October 27th, 2007 by Phil

If you are interested in a natural sleep aid to help you fall asleep or a drug-free method of dealing with insomnia, then read on.

I’m sure you’ve heard about drinking warm milk to help you sleep. It’s not exactly a miracle solution and its effectiveness does vary. Milk contains amino acid that is converted to a sleep-enhancing compound which will help you relax and fall asleep. A caffeine and alcohol free beverage such as chamomile tea will also help you to relax in the evening before sleep.

Lack of Vitamin B will affect your sleep, so taking a supplement may help. A good product containing A-Z of vitamins and minerals is recommended to give you overall health benefit. It’s also advisable to check your iron level as women who are deficient in iron tend to have more problems sleeping.

If you are after natural sleep aids try Standardized Valerian extract which is a safe and non addictive sedative that works by calming the mind and body. Valerian is available at most pharmacies and is a natural remedy to aid sleep. Taken before bedtime it can ease nerves and calm the mind to help you drift off to sleep. Lemon balm and Hops, are also soothing remedies which can calm and relax the mind and body.

Aromatherapy is an age old art and is the use of essential oils from aromatic plants to promote a healthy, balanced lifestyle. Essential oils may be blended together to create your own personal blends. Through inhalation the essential oil can be absorbed into the bloodstream stimulating the production of relaxing hormones such as endorphin and serotonin.

Lavender, rose and Chamomile all have soothing and relaxing qualities. Essential oils can be used in several ways, such as vaporization and massage. Try adding a few drops in your bath to help ease away tension. Alternatively try scented candles and incense in the evening which can also help relax, and calm the body and mind before sleep.

As well as trying some of these natural sleep aids, try and improve your sleep habits and ensure that you are getting up and going to bed the same time everyday, including weekends. Put into practice the following:

* Every morning expose yourself to sunlight for a good few minutes to increase your serotonin levels. This will help wake you up.

* During the day ensure that you eat healthily and participate in some light exercise.

* Try to deal with stress and worry. If you feel that you are not coping, take a break or talk to someone.

* Leave your troubles at work. Try and relax when you get home.

* Unwind in the evenings and avoid stimulants such as caffeine

* Listen to some relaxing music and dim lighting to increase your melatonin levels which will help induce sleep

* In bed, try relaxing progressively from your head to your toe. Remember it is not a time for worry or thoughts.

If you suffer from sleeplessness, consider a natural sleep aid, but more importantly improve your sleep habits and pay attention to your emotional levels in the day.

October 20th, 2007 by Phil

Lately my other half has been complaining that I spend too much time working and that I’ve been neglecting her. So recently I’ve been trying to make more of an effort to spend time with her, when I’m not working. However, this has proved rather difficult since I spend most, if not all my time working.

So, to remedy this, I’ve been using my time at work more efficiently. Instead of spending time pottering about and sometimes in a daydream, I now focus on achieving the tasks quicker. If I get stuck on a task I move on to another and come back to it.

For this, I’ve given myself an extra half an hour to an hour free time to do what I want. We’ve also started playing a game I came up with. It’s a relationship building game which is also fun.

This is how it’s played: Get a piece of paper and draw a line down the middle. Write your name on the top left and your partner’s name on the top right. Now here comes the fun part. For any good act or deed that your partner does for you e.g. giving you a massage, offering to do the dishes when it’s your turn, or ironing your clothes for you etc – you will award 1 point. We’ve decided that 1 point equates to £1.

Now, you don’t necessarily have to award a point if you do not think the act or deed is worth the point. It’s best not to give out the points frivolously as this will detract from the point of the game.

But what you’ll find is that you will both make more of an effort to do things for each other and pay more attention to one another. We’ve decided that the game ends a week before Christmas. The money that we’ve each accrued will be the value of each of our Christmas gifts. I’m aiming for a set of drums, although it looks as though I need to do a lot more to attain that!

So give it a try, it will help you put the fun back in your relationship and get you to appreciate each other more.

October 13th, 2007 by Phil

Sleep deprivation is generally the cause of sleep disorders such as apnea, narcolepsy and insomnia. Sleep deprivation affects millions of people around the world and is the lack of sleep which is crucial for restoration and rejuvenation.

Contrary to what people think, insomnia is not defined by the number of hours a person sleeps. As we get older, we tend to need less sleep. Babies might need between 10 to 14 hours a night and children between 9 to 12 hours sleep. Sleep is important for growth as well as for restoring muscular energy.

The optimum amount of sleep for most adults is around 7 to 8 hours a night. Although as I said it really does differ from person to person, some people may need as few as 4 hours, or as many as 10 hours of sleep per night.

If you feel refreshed during the day and not sleepy until bedtime, then obviously you’re getting enough sleep. The amount of sleep required varies from person to person and depends on a number possible of factors including, age, genetic make-up, the amount of exercise you get, what you do during the day, the quality of your sleep and whether you are still growing.

5 hours of deep quality sleep is far better than 12 hour of broken sleep. It’s important to note that it’s the quality of sleep obtained at night and not just the quantity that determines how you feel the next day. There are various stages of sleep and it’s in the deeper stages that the body is able to restore.

Lack of sleep generally causes daytime tiredness, lethargy, aching muscles, blurred vision, headaches, nausea, irritability and frequent yawning. Although sleep deprivation is not life threatening it can adversely affect brain functioning. You may find that your ability to concentrate or carry out tasks more problematic.

You may find that after a good night’s sleep that you feel refreshed and energized. Sleep enables you to restore and rejuvenate many functions of the mind and body. Without sleep your immune system may weaken leaving you susceptible to illnesses. Sleep is essential for the release of growth hormones for proper physical and mental development.

