Sleep and Relaxation Discussion

Calm your mind

noreply@blogger.com (flashaltman) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 03:16:00 +0000

Manasanthi is peace of mind. Manas means mind and santhi means peace or tranquility. Just as the name suggest this form of Ayurvedic therapy is aimed at pacifying mind.

Mind, body and soul are equally important to Ayurveda. Manasanthi (also can be spelt manassanthi, manasanti, manashanti or 50 other variations) is a comprehensive mind-body-soul treatment.

Manasathy is a combination of Ayurveda, yoga, meditation, aromatherapy. The stress is on holistic approach towards better health for body as well as mind. There will be oil massage, sirovasti, dhara etc in the therapy. Rejuvenation massage, steam bath etc are other facets of this therapy.

Fully body massage on a daily basis, with sesame oil (or coconut oil) 30 minutes before bathing has several physical advantages as well as psychological advantages.

This is effective stress management therapy. A person practicing this regularly will have the benefits of better emotional control and relaxed mind.

People with excessive mental turbulences are also given vegetarian, calming food. Spicy, hot tasting and salty food items are not helpful in relaxation, while sweet tasting food items are helpful. Easy to digest food items, mostly in liquid or semi solid form ensures faster digestion, which is helpful in managing mental worries too.

Prompting the persons to read religious texts is also an effective way of pacifying human minds. Listening to soothing music with slow beats also pacifies mind.

Another important thing is to keep company of pleasant people, visit religious places and locations with a little sunshine, clean water and greenery.

Mind is the sum total of the personal life, personality and everything a person experiences in his or her life. To care for the mind, you need special attention.

New Relaxing Music Added To Site

noreply@blogger.com (flashaltman) — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 13:07:00 +0000

I haven't written for awhile. You may have noticed there have been some additions to the site. Recently I've added two new nature tracks to the mp3 download section, the first is Evening Bonfire which has a bonfire and crickets in the background. The other is summer creek which has the sounds of a creek and birds singing.

I've also mixed all of the music tracks with these nature sounds, basically doubling the number of tracks on the site. I hope you enjoy these new additions.

Dealing With Stress

noreply@blogger.com (flashaltman) — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 19:34:00 +0000

Sorry for the long absences, as I said the holiday season can be hectic and mine was crazed! When things get busy, or stressful, it’s so easy to get caught up in the frenzy and forget to take time out for yourself. That’s kind of what I have been doing and once I was on that free fall my sleep and therefore my productivity suffered.

For the past six weeks I have been the best example of what not to do when life gets difficult. I can’t stress enough how important routine is to my quality of life and how necessary it is to allow “personal down time” a frequent and regular place in that routine. I know that insomnia will probably be a challenge for me throughout my life, but still I need times like these to remind me why I allow myself “me time” and how “me time” improves the quality and efficiency of everything I must do throughout the day.

What constitutes “me time”? Well, the little breaks for a mental and physical check in are probably the most important for maintaining calm and relaxation, but when things get busy and stressful those check ins are usually the first thing to go. I think the trick is to try not to let life get too busy, too stressful. I wrote about my morning routine in my last blog (it’s been a while so you might need to review it). In order to maintain a state of relaxation or calm, your day must begin relaxed and calm. My morning routine is all “me time” and I’ve created an environment where all my senses or both soothed and stimulated. I sit in my most comfortable chair in front of a cozy heat register, I take time to sip and smell that first cup of coffee I so very much enjoy, and I listen to the sounds of nature and soft soothing music. All the other things I do to promote physical relaxation would be of little or perhaps no benefit without that 10 to 15 minute period set aside for me and me alone. That was what I lost track of over the past few weeks so my sleep and productivity diminished.

Take some time this week and consider your ideal morning scenario. What sights, sounds, smells, tastes calm, relax and stimulate you? Where in your home does your body feel most comfortable and relaxed?
Sleep Soundly

Holiday Stress 2

noreply@blogger.com (flashaltman) — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 15:06:00 +0000

Hi guys,

More about how I deal with Holiday stress.

