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How to Take Power Naps

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Power naps (quick naps during the daytime) are magical. Experts say that short naps during the day can give you a boost of energy and more memory power. They also help you to make better decisions throughout the day. The “power” in a power nap is that you get just enough rest to re-energize yourself for the rest of your day, yet you get that energy in a minimal amount of time that doesn’t disrupt your day. A good daytime nap is also better for you than drinking a cup of caffeinated coffee. Here are a few quick tips for how to take a power nap.

  1. Limit your power nap to 40 minutes.

It can be tempting to keep hitting the snooze button when you’re napping (just 10 minutes more), but for a power nap to work while not disrupting your daily schedule it shouldn’t last for more than 20-40 minutes. During that time frame, you’re in what is called “slow wave sleep,” which boosts your decision making skills and memory. If you sleep longer than that, you may find it more difficult to wake up in time to resume your day. So schedule your alarm to wake you up in exactly 40 minutes. Get right up and get back to work.

  1. Turn off the television during your nap.

When you close your eyes to take a power nap, you shouldn’t be distracted by things that could make you want to open your eyes again. You need to be completely relaxed. So if you’re taking your power nap at home, turn off the television. If you decide to take a power nap in your car, turn off the radio when it’s playing loud music or news shows.

  1. Listen to a motivation tape while you nap.

If you do choose to keep something on in the background while you’re taking a power nap, it should be a motivational tape or audiobook. Not only does the sound of your favorite author soothe you to sleep, it also helps implant positive messages in your mind that you can carry with you for the rest of the day. If you decide to wear earphones when listening to the audiobook, just make sure that the same device you’re using (such as a cellphone or iPad) has an alarm set to wake you up in 40 minutes, and that the sound is set at a safe, optimal hearing level.

  1. Keep the light on, but dimmed.

If you are taking a nap in a dark room, you may find it more difficult to get up after just 40 minutes. So when you’re taking a power nap, do so in a room with a dimmed light on or with a bit of fresh sunlight shining into the room.

  1. Don’t get TOO comfortable.

This goes with the last point, but don’t get too comfortable when you’re trying to take a power nap. Just lay back somewhere quiet and relax, whether it’s a reclining chair or a futon couch. Avoid getting snuggled up under the comfy comforter in your bedroom where you might feel as if you’re going to sleep for a full eight hours.

  1. Press pause on the stresses of the day.

This is possibly the most difficult part of successfully taking a power nap. You have to clear your mind and release stressful thoughts in order to fall asleep quickly. If you don’t, you’ll find yourself thinking for 40 minutes instead of slow-wave sleeping. When you need help relaxing, try this breathing technique for falling asleep in 60 seconds. Here are some meditation exercises you can try as well.

If you’re having a problem with staying focused or you’re lacking energy, try taking a power nap. It might become your go-to solution for being more productive and attentive as you navigate your day.

 

Yard Workout: Burn Calories Doing Yard Work

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It’s estimated that you can burn as many as 450 calories per hour while doing yard work.Think about that the next time the grass needs trimming or the garden needs some tending!

How awesome is it that you can burn calories while beautifying your property. Here are a few ways to turn common yard work duties into an intense full body workout.

Preparing for Your Yard Workout

Before you begin any exercise it is of the utmost importance that you are well hydrated before, during and after the activity. You should also consume a well-balanced meal a couple of hours before beginning. It’s also important to stretch your legs, back and arms before getting started. If you have health concerns, consult a doctor before beginning any new health regimen.

Raking the Yard

Flickr/donhomer

One common outdoor chore is raking the yard when it’s full of leaves. Stand with your feet a little more than shoulder width apart while maintaining good posture. Use long sweeping motions to gather debris with the rake, and as you stretch forward bend your knees and engage your core. Make sure that you alternate sweeping motions from left, right and front. Do this at a pace that will raise your heart rate. These motions also force you to engage your legs, back and arms. Make small piles of debris and move onto the next area.

When all the piles are completed, it’s time to throw the debris into the trash bin. Do squats. With your feet shoulder width apart, stand over the pile of debris, do a power squat down as low as you can go, grab debris with both hands, lift your body up and throw the leaves into the bin. Repeat these steps for all piles (take a break if needed).

Tidying the Yard

Even if it’s not the fall season, you probably have debris on your property that accumulates throughout the week, such as papers, branches and sticks. Every time you find something new, do five jumping jacks or 10 standing leg lifts (put your hands on your hips and alternate lifting your legs forward or to either side). When you’re done doing your reps, bend at the knees to pick up the debris.

