Sleep Healthy

Out with the Bad Air, in with the Austin Air

Guest Blogger: Michael Earnheart, Wickford, RI Showroom Manager

Your sleeping environment is your sanctuary, but what happens when it starts to become a harbinger of an assortment of sensory ills, robbing you from your essential rest?

From coughing and dry throat to congestion and sneezing, these annoyances may not seem significant, but for some people they can be debilitating repellents for a good night’s rest.

Because allergy season is just around the corner and last week the National Sleep Foundation sponsored its annual Sleep Awareness Week, now is the time to consider an air filtration system.

But what size do I need? What level of filtration is adequate? These are all valid questions and The Clean Bedroom offers a variety of filtration systems to cater to the mildly agitating to the most egregious of chemical sensitivities.

No allergy or sensitivity is too small to ignore, if you have the opportunity to remove what ails you, it is important to do so.

 Your sleep is critical to your success, your attitude and your productivity. Things such as cooking gasses, odors from mold, dust particles, animal dander and even dry cleaning chemicals can disturb your rest, causing much undue stress in your life as a result from non-replenishing sleep.

 In our Wickford, Rhode Island showroom, we have a Bedroom Machine running constantly, our showroom visitors immediately remark on the freshness and cleanness of the air inside, it also prohibits excessive amounts of dust from circulating around the showroom.

 As a preliminary suggestion, we invite you to look at our National Sleep Foundation Bedroom Machine by Austin Air
. It is a veritable titan in the arena of air filtration system. Featuring a five-stage filter system, removing all of the common irritants, in addition to gasses, odors and noxious airborne chemicals, this machine will produce the cleanest air and may change your sleep and increase the quality of it.

 

Your Chemical Mattress

Guest Blogger: Michael Earnheart, Wickford RI Showroom Manager

 

You're sleeping on a chemical plant.

I hate to say it, but that is the truth. If you are on a conventional mattress, you are literally sleeping on a chemical plant. Yet, to offer full disclosure, the reason why there are chemicals in your mattress in the first place is to prevent your mattress from bursting into flames. What may be safety-conscious in one light, is hazardous in another. That is why natural and organic mattress manufacturers use wool as the flame retardadents -- to cut out the chemical coverings.

These chemicals are absorbed through our skin and by breathing in the off gassing vapors. Doctors agree that long term, close proximity exposure to these volatile compounds is hazardous to our health and has been linked to a slew of different illnesses. 

Many people with multiple chemical sensitivities have sought refuge with organic mattresses because they are free from the petroleum based compounds, PDBE (polybrominated diphenyl ethers), pesticides and formaldehyde.

 What organic means exactly is one-hundred percent natural, untreated and free of any man-made products that enhance of suppress any of the product's naturally occurring qualities. Organic mattresses are made of organic cotton, natural latex and/or organic wool, which contain no artificial dyes, bleaches, oils and are not artificially softened. The raw materials are washed with water and natural soaps – and that is it.

If you are suffering while trying to sleep, then you are not getting a healthy, regenerative rest. The first place to start is to get yourself a organic pillow or natural pillow. Consider the fact you are resting your head on this throughout the night. At the very least, you will be breathing in less chemicals, because of the materials in your pillow are organically derived.

The true freedom from chemical sensitivity is to find an organic mattress that suits you, paired with a great air filtration system, such as the Austin Air Healthmate+, made specifically for people with chemical sentitivities, you will be afforded the most restful and healthy night's sleep you can get.

The Clean Bedroom offers a substantial amount of organic bedding, natural and organic mattresses that will address a variety of chemical sensitivity issues. Explore our website or drop us a message and we will be happy to find a perfect fit for your specific needs.

Rest chemical free, rest healthy – rest better at The Clean Bedroom.

 

Picking through the Piles of Pillows

Guest Blogger: Michael Earnheart, Wickford RI Showroom Manager

We have all been there, a stiff neck, a sore back, achy shoulders – it is even more unpleasant to wake up to than the droning buzz of your alarm clock.

While it is certainly easy to lay the blame on your bed, there is something else that is almost always overlooked by the sleeper, it is your pillow.

Your pillow is where you rest your head at the end of a long day, it cradles you, ideally offering you comfort as you drift off into a replenishing sleep, releasing all the tension of the day and energizing you for the one to come. Yet, a pillow ill-suited to your sleeping habits can be incredibly destructive to the effectiveness of your sleep.

When you sleep, you are in one of three positions: your back, your side or your stomach. A lot of individuals are combinations of those three, I call them “rolling sleepers”. When you wake up, pay attention to which position you are in. The position you find yourself in most frequently is your sleep position.

Once armed with that knowledge, it is time to say goodbye to the lumpy, flat pillows of old and welcome in a new and inexpensive way to get yourself the sleep you need and deserve.

