10 Antidotes for Poor Sleep

Thank you to Gina Bruno, Daytona Beach, Florida for her assistance with this article.

Every wish you could sleep as well as your pet? We do! Are you having trouble sleeping? Then join the crowd!

Can’t Sleep?

In a Consumer Report 27% of 4.023 US adults surveyed stated that they had trouble falling asleep or staying asleep most nights, and 68% of an estimated 164 million Americans struggled with sleep at least once a week.1[1]   Off all the things we need to survive and thrive, food, water and sleep are primary. While we sleep our bodies regenerate.  Each of our cells has a set time that it regenerates.  Many of the cells that make up the organs in our bodies do this at night when we sleep our bodies’ muscles are relaxed.  If we are tossing and turning it is harder for our cells to regenerate. This creates physical strain on our bodies leading to mental exhaustion because our brains have not had the down time needed to recharge. A vicious cycle continues until we collapse from mental and physical exhaustion.

Sleep Better

Clearly, we need sleep but how can we achieve it?  Advice is varied and includes everything from teas to exercise. Here are the ones our clients have found helpful.

  1. Find time to a short nap. Some of our clients have found taking a 20-minute nap mid-day leads to a more restful night of sleep.
  1. Develop a regular sleep schedule our bodies enjoy a routine. Set an alarm for going to bed to sleep and rising in the morning. Do this for 12 weeks to form a habit. It may be difficult at first but staying with it will help.
  1. Limit computer or phone use an hour prior to bedtime. Allow your brain to unplug and start the preparation for sleep.
  1. Keep computers, television, or other electronics in places other than your bedroom. The EMF levels of electronic equipment stimulate the body as well as the brain making it difficult to sleep.
  1. Read a book before bedtime to get your mind off your day. Something uplifting and positive will help relax you and give you a positive focus to hold in your mind as you fall off to sleep.
  1. Quietly meditate for 30 minutes before bedtime. Find a basic and easy style that will work for you.
  1. Sound machines or soothing play lists can be relaxing and distracting to the mind. These can be white noise, nature sounds, or instrumental music.
  1. A simple breathing exercise can be helpful. For example, close your eyes. Direct your attention to your breath. As your mind wanders (and it will) redirect your attention back to your breath. At first you will have to redirect your attention many times but with practice you will be able to nod off to sleep quickly.
  1. “Super Foods” can help with sleep. For example, Carrots have alpha carotene which is associated with better sleep. Tart cherry juice has high levels of anti-oxidants and anti-inflammatory properties which can increase melatonin levels.  Raw walnuts increase melatonin. Greek yogurt is a good source of protein, calcium and vitamin B-12 that can help with sleep. Pumpkin seeds have tryptophan as well as zinc and both promote the increase of serotonin which increases melatonin. Coconut oil contains high amounts of lauric acid which has been linked with more restful sleep as opposed to fats, like butter, which were linked to impaired sleep.  [2]
  1. Vitamins, supplements, dairy products, and teas also may assist with sleep. We favor high quality supplements such as QScience products. QSLEEP[3] is an all-natural formula that helps you fall asleep and stay asleep. QREST, with a 1500mg pharmaceutical grade, full spectrum hemp oil that helps you rest and stay asleep while easing muscle tension. Both help you achieve a good night’s sleep and allow you feeling rested and rejuvenated in the morning both are non-drowsy and non-addictive.

Sleep is essential to our well-being at every level of our functioning. Making sleep a priority is the key to having a healthy and positive outlook on life, making good decisions, communicating, and working as our best. If you find that you are still not sleeping after using these skills for 12 weeks or more consider talking to your doctor about having a sleep study completed to rule out any further issues.

[1]https://www.consumerreports.org/sleep/why-americans-cant sleep/

[2] https://amerisleep.com/blog/

[3] Contact Dr. Ferrick at drferrickassist@gmail.com or 480-865-4907.

How to Help Your Child Deal with Bullies

For many children the struggle in the classroom isn’t academic, it is social, and in the form of bullying. The invention of social media has allowed many young people to connect with new friends, but it has also exposed them to new levels of and opportunities for bullying.

Read More

Set Limits Like a Jenny

Lack of boundaries invites lack of respect.

Anonymous

It’s her fault, not mine. It’s his fault, not mine. She made me do it. He makes me angry. The language of victims, not owners of their lives. Abdicating the responsibility of our choices is disempowering, and as adults we are ultimately responsible for our feelings, choices, and responses.

In my life, the animal world has served as a wonderful teacher, and metaphor for learning lessons. Here is one I learned from a couple of my little friends.

Gypsy is a Jenny, yes, a little donkey. A miniature to be exact. She hangs out with Mr. Q another mini. He brays too much. He pushes her around at times, until she has had enough of that then she sets a limit, usually a sound kick to his head with both hind feet. Ouch! Really, you’d think he would learn.

When she sets a limit there is no question that enough is enough. Mr. Q being the smart ass, he is respects her limits. One intelligent dude if a bit hard-headed.

Are you setting limits? Good limits? Are you holding those limits? If not remember Gypsy, she is always good at giving us reminders! Setting good limits early on is best. It keeps you from having to be shall we say as forceful as Gypsy!

Or are you like Mr. Q? A bit pushy? Do you get surprised when someone sets a hard limit? Do you respect the limit? Is there a way you might be more aware of your impact on others and soften your approach? A more collaborative approach might be more useful.

The Quest for Boundaries: Honoring Limits, Your, and Others

Boundaries are Invisible Things

Is it Time to Close the Door and Heal?