The most important tool for a calm, relaxed Christmas Season is retaining my routine. Each morning I get up at a set time, put on the coffee, turn on my computer and play nature sounds I discovered through Sound Sleeping. I do some easy body stretching, locate where tension might have built up over night, address these areas of tension through a series of contraction / relaxation. To most effectively relax tension in a muscle or muscle group one should breath in slowly while contracting said muscle, hold in contraction for a slow count to ten still inhaling, and then let the muscle suddenly relax with a nice energetic exhalation of breath. I eat breakfast, have a cup of coffee, write about three lighthearted pages in my journal, go for a 20 min. to 1 hr. walk through my local park or river bank trail, put on some relaxing music, shower, “prettify”, and leave for work. By the way, I’m an early riser.

Mornings are of major importance to me. If I can begin my day in a laid back and routine way, I am way more likely to achieve relaxation and calm throughout my day. Stress and tension breed further stress and tension so avoidance is the best remedy. It was a few years ago at around Christmas I started to regiment my mornings. I couldn’t believe how much it benefited my entire day and night. I then began to implement the regiment into my daily routine throughout the year. Last year, when I discovered Sound Sleeping, I found yet another tool to aid in creating a calm and relaxing environment to complement my routine. In the morning I listen to peaceful environmental sounds, and in the evening I play around with the Drum Sleep Aid, I can often loose myself in this “play” for an hour or more. The interesting reality is that it provides enjoyment without heightened stimulation. I find excess stimulation during the evening hours greatly reduces my chances of falling asleep later on. I then choose my mp3 selection for the next morning. I listen to a few each night to make my selection. This procedure again aids in my evening relaxation routine.

I suggested a couple of weeks ago, that you listen through some of the selections and play with the Drum Aid. If you have done so, why not try incorporating them into your daily routine. I would really appreciate some feedback on how these tools work, or have been working for you. Let’s make this a dialogue instead of a blog.

I wish you, if not a stress free week, at least a stress reduced week.

Sleep well

Holiday Stress

noreply@blogger.com (flashaltman) — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 14:47:00 +0000

Hi Folks,

Hope you’ve had a restful week, ya right! Here comes Xmas.

I don’t know about you, but for me, the Christmas holiday season is the most stressful time of the year. And the season seems to become longer and longer as the years role by. I’m a musician and music enthusiast. Concerts abound, Christmas parties become more and more frequent, and unfortunately, these social commitments come at my busiest time of year professionally. I’m constantly bombarded with choices and decisions, and each seems to come with a sense of guilt because I always feel I’m choosing him over her, these guys over those guys. So for the few weeks I’m going to travel off my former path and discuss how I deal with Holiday Stress.

I haven’t found any profound answers to the “choice” dilemma, that’s just the nature of the season. What I find I do have control over is my response to having to make these choices and the environment in which these choices are made. Personally, I need to stick to my routines even more strictly. Routine provides both my body and my mind with a structure from which to achieve relaxation and calm. If I keep my “cool” at work and due regular check-ins, it is much easier to deal with the choices I must make for my weekends and evenings. I’ve learned to list and prioritize my choices, balancing family, friends, and concerts. One the choice is made I write it in my day timer in ink. This is a visual reminder that once the decision is made, it should not be second-guessed. Key to the success of this strategy is to complete the task in one fell swoop. I choose an early evening, create as relaxed stress free environment as possible, Make my list, “check it twice”, delete the “naughty”, highlight the “nice”, and make my decisions. If new social opportunities come up I check with my day planner. If I’m free, I choose whether I want to attend or take the evening off. If the evening has been previously book I simply say, “I’m sorry, but I already have plans”. I sometimes miss a great event, but I retain my sanity.

I wish you a Merry Christmas Season and will check in again next week

Sound Sleeping,
Karen

Stress, Anxiety, and Tension Control

noreply@blogger.com (flashaltman) — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 14:31:00 +0000

Hello Everyone,

All is well I hope, if not let us further discuss how to take back control of over our stress, anxiety, and tension…and again please remember what I put forward comes from my own experience. Each individual is an individual and may find that things that worked well for me do not work for them. I will try to remember to discuss calming and relaxation techniques I have tried but resulted in only minimal success. If you feel I am focusing too much on one thing, or would care to suggest some ideas / experiences of your own send in your comments I would love this to become “group therapy” where people with sleep problems can come for a wide prospective from their peers. Continuation from last week…

The first step in my journey, came with the recognition that self-awareness is key to having any degree of control over my life, and therefore sleep. Regular check-ins are of great benefit to me and really don’t take a great deal of time. Once I found a cause for stress, anxiety, or tension I had to find a solution.

