overcome jet lag if you find yourself in this sleep-deprived situation. For starters, if you plan to travel east rather than west, plan for more significant adjustments ahead of time: traveling east is harder on your circadian rhythm than traveling west. Be sure to use a jet lag calculator that determines your time of departure and arrival. Then, start shifting your sleep schedule to account for the time change at least two days ahead of travel. Finally, plan to take a melatonin supplement either on the flight or after you land. Try out handy accessories if you must take an in-flight nap, like an eye mask, noise-canceling headphones, or mouth tape for snore-free, restorative sleep.

September 15, 2023
5 min read

3 Best Sunrise Alarm Clocks to Wake Feeling Refreshed

There’s nothing worse than being pulled straight from blissful sleep by a blaring, loud alarm clock. Whether you use a traditional clock or your phone’s alarm clock, the noises aren’t exactly soothing. In fact, they trigger involuntary increases in adrenaline, heart rate, and blood pressure. Over time, this causes harm to your health. If you awake confused and panicked at the sound of your alarm going off, a sunrise alarm clock may be the answer. These alarm clocks mimic the natural sunrise to ease you into wakefulness. Many of them couple calming, soothing nature sounds to help you feel refreshed first thing in the morning rather than anxious and frightened. This light exposure even helps to establish and maintain a healthy circadian rhythm thanks to light’s influence on our eyes first thing in the morning. Selecting the best sunrise alarm clock can be overwhelming, which is why we’ve rounded up our top three picks for your most peaceful mornings yet.

August 18, 2023
5 min read

Beat the Heat! 7 Tips to Prevent Overheating at Night

No one likes the feeling of overheating at night. Heat is also known to disrupt your REM and slow-wave sleep cycles, leading to grogginess the next day. Thankfully, you can take steps to prevent overheating during sleep to achieve cool, summer rest. For starters, did you know that certain things you choose to consume increase your internal temperature? Spicy foods, caffeine, and alcohol are all known to worsen the feeling of being too hot. Avoid these before bed to beat the heat! Freeze your socks, a water bottle, or a washcloth and apply the icy cold to certain pressure points to bring down your body heat. If freezing things doesn’t sound ideal, try to Egyptian Sleeping Method, which consists of dampening your sheets before bed. Opt for natural, breathable bedding rather than synthetic materials, which trap heat. Resist cuddling with your pet during hot months, as their body heat will increase yours. Finally, try a warm shower or beverage to raise and then rapidly lower your body temperature a few hours before bedtime.

August 04, 2023
6 min read

The Biohacker’s Guide to Better Sleep

Chances are, you’ve heard the trendy buzzword “biohacking” in recent months or years. But what does the term “biohacking” actually mean? Biohacking refers to experimenting with techniques known to help you “hack” your way to improved health. A huge pillar of good health? Proper sleep quality. Most of us don’t get enough sleep – and certain biohacking supplements and techniques can help you ramp up the quantity and quality of your rest. Nootropics and melatonin provide external supplements that can take your sleep health from zero to hero. Cold therapy helps to control your morning stress responses by keeping inflammation low, making sleep more easily achievable later in the day. Red light exposure in the evening ensures that your circadian clock remains uninterrupted, so you’ll drift off easier than usual. Finally, mouth tape prevents open-mouth snoring that may wake you up throughout the night.

July 28, 2023
4 min read

The Link Between Lower Back Pain and Insomnia

It’s no secret that waking up with lower back pain in the morning is, well, a pain. So is having trouble falling or staying asleep due to discomfort caused by an aching back. Recent research has found that there’s a correlation between lower back pain and insomnia. Lower back pain leads to poor sleep and, conversely, poor sleep worsens back pain. When pain is the only thing you can focus on when you lie down for the night, falling asleep is near impossible. Furthermore, back pain is notorious for causing you to toss and turn all night, waking you up from deep sleep. As sleep quality worsens, so does your pain. Trying out the best sleeping positions for lower back pain (while avoiding the worst ones) is key to keeping pain in check. Avoid sleeping positions that throw the spine out of alignment and cause unnecessary strain on the neck and back. The worst culprit? Sleeping on your stomach. Sleeping on your back with a pillow under your knees is one of the best sleeping positions for lower back pain, but some find it difficult to sleep on their back all night long. Sleeping on your side in the fetal position with one pillow under your head and another between your legs provides proper spinal alignment if you find it challenging to sleep on your back.

July 14, 2023
4 min read

Fun Facts About Sleep: Common Sleep Myths, Debunked!