The Clean Bedroom offers an extensive collection of pillows that accommodate all types of sleepers, yet some of our pillows offer a little more flexibility, such as our natural latex pillows and adjustable loft pillows. The natural latex pillows will mold to the weight and shape of your head, offering you just the correct amount of support and resistance, without needing to “heat up”, like memory foam materials. Adjustable loft pillows, like our Suite Sleep Kapok pillow or Suite Sleep Wooly Bolas pillow allow you to remove the fill to suit your comfort preference for height.

Explore our pillow collections and send your questions over to us. We will be happy to answer anything you may be curious about and understand your sleep needs, finding you the right solution to get you off a clean, healthy and well-supported  night's sleep.

Food for Thought

Guest Blogger: Michael Earnheart, Wickford RI Showroom Manager

How often do you spend your night tossing and turning? Some people spend too much time rolling around in bed due to digestive issues that keep them awake with pains or other annoyances that rob them from a great night's sleep.

In fact, according to the National Sleep Foundation 60% of women report sleeping poorly with frequency and among many issues, food eaten before bed time can be targeted as a main culprit of this.

There are a lot of schools of thought behind what you shouldn't eat before bed time, but what about what you should eat? There are a lot of foods that can be eaten alone or in combination with other things that will cause you to drift off into a more sound and sustained sleep.

Carbohydrate rich foods, that are medium-to-low in protein contain tryptophan. Tryptophan is most commonly associated with that “food coma” feeling after eating a ton of turkey on Thanksgiving. Think of tryptophan as a precursor to sleep -- as it is the essential building block for serotonin and melatonin, the relaxing neurotransmitters, that guarantee you a better and more restful sleep overall.

Try a simple snack of sliced apples and peanut butter and a glass of milk before bed, around an hour before to give the tryptophan adequate time to reach the brain.

There are a lot of other foods with high levels of tryptophan! Please visit this site for some more information regarding foods for better sleep!

All of us from The Clean Bedroom wish you a happy and healthy night's sleep!

Nap Time

Guest Blogger: Michael Earnheart, Wickford, RI Showroom Manager

Just about everyone loves a good nap, it can be a powerfully effective way to recapture some lost energy in the middle of a busy day, but is it really just catching 40-winks?

According to the National Sleep Foundation there are three types of naps: Planned naps, emergency naps and habitual nappers, the most beneficial nap (for safety's sake) out of this group is the emergency nap. It has been found that the need for emergency naps frequently occur during a commute. Motorists feeling drowsy should pull over their vehicle to a rest area, drink a caffeinated beverage and take a short nap to replenish themselves.

Naps are excellent for restoration of alertness and enhancing diminished performance, reducing mistakes and accidents. NASA conducted a study on military pilots and astronauts and found that a 40-minute nap improved performance by 34% and alertness by 100%

However, despite the positive characteristics attached to napping there are some negatives. Naps lasting beyond 20 minutes can leave people with  what the National Sleep Foundation refers to as “sleep inertia”, it is defined as “the feeling of grogginess and disorientation that can come with awakening from a deep sleep.” Sleep inertia's effect can be adverse on individuals expected to perform immediately after waking. Napping is capable of robbing you of night time resting hours, so it is best to limit your naps to shorter periods and earlier in the day.

The research journal Sleep examined the benefits of naps of varying lengths and no naps. The data collected showed that a 10-minute nap produced the most benefit in terms of reduced sleepiness and improved cognitive performance.

Overall, napping can be very helpful when you are feeling drowsy, but you do not want to overdo because you might have difficulty getting to sleep at night when you need to.

 

Quest for a Better Rest

Guest Blogger: Michael Earnheart, Wickford, RI Showroom Manager

Nothing like starting the day off with a little procrastination, right? Who doesn't love the snooze bar? It allows you those precious extra nine minutes of subconscious bliss. However, what if you were able to axe the alarm clock and steer clear of the snooze bar?

Well, it's certainly possible because your body runs on a constant 24-hour clock called a circadian rhythm. These rhythms are existent in plants, animals, fungi and even bacterium and govern the biochemical and physiological processes in living entities. Essentially, your body's clock knows when you should wake and sleep and your resistance to natural calls to rest can have adverse effects in your life.

There are some things you can do restore your circadian harmony:

• Go to bed and wake up at the same time: Yes, even on weekends! Adhering to a schedule can reinforce your body's natural sleep-wake cycle, making you less dependent on your alarm clock.
• Don't eat or drink in large quantities before bed: Your digestive system needs to process food and drink and whenever you consume anything, it is converted into useful energy. No one needs excess energy while they are trying to go to sleep! Also, if you're prone to heartburn, refrain from eating spicy foods as they can agitate heartburn flares, preventing you from a restful sleep.
• Make your bedroom a sleeper's haven: That means ditching the TV, the laptop, the BlackBerry® -- this place is for sleeping. Turn down the lights, turn on a Natura Sound Machine, activate your National Sleep Foundation Bedroom Machine and drift into a clean, healthy and pleasant sleep. If you don't get to sleep after fifteen minutes, get up and do something until you get tired. Lamenting over your inability to get to sleep will cause anxiety and further you from experiencing your best rest.
• Sleep primarily at night: If you're a napper, limit the nap to 30 minutes. Long periods of sleep during your normal "wake cycle" steal hours from your "rest cycle", this causes a disruption that can lead to a lack of regenerative sleep. Of course, if you work at night and sleep during the day, ensure that you block out as much light as possible in your sleeping environment to allow your body's rhythm to adjust accordingly.
• Select a comfortable mattress and pillow: If you aren't comfortable, it is guaranteed you are not going to get the replenishing sleep you need to go about your daily routine. One of the most essential pieces of the sleep environment is the mattress. Find one that offers sufficient release to pressure point tensions and support your body, adjusting to your movement. The Clean Bedroomoffers a variety of organic mattresses and pillows to help you reach a more revitalizing sleep. In fact, our newest and exclusive mattress, the Oyasumi, was designed especially for pressure point reduction and unyielding support to offer a truly recuperative rest.

For more information about sleeping habits, sleeping tips and finding your ideal sleeping environment, please visit www.bettersleep.org

The older you get, the fewer hours of sleep you need

According to The National Sleep Foundation experts recommend a range of seven to nine hours of sleep for the average adult. However, as anyone over fifty will tell you, older people wake more frequently through the night. Yet our nightly sleep requirement remains the same regardless of age. Night's of interrupted sleep can result in sleep deprivation, which can lead to physical and psychological problems.

Naps planned as part of a regular daily routine can be useful in promoting wakefulness and make up the sleep debt caused by a restless night.

No time for naps? Consider changing your mattress. Sore hips and shoulders, back pain can be caused by an uncomfortable or worn out mattress. A new mattress, perferably an organic mattress made with 100% natural latex can relieve pressure points, help you get more deep REM sleep.

Try sleeping on your back, it’s heavenly.

Lately, I have been waking up completely flat on my back. It surprises me every time because I come out of a deep, dreamy sleep and feel wonderful. What’s amazing about this is that I’m normally a side sleeper. I curl up in full fetal and fall asleep in minutes. Always have.

 

This newfound sleeping position is a revelation. A few months ago, our sales rep for adjustable beds said that humans sleep better in the astronaut position, on their back knees up like in a chair. I thought he was crazy until this waking up on my back fully rested situation proved him right.

 

Being totally resistant to change, I have not tested out starting out on my back yet but will for a few nights and report back. If anyone else has a similar experience, please let me know.

Trouble sleeping? Helpful reading next time you’re up in the middle of the night

Chris submitted a comment to my post "Can’t sleep? Here are 30 tips for Insomniacs" citing the fact that one-third of all adult Americans–about 50 million people – complain about their sleep. And, I thought I was the only one walking the halls at night!

This growing trend must account for the increasing number of sleep remedy commercials on TV lately. The pharmaceutical companies can’t wait to solve our problems with yet another drug.

The number of sleep disorders is pretty astounding. Check out the lengthy list on The Sleep Disorder Guide. The guide offers some help but it’s pretty bland and mostly tells you to see a doctor but it does help define why you can’t sleep, stay asleep or sleep too much.

Want to find your sleep problem? Find a list of Sleep Disorders from Depression to Restless Leg Syndrome to Jet Lag.

Caution when visiting this site: Stick to the site itself because it’s loaded with Google Ads that are hidden in the editorial. I found myself clicking through to directories and didn’t like that at all. For the most part, it’s helpful if you’re careful where you click.

Can’t sleep? Here are 30 tips for Insomniacs.

I was just researching the difference between Talalay latex and Dunlop latex used in latex mattresses, and came across a treasure trove of tips to help get back to sleep at night. Divine Providence, I’d say since I’ve been having trouble staying asleep all night, again. I plan to print out these tips and keep them on my bedside table.

Insomnia? 30 Simple Tips to Help You Get to Sleep offers some of the old standbys that we know work like taking a warm bath before bed and drinking warm milk or herbal tea. But how about getting a massage? Nice idea but my husband is no masseuse. He’s willing but certainly not able. Avoid alcohol, caffeine, smoking, I learned that in college.

Keep the same bedtime hours, easy now that I’m asleep by 9 pm anyway. I’m not too keen on "Don’t sleep in", which is my favorite thing to do on Sundays but I know they’re right. Also, avoid an illuminated clock. Wiggle your toes. Some ideas are really out there.

The only point I completely disagree with is to sleep on a firm mattress. You need good support for whatever position you sleep in: side, back, or stomach. The way you sleep, allergies, etc. all need to be considered when purchasing the correct mattress for light sleepers.

Next up: the difference between Talalay latex and Dunlop latex used mattresses. Guaranteed to put you to sleep.

Other Resources
Talk About Sleep - Sleep Disorder Community providing medicine news, information, and interactive support

SleepHQ.com – Links for curing Insomnia

SLEEP, DREAMS AND WAKEFULNESS One of the longest established sleep research laboratories