Sleeping Beauty

While I was waiting for my daughter's 60 minutes ballet lesson, i found an interesting article about Sleeping Beauty... well, not that story of sleeping beauty.  This  is about how good sleep can affect beauty.    The definition of good sleep is not the number of hours you sleep, but the feelings that you get in the morning as you get up.    

A health and beauty specialist recommended the following for women:

1. In order to have a good sleep at night, you need to be active during the day.   This means daytime workout or activities are in fact helping you to get a better sleep at night.   If you lie down a lot during the day, there is a chance that you can not sleep well at night.   So the point is to be active during the day!

2. Before you go to sleep, it is important that you make your body warm, especially your feet.   Well, here in Japan, most women will shower or take a bath before going to bed.   The specialist recommended that for those who shower, you need to give your feet a warm bath - such as using a small bucket of warm water with aromateraphy oil or you can purchase a spa machine for your foot.

3. Do not write personal emails before you go to bed, especially those types of emotionally involved communication.   It is very simple.   Women are emotional people, so when we are exposed to emotional trigger, it is sometimes hard for us to get over it and we tend to linger and think about it - i.e. just before bad time is a bad timing to get emotional.

4. Do not eat heavy meal, especially those that contain lots of protein and fats at night.    Take a lot of protein during the day, while your body is active and the stomach is working hard processing extra calories intake.   At night take lighter meal that is easy to digest, so that the body can easily switch into "sleeping mode" from "digesting mode".    You are guaranteed to sleep better that way.

5. Do not drink too much liquid before bedtime.   You want a good sleep without interruption of having to go to the toilet.　Obviously tea, coffee, and other drinks that contain caffeine are not going to help you fall asleep.

6. It is good to cover your eyes with eyemask or to sleep in a completely dark room.   Darkness also improve sleeping quality.

7. Apparently it is not the number of hours you sleep, but the quality of sleeping itself.  Having said that it is important for women to sleep before 10 pm.    Similar to children, women also produces certain hormones that helps to produce new cells - for children these cells are for general growth and development of brain, but for women they influence the cycle of body system.    Putting in a simple term....  try to sleep by 10 pm so that you give enough time for the body to produce the right amount of hormones.

8. Check your pillow and bed to make sure that they are really comfortable for you.  Posturepedic firm pillow is one of the best pillows recommended, however

9. Snoring has a negative effect on quality of sleeping because practically you do not breathe correctly thus circulation of oxygen is not good.   Please consult with a Health Specialist if you think you snore badly.

10.  Having tried all these, if you still can not sleep well at night, you may have chronic sleeping problems.   Please consult with a Health Specialist near you.

Good night :D