Mowing the Lawn

Flickr/seanhobson
Most modern day stand up mowers are self-propelled, meaning there is no need to actually push the mower (it goes on its own; you just guide it). Turn off the self-propelling feature so that you’ll be forced to actually push the mower for a period of time. You can always turn it back on if you get tired. Mowing the lawn using your own power will raise your heart rate and make you burn calories. Remember: it’s important that you periodically take breaks and rehydrate with either cold water or a sports drink that contains electrolytes.

It’s totally possible to get a great full body workout when doing yard work. When you think about your chores in this way, they are less daunting and go by faster. While doing your yard workout,  concentrate on your breathing, good posture and hydration.

Have fun losing those pesky pounds!!

Posted by Eve

 

Photo credits: Flickr/donhomer, Flickr/seanhobson

 

 

Tooth Decay in Kids: Don’t Share Spoons & More Dental Tips

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If you have had tooth decay, cavities, gum disease or any other dental problem in your past, it’s not a good idea to share spoons with your child. Here’s why…

Flickr/armymedicineParents are often distressed to learn that the same dental problems they experienced early in life are now plaguing their children. Some believe it’s due to genetics, but many parents don’t realize that they could be the ones who are actively introducing bad bacteria into their kids’ mouth.

Learn how sharing spoons and other items could be putting your child at a higher risk of dental problems.

Bacteria that Causes Cavities

Cavities form when bad bacteria eat away at the tooth enamel, creating tiny holes. If those holes aren’t filled by a dentist, the tooth becomes weak, creating a full-blown cavity and eventually an infection if it’s not treated. The bacteria that most commonly causes tooth decay in children, teens and adults is called mutans streptococcus. It eats sugar for energy and combines with food particles to form plaque.

Kids are most vulnerable to cavities because they eat a lot of candy and sugary drinks. There’s also another reason why young children tend to get cavities even when they brush and floss regularly—their parents unknowingly pass that cavity-causing bacteria to them by sharing spoons.

Sharing Spoons…

Flickr/the_luna

When you feed your baby or toddler, do you sometimes eat a spoonful of the food first then give the same spoon to the child? This isn’t the best idea if you’ve had dental problems in the past. Bacteria is carried in mucus, so it can travel on the spoon and be transferred to the child’s mouth. If you’ve had cavities in the past, the bacteria that causes tooth decay could still be living in your saliva.

Parents are often shocked when they take their kids to the dentist and learn that the same dental problems they had as children are now plaguing their young ones. They assume that tooth decay is something that runs in families, but it’s actually something that can be avoided. Besides sharing spoons, there are a number of other ways that adults could pass bad bacteria to children:

  • Allowing a child to brush with an adult’s used toothbrush.
  • Flossing a child’s mouth with the same piece of floss that the parent used.
  • Eating from the same plates.
  • Kissing children on the mouth.
  • Sucking a pacifier “clean” then putting it back into the child’s mouth.

Preserving Your Child’s Dental Health

If your young child has been diagnosed with tooth decay or you’re generally concerned about your child’s dental health, there are actions you can take starting today to head off problems:

  1. First, ensure that your child brushes twice per day for at least two minutes with a fluoride toothpaste made for kids. Buy your child a dedicated toothbrush and box of floss that only he or she will be able to use—there are electronic toothbrushes for kids and brushes with timers to make it fun.
  2. Now this is probably the toughest but most important step: drastically reduce the child’s consumption of candy and sweets as well as sodas and sugar-rich juices. If your child has a sweet tooth, try a healthy alternative like fresh apple slices or the occasional piece of candy made with a sugar substitute. Remember that sugar feeds the bad bacteria that cause cavities. It may help to explain this to the child and read a kids book about dental health together—knowledge is power.Flickr/payitforwardphotos
  3. Take your child in for dental checkups at least twice per year—more often than that if they have already experienced problems with tooth decay. The best thing you can do is teach your child to get comfortable with going to the dentist from a very young age. Have any cavities cleaned and filled in immediately.
  4. Some dental experts theorize that some children are more susceptible to cavities because they drink bottled water instead of fluoride-rich tap water. Ask your dentist if a dental sealant or fluoride treatment is a good idea.

And of course, be extremely careful about introducing your own saliva into the mouth of a child, whether by sharing spoons, floss or brushes to prevent tooth decay in kids. You should also make it a point to keep your own teeth healthy to keep bad bacteria at bay and to teach your child the importance of dental health.

