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Showing posts with label sleep. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sleep. Show all posts

Saturday, August 30, 2025

Unhealthy sleep patterns

 

Here are six signs that your sleeping pattern is out of whack, and how to improve it.

T0ssing and turning throughout the night, even if you're not really conscious ot it, it is a sign of poor sleep

WE all experience the occasional late night or restless sleep, but when these nights become frequent, it can begin to take a toll on your health and overall well-being.

Britain’s The London General Practice sleep and circadian rhythm specialist Dr Katharina Lederle has outlined six key signs that indicate that your sleep pattern may be offbalance.

She has also shared some helpful tips and tricks on how to reset your routine to help you wake up feeling refreshed.

1. Waking up in the night

Frequently waking up too early or having regular interruptions during the night is a clear sign that your sleep has been disrupted.

“Waking up and going to the toilet once and then falling back asleep within a couple of minutes is fine, but if you are having a lot of toilet trips or just think ‘why have I been awake for such a long period of time’, and then struggle to get back to sleep, that suggests there might be a problem,” she says.

2. Restlessness

“If it takes you longer than 30 minutes to get to sleep on a regular basis, there could be an issue.

“One sign of poor sleep is restlessness – tossing and turning at night,” she says.

“You might not necessarily wake up fully and think I have been tossing and turning a lot, but the next day there may be an awareness of restlessness.

“Or if you have a sleeping partner, they might comment on your restlessness during the night.”

3. Busy mind

A busy mind can be a symptom of a poor sleep schedule, and vice versa.

“Stress can psychologically lead to busy thoughts – worrying about the future and replaying scenes from your day – which can make it harder to get to sleep,” says Dr Lederle.

“Stress can also physiologically lead to raised cortisol levels and a raised heart rate.

“However, what we actually want/need for sleep is the exact opposite. We need relaxation to allow ourselves to let go of everything.”

4. Low mood

Feeling low or down during the day can be another indication that your sleep pattern has been disrupted.

“The resources in the brain are all finite and need to be rebuilt.

“So, if your prefrontal cortex [which plays a crucial role in executive functions and higherorder cognitive processes] is sleep deprived, it can’t fulfil its regulatory role,” explains Dr Lederle.

“This often results in low mood, anxiety and irritability, which can then quite quickly lead to conflict or disagreements.”

5. Struggling to focus

“A lack of motivation and struggling to concentrate are some more signs of disrupted sleep that you may notice during the day,” she says.

“When the prefrontal cortex

nd hasn’t had the chance to rebuild all its resources, concentration can become hard.

“Seeing the bigger picture, attention to detail and switching attention intentionally can also become harder.”

6. Excessive tiredness

Feeling excessively tired throughout the day is likely to be a sign of disrupted sleep or accumulated sleep debt.

“Waking up and still feeling tired and groggy is sleep inertia, which we all experience to some extent.

“But if you repeatedly feel excessively tired without an

explanation, that could indicate a bigger problem,” says Dr Lederle.

Reset your routine

Here are some strategies to help your sleeping pattern get back on track:

>Expose yourself to light in the mornings

“When you wake up in the morning, let the light in and go outside,” she recommends

> Make your bedroom room dark and cool in the evenings

“Try to keep your sleeping environment quiet, dark and cool,” she advises.

Go to bed and wake up at regular times

“It’s okay to have some late nights when we go to the theatre or to a party, but on the whole, it’s important to keep your sleep and wake times as regular as possible,” says Dr Lederle.

Expose yourself to light in the mornings

“When you wake up in the morning, let the light in and go outside,” she recommends. > Make your bedroom room dark and cool in the evenings

“Try to keep your sleeping environment quiet, dark and cool,” she advises.

Think about what might be causing your stress

“Identify where your stress is coming from and think about what you can control,” suggests Dr Lederle.

“Think about: how can I recover? How can I let go of my work? How can I relax? How can I get a sense of autonomy or control?”

Engaging in an activity you enjoy before bed can provide a sense of autonomy and control, which may help lower your stress levels and help you drift off to sleep.

“It could be that your goal is to meditate and you start with doing five minutes every evening,” she says.

>Adjust eating times Stay active Seek help

“Eating late or eating sugary foods before bed can impact people’s ability to fall asleep,” she says.

“The general rule of thumb is to try and eat dinner at least three or four hours before you go to sleep.

“Having caffeine in the evening, or drinking too much during the day, can also make it harder to fall asleep.”