Dealing with tension was quite easy and straightforward for me. Once I realized where in the body my tension was building up I mobilized the area. For me tension builds because I am keeping a muscle or muscle group contracted for an extended period of time so simply moving and stretching helps eliminate the tension. A few slow deep breathes and a yawn then relaxes the rest of my body.

Stress and anxiety are not so easy for me to address. This called more for external rather than internal change and this is where the resources found on the Sound Sleeping site really started to be of benefit. I had already begun to use the mp3 downloads at night to help me wind down. When I realized that the severity of my nightly stress and anxiety clearly reflected my day’s stress and anxiety I started to use the mp3 materials on my breaks a work. This tended to help momentarily but the job usually took over again after a break as did the stress. I decided I needed to bring this tool into my work environment but for practical reasons I could not use audio materials at my workstation. So I got this idea: Ya know how every once in a while a song gets caught in your head and drives you crazy until it decides to leave? Well I decided to try and reverse that process. I would listen to my mp3s and then try to recreate them in my head. My recreations were not exact, but the sounds I found calming and relaxing, have over time, become very vivid in my imagination. In this way, I can carry this helpful tool with me into any situation or environment. A few minutes at routine check-ins recalling these sound has helped me to continuously relieve stress throughout my day. Listen to the examples, identify sounds that enhance calm and just try to hear them in your head, once they’re in your head, you can take them anywhere. It takes a little time and practice, but I really think it’s worth a try.

That’s all for now,
Sound Sleeping!

Sleep and Relaxation

noreply@blogger.com (flashaltman) — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 13:00:00 +0000

Hi,

Hope all is well with everyone!

I wrote last week about: calm vs. anxiety and stress

relaxation vs. tension

mind vs. body

For the next few weeks I’d like to put these concepts into a more practical perspective. I hope everyone tried to take some time to examine how, when, where, and why their own bodies and minds are affected by anxiety, stress, and tension. Once you identify how, when, where, and why these symptoms build up, you can then begin to develop strategies to alleviate their presents. I was very surprised when I figured out that it wasn’t so much the workload, deadlines, obligations, etc… that caused stress and tension throughout my day and this is good because I don’t have much control over those things. Sure, they do affect me, but only to a point, it is how I respond to these stressors that inevitably gets me into trouble. For me, most of what builds up my anxiety, stress, and tension are habitual and/or environmental, things that in fact I can control. With regular check ins I began to notice that when a deadline loomed close, I would find myself clenching my teeth, curling my toes, and holding my breath. The deadline may have caused me some stress, but what I was doing in response to that stress was causing the build up of body tension, which of course in turn increased my feelings of anxiety and stress…and the cycle begins.

I’ve spent a great deal of time trying to discover nightly routines that would help me to sleep and those discoveries have been of great benefit. The turning point in my journey came with the realization that routine itself was my greatest alley. (I will talk a lot about routine in later blogs) I have found it very helpful to do my regular check-ins, identify how my body reacts to stress, and try to lessen or eliminate body tension throughout the day. After my check-in I spend a moment slowing my breathing and yawning, concentrating on relaxing areas of body tension. If I can catch it early and throughout the day I find it much easier to achieve a relaxed state before going to bed.

Well I think that’s enough for now.
I wish all of you Sound Sleeping.
Karen

Relaxation Terminology

noreply@blogger.com (flashaltman) — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 13:16:00 +0000

FYI – For now, I’ve decides to blog once a week, see how that goes, and inform you if I decide to make any changes.

I’d like to discuss some general terminology as I understand it. I realized that some of the words I will be using with a great deal of regularity, may in fact mean different things to different people. It is important that you understand what I’m referring to when I use these terms. I often lack consistency with my terminology but I will try very hard to stick to the descriptions I will now lay out. If anyone is unsure of what I mean when I am discussing one of my ideas please let me know, I want to be clear, but I realize that often I’m not.

1. Calm and Relaxation: From this point on when I discuss calm I am referring to a state of mind, when I discuss relaxation I will be referring to a physical state of the body.
2. Anxiety, Stress, and Tension: Anxiety and stress are states of mind, while tension is a physical state of the body.