You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past.
You don’t try to forget the mistakes, but you don’t dwell on it.
You don’t let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space.
Johnny Cash
Do you ever get stuck in the past? Big old feelings come roaring back?
They are never about today. They are always about the past.
A new start requires grieving, leaving, and cleaving.
There is the good-bye, the closing the door, building a wall, moving to be in the present moment.
The here, and now so that we can see the next door that opens before us.
The past is woven within the present but the past is not the present, nor the future. If your past is distracting you from your present then…
Take a deep breath.
Close your eyes.
Imagine a long hallway with many doors behind you.
These are the rooms of your past.
Some are closed.
Some are partially open.
Some are wide open.
The open doors are drawing your energy to what is finished and cannot be undone.
This energy drain, distracts you from the here and now. So, with quiet intention close each door tightly so there is nothing able to call to you from that room, lock them if you must so they will remain shut for as long as you desire.
The past is over.
Now build a wall in that hallway with the doors from the past
on the other side so there will no longer be those distractions.
You are here now, in the present, with all your energy and focus ready for
whatever next presents itself. Until then enjoy this moment.
Let now be your magic.
Now look toward the future.

What doors do you want to open?

What life experiences do you want to have?
How do you want the story of your life to go?
Question everything. Think for yourself. Always ask: “Is this true for me?”
You are the ruler of what is true for you.

Write this down.  Get clear. Think big.

What is it that will bring you the most joy?
What is the highest version of the greatest life you can imagine?
Choose that! Declare it will be yours!  Write it down! Own it!
Be the gratitude you feel as if it is so now.
Gratitude is the magnet to all that is wonderful in life.

Can’t close the doors? Let’s talk.

Why Did it Happen to Me?

This is paraphrased from a paper that crossed my desk some time ago.
So whoever wrote it and sent it to me thank you for sharing it with me.

Your Posture, Impacts You

Be fully in the moment, open yourself to the powerful energies dancing around you.
Ernest Hemingway

We know that our posture impacts how others see us, but did you know it also may impact how we feel about ourselves? We know that a change in facial expression such as a half-smile can lighten our mood. Amy Cuddy’s research supports the idea that intentional changes in our body posture impacts our physiology, thus changing how we feel about ourselves.

Here is a short clip of Amy Cuddy’s Ted Talk discussing the impact of body posing on physiology.

Amy Cuddy Shortened Ted Talk

If you are so inclined here is Amy’s Ted Talk in its’ entirety!

Body Language and Presence

Amy Cuddy discusses power poses in this video.

Power Poses

Practice using a power pose(s) throughout your day to move yourself to an emotional space of confidence, peace, power, and contentment. Does it change how you feel? Are you a powerful, peaceful person? Yes? Would you like to be even more powerful, present, and peaceful? If so, let me know!

What if You are Perfect?

q 214x300 - What if You are Perfect?I mean perfect as you are…that you did not need to change anything about yourself.

What if you knew that at the very core of yourself that you were not flawed but whole, and wise? That no matter what anyone said, or did past, or present, you did not question the wonder of who you are? You did not question what you knew to be true for you, and that it was okay for it not to be true for everyone.

What if you trusted your own choices?

What if it is perfect for you to change your mind? To make another choice?

What if it is perfectly okay to create the life you wanted?

And it is perfectly okay to ask for assistance, if it would be helpful to you!

 

History, Make You or Break You?

Who has fully realized that history is not contained in thick books
but lives in our very blood?
Carl Jung
How you view your history will determine your future. Consider your history, tragic or not as a place of valuable lessons learned. Whether your past taught you what to do, or not to do it has impacted you. Remember under pressure coal becomes diamonds, and therefore your experiences are now a precious resource to create the present, and the future you desire. So go, mine the diamonds from your history. Now create the present and future you want. Start now, create the day you now.

Creating Your Desires

All actions result from thought so it is thoughts that matter.
Sai Baba

 

We are our thoughts. Our thoughts change our biochemistry so our thinking creates who we are becoming.

The thoughts we have about ourselves have the most impact. These thoughts influence how we treat ourselves, and in turn that teaches others how to treat us. Thoughts are an informational energy field. This intelligent power results from trillions of messenger molecules that inform each of our cells precisely how to function, thus our positive thoughts create positive energy, and vice versa.

So the wonderful news is that we always have a choice about what we think, when we think, whether we think, or whether we don’t. So we can consciously choose our thoughts, which allows us the ability to control our lives from the inside out. Given this reality we can create anything we desire.

Are your thoughts aligned with what you would like to create today?

Harnessing Stress

Stress is an inside job.

It lives inside you.

Nowhere else.

It is an internal energy that helps you get things done.

An internal physiological response.

Harness the benefits of stress.

Accept that change is constant.

Problems are challenges

Hold a positive orientation.

Be flexible.

Tolerate ambiguity.

Focus on what you can control.

Don’t get derailed.

Be 100% responsible for your responses.

Don’t take on anyone else’s stress.

Influence the events you can positively.

Prioritize self-care.

Debrief.

Continually update your skills.

Experiment with fresh approaches.

You create stress. You contain stress. You control stress.

Reward Yourself

To be assertive is to be effective and constructive.

Assertiveness requires…

Listening.

Curious questions.

Clarifying.

Validation of the other’s perspective.

Slow, soft speaking.

Gentle repetition of what you want.

A nonjudgmental stance.

Patience.

Alternative offers.

Accepting no.

A reward for the smallest achievement.