It seems like there are always new fun facts about sleep that we could all gain perspective from learning. Researchers are constantly uncovering new information about the importance of sleep. However, regardless of how much we know about sleep, most of us still don’t get enough. As many as one-third of adults are seriously sleep-deprived. That’s why we’re debunking common sleep myths once and for all, starting with the idea that the brain isn’t active during sleep. This couldn’t be further from the truth! While we’re unconscious, the brain is busy cleaning house in more ways than one to keep us feeling restored and healthy. Another common sleep myth: the idea that alcohol is a sleep aid just because it helps us fall asleep faster. In reality, it disrupts our sleep cycles and leads to fragmented sleep, only worsening sleep quality. Speaking of sleep quality, it matters more than sleep quantity! Six hours of quality sleep is better than eight hours of disrupted sleep. Disrupted sleep causes sleep debt to build – and it’s hard to pay off! Sleeping in only worsens it. And if you’re snoring during sleep, it’s nothing to ignore! Snoring disrupts our sleep and leads to poor oxygenation, health problems, and sleep disorders like sleep apnea.

July 07, 2023
5 min read

5 Sleep Tips for Night Shift Workers

Working the night shift is often demanding and challenging. Working while the world sleeps and sleeping while the world is awake isn’t exactly ideal. Moreover, shift work quickly becomes dangerous if you don’t prioritize your sleep schedule and quality. In fact, many shift workers are at risk of Shift Work Sleep Disorder, a condition that includes both cognitive and physical impairments that can cause dangerous workplace errors and accidents. So what does the best sleep schedule for night shift workers look like? It includes firm boundaries around bedtime – even if it falls in the middle of the day. Blocking out disruptive noise and light are both vital for preventing sleep deprivation. Moreover, refrain from working back-to-back day and night shifts that further disrupt your internal clock and lead to worsened sleep deprivation. Finally, address sleep-disordered breathing known to cause snoring that fragments sleep!

June 30, 2023
6 min read

5 Best Sounds to Fall Asleep Fast (and Stay Asleep)

If you can’t fall asleep without the sound of your bedroom fan regardless of the temperature, you’re already harnessing the power of sound to fall asleep faster. The sound of a bedroom fan refers to white noise – a soothing, static sound that drowns out other disruptive noises, like the sound of passing cars on the street. White noise isn’t the only sound color that promotes better sleep, though. Brown, pink, and green noise (nature sounds) are also known to help ease the brain into relaxation, encouraging the onset of sleep. White, brown, and pink noise apps allow you to harness the rainbow of sound colors right from your smartphone. Podcasts and audiobooks help to distract your mind from anxious thoughts that may otherwise keep you awake – as long as you pick a soothing podcast topic or book genre. Moreover, music is proven to shift brainwaves into alpha brainwaves that lead to relaxation. Binaural beats take it a step further, helping the brain shift into delta brainwaves that occur during deep sleep. Guided meditations offer an easy-to-follow script that can help us drift into sleep, too.

June 16, 2023
5 min read

Hum Your Way to Reduced Stress Before Bed

Ever feel a lift in your mood after humming along to a song in the car? It’s not just in your head. If you’ve ever asked yourself, “Is humming good for you?” the answer is yes! Science shows that humming activates our vagus nerve, taking us out of a state of stress and into a state of relaxation. It lowers blood pressure and improves heart rate variability all while improving lymph flow. In fact, the vibrations created during humming may help the lymphatic system to pump out waste from the body just as well as cold plunge therapy or a lymphatic massage. Moreover, humming reduces happy hormones like oxytocin while surging the body with feel-good endorphins, meaning it’s just as beneficial for the brain and body as a consistent exercise routine. It even causes increased melatonin production which leads to the onset of quality sleep. Bee breathing offers a quick, easy-to-follow humming exercise that you can practice anywhere, anytime. All in all, humming provides a shortcut to calm in any situation, whether practiced before a stressful meeting or before you drift off to bed.

June 02, 2023
5 min read

Does Cold Exposure Really Boost Sleep?

There’s a quick hack for most things these days, including better sleep and pain management. Cold exposure is a popular topic, with many people filming their morning cold plunges in freezing cold water or practicing Wim Hof breathing in extremely cold environments. But does cold exposure really boost sleep, reduce pain, and improve healing? Science suggests that it does. Cold therapy reduces our overall body temperature, boosting the production of the sleep hormone melatonin. Moreover, exposure to cold temperatures may even help us to burn more brown fat, improving our overall calorie expenditure and metabolic health. What’s more, cold exposure therapy offers muscle and tissue repair while promoting accelerated healing. Better yet, you don’t need a fancy cold plunge tank or cryotherapy machine to practice it. The Breg Polar Care Cube offers cryotherapy for at-home use, while DIY ice baths and cold showers provide a free solution to help anyone achieve the benefits of cold therapy, anytime.

May 26, 2023
6 min read

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