Posted by Jade

Photos Courtesy: Flickr/armymedicine, Flickr/payitforwardphotos , Flickr/the_luna

 

 

4 Amazing Benefits of Vegetable Gardening

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Gardening at home, whether it’s done indoors or outside in your yard, can be a very satisfying experience. It’s estimated that over 160 million Americans garden every year. For many, it’s a hobby, for others a profession, for some it’s a way of life; it seems all gardeners garden because of its many advantages. Here are four benefits of vegetable gardening that might encourage you to get out there today and sow some seeds.

It Gives You Peace

Flickr/pictoquotes

The average day is full of distractions, from the television to disagreements with family members. Your garden is a place where you can find some peace and serenity. The only distraction is the occasional butterfly or bee buzzing by. You can relax and listen to happy birds chirping nearby or put on a pair of headphones and turn on some classical music while you’re tending to your vegetable plants or working in the dirt. No matter what’s going on in your world, you can find respite by going to your garden and communing with nature.

 

You Feed Your Family and Save Money

Flickr/galant

One of the top benefits of vegetable gardening is that it gives you a way to provide your family with healthy, homegrown foods while also saving you money on grocery bills. A one-time investment of about $50 in seeds and supplies for a small garden can yield you hundreds of dollars in vegetables that you would have bought for your family at the supermarket during the year. Additionally, you can harvest the seeds from your newly grown veggies and keep them for a decade or more. Many say that stockpiling seeds is even more valuable than collecting gold–vegetable seeds give you the security of knowing that you’ll always be able to feed yourself and your loved ones.

 

You Get Moderate Exercise

Flickr/usdagov

If you’ve been looking for a way to ease back into a more active lifestyle, vegetable gardening just might be the solution. It gives you a way to do moderate exercise with a purpose.It’s estimated that you can burn 300 calories in an hour of gardening.

You’ll have an excuse to walk more as you carry supplies to and from your garden. You have to dig holes and till the soil with repeated back and forth motions. You’ll also have to bend and stretch to pull weeds and pick your greens. Once you get used to performing these activities every day and your body feels more refreshed, you might be inspired to step it up and start doing morning jogs around your neighborhood or a little yoga for lunch.

 

Your Kids Learn How to Grow (In More Ways Than One)

Flickr/all-seeing_angler

If you have young children or teens, vegetable gardening could be an activity that changes their lives and inspires them in the future. A lot of young people in modern times are housebound — tied to their computers. They rarely come outside unless they are trying to get better reception on their cellphones. If you show them how to garden from a young age, you’ll teach them the timeless lesson about sowing good seeds, watering them, watching them grow and then reaping the benefits. This lesson will apply to just about every area of their lives.

Let these 4 benefits of vegetable gardening be your inspiration for starting your own home garden this year. You may be surprised at how rewarding and uncomplicated it is to grow your very own veggies.

Posted by Jade

Photos courtesy: Flickr/pictoquotes, Flickr/galant, Flickr/usdagov, Flickr/all-seeing_angler

 

 

Strange Things People Do When They’re Sleeping

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Sleep paralysis, sleep texting, singing in your sleep and more.

Sleep is supposed to be a peaceful and relaxing time. It’s the time of day (well, night) when your body finally has a chance to take a break and renew itself. But some people don’t get a good night of sleep because they’re too busy doing… other stuff. Here are some of the strange things people do when they’re sleeping.

Talk (or Sing) in Their Sleep

Some people have full conversations in their sleep. They might be talking to someone in their dreams or giving a speech—who knows? One guy tells funny jokes when he’s sleeping like he’s a comedian on stage. When people talk in their sleep maybe it’s because they have a whole lot on their mind and they want to speak out more, but they only feel comfortable doing so while asleep. Experts say that it can also be related to depression and stress. Generally it’s a harmless behavior (unless you tell on yourself while your significant other is listening in).

Flickr/sahlameche

Some people have even been known to sing in their sleep—sometimes popular songs and sometimes it’s an original creation. How cool is that?

Look Around at the Room but Remain Unable to Move (Sleep Paralysis)

There’s a fairly common occurrence called sleep paralysis that causes people to feel as if they’re awake yet unable to move. They feel as if they’re being held down or prevented from moving by some unknown force. People often panic in this state because their imagination starts to run wild. They start to see things and become fearful.

The truth is that unknown “force” is your own body protecting you! The mind has partially woken up before the rest of the body. A paralysis naturally takes effect when you fall into deep sleep. I think that this is the body’s way of protecting you from getting up from your bed and walking around (see the next section on sleep walking) while you’re still asleep. The best course of action when you experience sleep paralysis is to simply relax, close your “mind’s eye” and wait until your whole body wakes up (it usually only takes a few minutes, but the key is to relax). Pray for comfort and peace.