Sleep studies have found that sleep deprivation can have the similar affects to those of excessive alcohol. Thousands of accidents a year occur due to falling asleep or loss of concentration, mainly while driving or operating dangerous machinery. Its total cost, in terms of illness, injuries, and decreased quality of life is staggering. A constant lack of sleep severely affects quality of life and can often lead to mental disorders such as anxiety and depression.

Sleep deprivation affects all ages including students in high school. In act in a recent study it was revealed that 1 in 4 students admitted to falling asleep in class. Most schools start early which prevents students getting enough sleep. Forced sleep deprivation over a long period can lead to insomnia. Fortunately in many school districts, opening school times have been delayed to give students more time to sleep.

However this doesn’t prevent the fact that people are working longer hours than ever and with electricity, the average amount of sleep a night has decreased dramatically.

With sleep deprivation becoming an increasingly growing problem and insomnia affecting a third of all adults, more needs to be done to counteract this problem. People need to be made aware of the seriousness of sleep deprivation and more importantly how to deal with it.

October 9th, 2007 by Phil

I was about to write a post on how to apply EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique). But as it’s a physical technique which requires explanation of the various tapping points on the body’s meridian system, I thought it would be difficult to explain with just words. I found this great video which gives a simplified version of the technique. Use this to combat stress anytime. If you want to know more about how you can apply EFT, as well as several other powerful techniques to beat insomnia, visit How to beat insomnia

Here’s the video for the stress busting technique:

October 6th, 2007 by Phil

Do we have control over stress? Some people wake up and feel that they are not in control of their thoughts and emotions, and they might wake up in a bad mood, with negative thoughts about themselves and the rest of their day. We’ve all experienced a bad day where nothing seems to go right.

What we all need to realize is that we do have control of our thoughts and emotions. In a relatively short space of time you can learn to handle stress and control your emotions. It’s important that we deal with stress as it can have detrimental effects on our physical and mental health.

Stress is an overproduction of adrenalin and other hormones, when these hormones are not expelled quick enough, we may experience a spike. In the short term this can affect our mental and physical state of being. We may feel upset, angry or hurt. Physically we may feel tense, irritable and on edge.

In the long run, too much stress will have a far greater impact than just a headache. Too much stress increases your chances of heart disease, stroke, heart attacks and psychological disorders. What’s more, stress is a major factor in causing sleep disorders.

So what can we do to reduce stress?

Here are some ideas you can try when you feel stressed:

In the next few post, I will show you how you can deal with stress using a simple yet highly proven and effective technique. In the meantime, take it easy on the cushion.

October 3rd, 2007 by Phil

I hope you enjoyed ‘The Secret’ video I posted a week ago. If you’re interested in how you can achieve your goals and desires, I recommend reading Ask and it is Given by Esther and Jerry Hicks.

Some people may think that the Law of Attraction is just a bunch of mumbo jumbo and that it’s impossible to achieve a desire by merely focusing on it. However, this is how I interpret it: I focus on a desire, say for example a beautiful home overlooking a beach. If I was to merely focus on the desire and just ‘hope’ it comes someday…I wouldn’t be confident in the slightest it would manifest.

However a true desire, is like an itch, it is not a throw away comment such as ‘I want to be rich someday’. Someday; a goal without a timeframe is not a goal. A true desire is an itch you want to scratch; it niggles at the back of your mind everyday and motivates you to work towards it, to take action and to achieve your goal.

This is how I see the Law of Attraction working. It’s all about taking action! If you have a big goal – break it down into smaller goals. Let’s start small; I want a glass of orange juice – I go to the supermarket, buy a carton of orange juice, go home and pour myself a glass and drink.

The glass of orange juice isn’t going to just materialize on my table is it? I have to take action and take small steps and achieve the smaller goals to reach the greater goal or desire.

I often visualize my desires and play them over in my head, because it puts me in a positive frame of mind and motivates me, thus helping me to achieve my goals. I truly believe it opens doors and creates new paths and opportunities to attain my desires.

Try visualizing yourself living in abundance, living without insomnia or achieving your desires.

October 2nd, 2007 by Phil

Most of my friends like me have projects outside of work, whether it is hobby related, voluntary work or personal projects. It’s so easy to get distracted and motivated especially when the last thing you want to do is more work after your regular day job.

What I’ve learned is that motivation is a habit. The more you do something, the more it becomes a habit. It’s hard to get the wheels turning initially, however once they begin moving, you just need to keep on it.

The key for me is discipline. It’s easy to be focused initially, with all the excitement of starting a project, however most people lose steam or give up from lack of results.

I used to make excuses, like ‘I’m so busy’ and ‘I don’t have time’ but now after living and working in Japan as a teacher, I feel ashamed of those thoughts.

Students in Junior High School are incredibly dedicated and hardworking. For example, one of my students is a member of the Student Council and he goes to the swimming club 5 days a week after school. He then goes to cram classes after, often getting home around 8 o’clock!!

When he gets home he has to start his homework. Bedtime is around 12am! Most students get to school by 7.30am in the morning for club activities!

On the weekend he has karate lessons and private English lessons. The guy is unstoppable!!! On top of that he is highly enthusiastic and motivated in everything he does.

I get pretty exhausted after work and then more work, teaching private English lessons in the evening and then my personal projects such as writing. However when I compare myself to my students, I’ve got it easy! So you see, I never complain of having no time and being too busy anymore.

My tip is to be disciplined and devote time to your projects everyday. I’ve made it a habit to do more after work, not just sit around watching TV (as much as I love lounging about!).

What I’ve found is, as I do more and continue to do more, the more it becomes a habit and the more I achieve.

I like this motto from a famous baseball player in Japan called Hideki Matsui:

 “If I change my mind, my behavior will be changed.

If my behavior is changed, my habit will be changed.

If my habit is changed, my character will be changed.

If my character is changed, my destiny will be changed.”