>Stay active

“Make sure you are moving throughout the day and try to avoid sitting on a chair for hours on end,” says Dr Lederle.

“Try to do some exercise to help release tension and stress from the body.”

“If we have a stressful event, it’s quite normal to have poor sleep.

> Seek help

“But if you are struggling to sleep for more than two weeks, start to think about what might be impacting your sleep,” she says.

“Then if your sleep hasn’t resolved after that, I would suggest speaking to a specialist.” – PA Media/dpa

By CAMILLA FOSTER

Thursday, April 11, 2024

Best Aircon Temperature For Night Sleeping (Updated)

Best Aircon Temperature

In Singapore, the temperature always remains high; humidity never allows you to feel comfortable. In fact, many times, you can’t even sleep properly unless you have an Aircon in your home that can maintain the temperature for you. But if you want to get better sleep at night, you need to get an Aircon temperature at an optimum level.

That also means you need to find the best Aircon temperature for night sleeping. Experts recommend that 25 degrees is the best Aircon temperature for night sleeping and suggest you set your Aircon as well on this temperature.

Sure, you may ask what is so special about 25 degrees centigrade and why this is the best Aircon temperature for night sleeping. If you have these questions, then here is an answer for you.

25 degree temperature at night
25 degree temperature at night

Experts researched and found that if you set Aircon temperature between 23 to 24 degrees C and keep the air humidity level at 60 percent or close to that, it will give you a very comfortable environment. At this temperature, your body’s internals neither feels very cold nor does it feel hot.

That means you will have the utmost comfort and help you get a comfortable sleep without any issue. If you keep the temperature lower than this, you would feel cold, and coldness can induce your urination. That means you would have to go to the bathroom again and again for urination, and that would disturb your sleep.

But if you will set your Aircon temperature at 25 degrees C, you would not feel either much cold, or you would have for the urination in a quick time. Other than this, if you get comfortable to sleep, you don’t wake up again and again at night, then you would have a more refreshed condition in the morning, and you would be able to have the much better working capability well in in the next day work. 

Save electricity

Save electricity on aircon
Save electricity on aircon

Aircon consume a lot of electricity, and if you can set the Aircon temperature at 25 degrees C, you can save at least 20% money as well in the cooling. Energy experts already proved this fact that if you increase the temperature of AC only by 2 degrees, then it can slash up to 30% electricity bill.

That means reducing the Aircon temperature further than 25 degrees C will not only affect your sleep, but it will affect your pocket as well. So, if you want to have a perfect sleep and don’t want to have a hole in your pocket because of your comfortable sleep, keeping this temperature would be a good idea for you.

In this way, you would not only save money for yourself, but you would save nature as well. That makes it one more reason to set the Aircon temperature at 25 degrees C during your sleep instead of choosing any lower temperature compare to this one.

Lesser load on your aircon

When you run your Aircon at lower temperatures, it will have to work harder to reach that temperature. Most of the Aircon does not take many loads to reach the given temperature, but going any further low than this causes extra load on the Aircon.

Sometimes, the Aircon temperature may not reach there at all, and if it reaches there, it needs to struggle very hard to maintain that temperature. If you set a lower cut off temperature, then your Aircon compressor will keep flipping in on and off situation.

On the other hand, if you set a slightly higher temperature for the Aircon, you would have fewer worries about the cut-off. It will cut off in a good interval, and it will not create any problem for you either.

You don’t have to deal with the cut off the sound and the frequency interval that you may need to face; you set the aircon temperature at a very lower rate. 

Save money on aircon
Save money on aircon

It will save you money

If you are consuming less electricity during your sleep, then you automatically save money. That is no brainer, and I should not talk about that with you in any manner. But that is not the only way of saving money by setting your

Aircon temperature at a slightly higher position. When you set the temperature at a higher setting, it gets a lesser load the Aircon system problems to your Aircon. You ignore to consider that while using the Aircon, but if you checked it carefully, you would realize how much money you can save just by increasing the Aircon temperature during your sleep.

If we talk about the reasons or benefits that can encourage you to choose this temperature during your sleep instead of choosing a lower one.

Here, some people can also claim that increasing Aircon temperature can affect their sleep as they are habitual to that particular lower temperature. Ideally, it should not make any difference to you in anyways. However, you may have a mental blockage that may restrict you from sleeping properly with a sudden increase in temperature.