Sleep Walk and Sleep Eat

It’s relatively rare, but there are cases where people walk around in their home and carry on normal activities while they’re asleep. Some people get up at night to grab a late night snack, but don’t remember it because they were sleepwalking and sleep eating.

Flickr/sk8geek

Sleep walking, also called somnambulism, affects between 1 to 15% of the population and is most common in children. It can be dangerous if a person is sleeping on the top level of a bunk bed or in a house with stairs, so it’s important to take precautions.

Ironically, getting plenty of restful sleep is considered the best way to avoid sleep walking.

Grind Their Teeth

A lot of people grind and gnash their teeth at night (also called bruxism). It’s a nasty habit that can actually be damaging to the teeth and jaw. Some people develop a condition called TMJ or temporomandibular joint disorder (inflammation of the joint that connects the top and bottom jaw) from grinding their teeth too much. They don’t realize they’re doing it until they go to the dentist. Simple dental devices are available to stop this from happening.

Text People

Strange Text

Cellphone use has become so commonplace in the modern world that some people have been known to send full text messages to their friends and family while asleep! They wake up, look at their phones and see a bunch of weird sent messages that could only have been written by someone having a strange dream. In one case, a sleeping woman sent an email setting up a special wine and caviar dinner (she must have really had this delicacy on her mind). If you think you might be susceptible to sleep-texting, you might want to turn your phone off at night or put it away in a drawer!

Wake up Hundreds of Times without Knowing It

Sleep apnea is a disorder that causes people to wake up dozens, even hundreds of times during the night, and in most cases they don’t even realize that they’re doing it. It’s usually caused by a temporary blockage in the airway. When they wake up they’re fatigued even though they had a full night of “sleep.” Sleep apnea devices are available to stop this from happening (and stop the snoring that often comes with it).

Wake Up to a Dream within a Dream

Have you ever woken up from a dream (or so you thought) and carried on with your day, brushing your teeth, combing your hair and putting on your clothes, only to later realize that you were still in a dream? Waking up to a dream within a dream is a complex situation because you honestly believed you were already awake. Now you have to get up (for real this time) and do everything all over again! Sometimes it happens multiple times (a dream within a dream within a dream).

Dream within a dream
Am I really awake this time??

 

What weird things do you do in your sleep?

 

Posted by Jade

Photos courtesy: Flickr/sahlameche, Flickr/hejog, Flickr/sk8geek, Flickr/martinaphotography,

 

 

4 Must-Have Natural Beauty Products to Keep in Your Bathroom

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There are countless creams on the market that are very expensive and claim to be beneficial to your skin. But the irony is that some of them are full of chemicals and additives that can be harmful to your skin in the long run. There are a few must have natural beauty products that you should definitely have in your bathroom and use on a daily basis. Here they are:

1. Witch Hazel

Witch Hazel Witch hazel is an excellent face cleanser because it is a natural astringent with anti-inflammatory properties.  Not only does it leave your skin clean but it also helps to minimize the size of your pores.

2. Cocoa Butter

51MfVGGKO-LCocoa butter is popular with women because it has been known to reduce the appearance of stretch marks–particularly when managing a growing pregnant belly. It is also useful for softening the skin and reducing the appearance of scars or dark marks if you use it regularly for an extended period of time.

3. Coconut Oil

Coconut Oil

Coconut oil is great to use on your entire body. After a shower, rehydrate your skin by applying a thin coat of it everywhere. Coconut oil can be also be combined with baking soda to brush your teeth!  If you have frizzy hair, apply some to your hair to lessen the frizz and the scalp to promote growth.

4. Shea Butter

Shea Butter

 

Shea butter is a vitamin A enriched skin and face cream that is derived from the seeds of the Shea (karite) tree. In its natural state, it looks like a yellow block of butter, but when you put some in the palm of your hand it melts right down. It can be used for sunburns, rough/dry patches on your elbows, cracked dry feet and insect bites. Rash symptoms and eczema can often be relieved with the regular use of natural shea butter — just put it on before you go to bed. Shea butter is also a natural sunscreen that African people use each day to keep their skin rich, beautiful, young-looking and protected.

If you want healthy skin, just keep these must-have natural beauty products on your bathroom counter. There is no reason to break the bank to have beautiful skin. You may find that some of your favorite commercial products contain these natural substances as the main ingredient, so why not go straight to the source!

Posted by Eve

 

Image Courtesy Flickr; lobsterstew