If that is the case, then I would suggest you increase the temperature gradually. For example, if you sleep at 18 degrees C temperature, you should not instantly set it to 25. Instead of that, you should first make it 19 degrees for a couple of days.

After that, you can make it 20, then 23, and then 25. If you did that gradually, you would not face any trouble sleeping, and you would be able to get over your mental blockage. 

If we talk about the perfect Aircon temperature to sleep at night, then 25 degrees C is the only suggestion you would get from experts. Some people can also increase this number by one degree, and some can reduce it by one degree. They may have this opinion based on their experience, but this is certain they would remain close to that number, which explains my point as well for the same.


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Monday, October 30, 2023

How to lose weight without exercising

 

Most adults need seven to eight hours of sleep every night to restore and repair the body. — TNS


Who doesn’t want to be lean and slim without putting in effort?

Physical activity or exercise has plenty of physical, emotional and mental benefits, but it doesn’t necessarily mean you will shed the kilos easily by partaking in it.

Some people hate exercising and are not motivated to push or challenge themselves – they simply don’t get the same endorphin release as others.

Reluctant exercisers need external motivators to keep going, like the promise of boosting their overall health, to look good, or because their physician has said they must do so to stay alive.

Our ancestors remained active out of necessity, not choice: they had to move to hunt for food.

Once fed, they rested to conserve energy because there was nothing much to do.

When food supply diminished, they’d be on their feet, hunting again.

Resting is a natural human tendency, so don’t beat yourself up if that’s what you like to do.

With advances in technology and labour-saving devices, the world is now accessible with our fingers, and even minimal movement seems to have taken a backseat.

That’s why we are blossoming sideways.

Is that bad?

It depends on how much weight you’re putting on.

One 2021 study published in the Annals of Epidemiology found that people who started adulthood with a body mass index (BMI) in the normal range, and became overweight – but never obese – in later life, tend to live the longest.

Adults in this category lived longer than even those whose BMI stayed in the normal range throughout their life.

However, those who started adulthood as obese and continued to add weight had the highest death rate.

So, a bit of extra weight is okay as long as you don’t balloon out of control.

Any healthy person can lose weight without exercising – you just need a lifestyle tweak and some discipline.

Prioritise what you enjoy doing instead of struggling to achieve unrealistic goals.

Try some of the following tips to help you trim down.

Chew your food thoroughly and savour every morsel before you swallow it to feel full faster. — AFP

> Hydrate with water


Make it a point to drink two glasses of water after waking up to help “activate” your internal organs.

The water will help to remove any toxins before your first meal of the day.

Water helps regulate body temperature, lower blood pressure, carry nutrients and oxygen to various cells, and maintain optimal kidney function.

Replacing sugary drinks and alcoholic beverages with water can help reduce your daily caloric intake.

Whenever you feel hungry, you may actually be thirsty, or even slightly dehydrated.

So don’t reach out for snacks, but drink a big glass of plain water first – and ideally wait 30 minutes before eating.

Drinking water prior to meals can help you feel fuller and reduce your overall food intake, which can lead to weight loss over time.

If plain water isn’t appealing, try adding fruit slices like oranges, or herbs like mint, lemon and rosemary, for extra flavour and nutrients.

> Eat slowly and mindfully


Instead of munching down solid food, especially poultry and meat, chew thoroughly.

Some time back, I attended a wellness retreat where we were told to chew every mouthful 27 times and savour all the flavours before swallowing.

The food almost turns to liquid by the time it goes down the throat.

Not only does this increase the amount of nutrients absorbed by the body, it’s also easier on the digestive process.

Additionally, longer chewing also helps develop a stronger jaw and chin, suppress hunger and gets you full faster, aiding in your weight loss journey.

> Load up on fibre and protein


You don’t have to eliminate all carbohydrates, just minimise overly-processed ones, such as white breads and pre-packaged foods like cookies and crackers.

This is because such foods are rapidly digested and converted into blood sugar.

Instead, consume more protein and fibre.

Protein takes longer to digest and decreases the level of the hunger-regulating hormone ghrelin, making you feel fuller for a longer period.

Fibre expands in your gut like a sponge, so it’s a natural appetite suppressant.

It also moves faster in your intestines, which signals to the brain that you are full.

Along with lean meats and poultry, add on a good mix of fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains to make up the rest of the meal.

Even a five-minute break to take deep breaths at work can do wonders to bring down stress levels. — AFP

> Scale back on added sugar


Sugar itself doesn’t make the weighing scale jump up, but it tends to be in foods that have too many calories.

Whether it’s soft drinks, teh tarik or desserts, it should be the first thing to go if you’re trying to lose weight.

The sweet stuff is also hidden in all sorts of foods from salad dressing to sauces to canned fruits, so don’t be deceived that you’re eating a healthy salad when you’ve doused the greens with salad dressing.

ALSO READYou wouldn't expect to find sugar in these foods

When it comes to caffeinated beverages, skip the sugar, honey and creamer if possible, as these can quickly add to the calories.

Having your tea or coffee black is best, but if like me, you need to add some milk, opt for skim or low fat over full cream.

By eliminating sugar, you can lower your risk of heart disease dramatically because too much sugar in your diet heightens your risk of high blood pressure, obesity, and diabetes – the three main risk factors for heart disease and cardiovascular decline.

ALSO READWhat you can do to reduce heart attack and stroke risk

> Manage stress levels


This is hard for everyone, but we’ve got to try.

When the body is under pressure, it releases the hormone cortisol, which is linked to increased appetite and fat storage.

Excess cortisol levels can increase appetite and cravings for energy-dense, comfort foods.

High cortisol levels over time have also been linked to abdominal fat gain.

Take time daily to do something to lower the stress levels: laugh, read a good book, play with a pet or just take deep breaths.

Find a quiet corner at work, close your eyes and spend five minutes mid-morning and in the afternoon to do a few rounds of deep breathing by inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the mouth or nose.

Do this again in bed, just before you sleep.

> Get proper sleep


Your body relies on sleep to restore and repair itself, and getting enough rest can also benefit your weight-loss efforts.

There is mounting evidence that people who get too little sleep have a higher risk of weight gain and obesity than people who get seven to eight hours of sleep a night.

Sleep deprivation changes your endocrine function and metabolism by affecting your production of the hunger-regulating hormones ghrelin and leptin.

This can make you feel hungrier than usual, increasing the likelihood of craving for unhealthy snacks.

It’s no surprise that when you’re exhausted, it’s harder to control your impulses for comfort food like cookies, chocolates and ice cream.

Practise good sleep hygiene by sleeping at the same time every day, switching off all gadgets two hours before bedtime and ensuring the room temperature is comfortable.

By Revathi Murugappan who is a certified fitness trainer who tries to battle gravity and continues to dance to express herself artistically and nourish her soul. For more information, email starhealth@thestar.com.my. The information contained in this column is for general educational purposes only. Neither The Star nor the author gives any warranty on accuracy, completeness, functionality, usefulness or other assurances as to such information. The Star and the author disclaim all responsibility for any losses, damage to property or personal injury suffered directly or indirectly from reliance on such information.


Thursday, July 6, 2023

10 Feng Shui tips on how to get a good night's rest

 

Ideally, the bed should always be placed against a wall. Photos: 123rf.com

 

In a house, there are two specific sectors that govern health and wellbeing. One is the kitchen, which influences the general wellbeing of the entire household. The other is the bedroom, which directly impacts the occupant of the room.

The bedroom serves as a place of rest and rejuvenation. It is where you sleep after a hard day’s work. In Feng Shui, the bedroom governs the occupant’s rejuvenation, recovery, health, and the intimate relationship between a married couple.

Ideally, the bedroom should be located in a positive sector and supported by positive flying stars. However, we don’t live in a perfect world. This is where the rules of layout for the bedroom, especially the placement of the bed, come into play.

Bedroom Logic #1: The bed must be placed against a solid wall.Absolutely! This is, in fact, the most important consideration for bed placement. It is the one golden rule that every Feng Shui practitioner, regardless of their school or system, adheres to. A solid wall behind your bed is considered a mountain, providing good support. If there is a window in the wall behind your bed, simply keep it closed when you sleep. A closed window is as good as a solid wall.

Bedroom Logic #2: The position of my bed must not clash with my year of birth. Incorrect. This is not logic but a residual myth handed down through centuries of verbal teaching. Let me explain. Based on our year of birth, each of us has a specific Life Gua ranging from 1 to 9. This life gua determines four possible favourable directions.

Today, obtaining this information is easy. Any online Bazi plotter will give you your four personal favourable directions. For bed placement, we prefer either the Tian Yi (Heavenly Doctor) or Fu Wei (Stability) directions. However, in a pinch, any one of the four favourable directions will do.

If you sleep with your feet pointing to the door, just close the door.  

 If you sleep with your feet pointing to the door, just close the door.

But in all cases, you must have a solid wall behind your head when sleeping. We have heard of cases where a husband and wife are literally sleeping head-to-foot because they both have different or opposite favourable directions. There are also cases where occupants slant their bed against a corner, trying to align with their favourable directions.

This is not the correct way to apply the directions. For cases like this, it is best to get a Feng Shui audit as there are other methods to provide support apart from just using the directions.

Bedroom Logic #3: Having an additional room inside my bedroom will cause ‘peach blossom’ problems.Incorrect. In-bedroom features such as walk-in wardrobes or a small study area are highly popular in modern homes. The presence of a walk-in wardrobe or study area will not have any peach blossom connotations because the activities conducted in that area have nothing to do with a third party.

The only caution would be against creating an additional bedroom where someone else is sleeping inside your bedroom. If you are concerned about this, simply remove the door that separates your bedroom from the walk-in wardrobe or study area. This will automatically make this area a part of your bedroom. Without the door, it is no longer considered a separate room.

Bedroom Logic #4: My bedroom door must not clash with the fridge.We often see this in apartment setups due to space constraints. The assumption is that the cold from the fridge will flow into the room and cause illnesses.

However, in reality, how long do you really keep your refrigerator doors open? I would bet that your air-conditioner runs longer than your open refrigerator door!

Bedroom Logic #5: Water features in my bedroom will help me gain more wealth.Incorrect. We do not recommend water features in the bedroom because water activations are primarily used to trigger the wealth Qi, which is an active form of energy. Your bedroom is meant for rest and relaxation. Triggering the wealth Qi in an area for rest may result in poor quality of sleep, which could lead to long-term health issues. There are, however, exceptions to the case whereby the activation is only supposed to be there for only a couple of weeks.

Bedroom Logic #6: I should not be sleeping with my legs pointing towards the door.Actually, this is more related to culture and superstition than Feng Shui. In the olden days, when funerals were still conducted from the person’s house, the coffin would be placed in the main living room with the feet pointing towards the door. That’s the basis for this ‘rule’.

If you find that the room configuration forces you to sleep with your feet pointing towards the bedroom door, simply close the door to solve the problem.

Bedroom Logic #7: My bed must not be pointing to the toilet.Again, in apartment living, we often have limited choices. If this is the case in your home, just keep the toilet door closed at all times. The concern about the toilet is a leftover rule from ancient times when the toilet was located outside of the house. Think about the plumbing system in the olden days – there was none! So, the toilet area in ancient times was a place full of bacteria, viruses and stench. Sleeping with the bed in proximity to such an outdoor toilet would not be pleasant at all. But with modern plumbing, simply keep the toilet door closed.

Bedroom Logic #8: A mirror reflecting the bed is inauspicious.Partially true, but it’s not inauspicious. Let’s imagine this together. You wake up in the middle of the night. It’s dark. You sit up on your bed and see a figure in front of you. In that sleep-befuddled state, that might give you a scare! The mirror has no implications in Feng Shui. So, if you are into that kind of thing... well, then!

Bedroom Logic #9: There must not be any sharp edges pointing towards the bed.Absolutely true! Many times, we find that the layout of the room results in the edge of a wardrobe pointing towards the bed. This internal ‘sha qi’ situation leads to a feeling of “same bed, different dreams”. While it may not directly lead to quarrels, it creates a sense of the couple leading separate lives. The connection between the two intertwined lives slowly weakens. The remedy for this is simple – use a curtain to soften the edge of the wardrobe and keep the curtain closed when you are asleep.

Bedroom Logic #10:
The bed must not be placed under an exposed beam.Certainly. We’re back to our favourite topic of exposed beams again. Exposed beams represent cutting Qi flowing down from the beam and may eventually cause pain and illness in the affected body parts. The easiest remedy, of course, is to avoid placing the bed under exposed ceiling beams. If that is not possible, consider installing a false ceiling or plaster ceiling to address the issue. To summarise, the main point here is to ensure that you sleep well.

In the next H&G edition, we will explore the other sector of the home that governs health – the kitchen.

By Paulynne Cheng a Communications professional turned Bazi and Feng Shui practitioner. She can be reached at thehiddensun.consult@gmail.com. All views expressed are entirely hers.

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