So let’s look at how these terms interrelate and how they factor into the discussion of sleep. When the mind is calm, our bodies will be more relaxed. When our bodies are more relaxed, our mind is more capable of achieving calm. When the mind is anxious and / or stressed, it in turn causes tension in the body. Conversely, tension in the body can greatly increase levels of anxiety and stress. It’s all interconnected. My nightly goal is to go to bed at night having achieved at least a reasonable degree of calm and relaxation. In order to realize my goal, I have learned to take “time out” throughout the day to check in with my mind and my body. I know that might sound a little NUTS, but it’s important to know when your body’s becoming tense, and correct the problem before it increases stress and anxiety, just as it is necessary to realize when anxiety or stress are causing body tension. It’s a vicious cycle and you have to know whether the body is negatively effecting the mind, or vice-versa.

I’d like everyone to try a little experiment. Set a clock or watch alarm for one hour intervals and do a physical and mental “check in”, determine whether you are experiencing higher levels of anxiety, stress, or tension, if you are, think back on the hours activities and try to determine what the source was and whether physical tension effected your anxiety and stress levels or was it the opposite. I always say “knowledge is power” and have found that by keeping track of my own personal observations, I can now recognize when my body or my mind might be creating a problem that could effect my coming night’s sleep. Once I’m aware of the potential problem, I can try to correct it before it gets beyond my control.

Sorry, I know I’ve been going on too long. General concepts are often vast, but I want to cover the basics before I deal with specifics.

Have a good night, and I hope 6 more follow.
Karen

Flickr Slideshow

noreply@blogger.com (flashaltman) — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 13:12:00 +0000

Hello everyone! Many visitors have written to me saying they love the Flickr Slideshow on the site. There was, however, one very popular suggestion, and that was to implement a fullscreen option. I've now added that option, and also managed to embed the nature sounds mixing board in a more efficient and less obtrusive way.

So please check out the new Relaxing Nature Sounds Mixing board with Flickr Slideshow. I haven't tested in all operating systems and browsers, so please let me know if you find any bugs.

I also want to give a big Thank You to all the Flickr contributors for sharing their wonderful nature photos.

Sleep Tips

noreply@blogger.com (flashaltman) — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 12:51:00 +0000

I hope everyone has slept well! If not, I have a few ideas that might make tonight a little easier for you. I’m going to share my experiences as I experienced them. I would like to address issues at all stages of my battle with insomnia, so the thoughts and ideas will be sharing at first will be very basic. I realize they will seem obvious to some, but I figure… “best to start at the beginning”

As I said last time, I feel that relaxation is key to achieving a good night sleep. The challenge is in learning how to relax in a fast paced world. I find it difficult to not carrying the pace of my day, into my nights. I just can’t slow my brain down. I worry about dead lines, I carefully scrutinize the day’s events, I critically analyze how I dealt with situations. These are character traits I must strive to overcome if I am to ever relax. It is important to recognize the source of your stress or anxiety if you wish to gain control over it. If I go to bed with my brain still in high gear, I can guarantee that I will lie awake obsessing about some current concern. Each time I look at the clock my frustration increases and I begin to obsess not only about what I was previously obsessing about, but about how that obsession is keeping me from going to sleep. This becomes a vicious cycle, and once it begins, I have little or no control to stop it. I often compare my brain, on nights like this, to a hamster feverously racing on an exercise wheel, running to the point of total exhaustion and getting absolutely nowhere. I now know, if I go to bed stressed or preoccupied, I will not sleep. Nightly I struggled to prepare myself for that trip to my dreaded bed until I found the relaxation strategies that best work for me. I started putting on music in the early evening that I knew I found soothing, I took a hot bath, and spent time identifying and considering my accomplishments that day. It took a while to learn not to think about the things I hadn’t accomplished, but with time and practice, I’ve now become quite good at it. I’m aware this is not an instant fix,

Search this site and listen to some of the offerings, they’re really good. And as you listen, don’t try to force yourself to relax. Just allow yourself to experience sounds and take notice of how they make you feel.

For tonight I would encourage you to put on a favorite recording, not loud, and not stimulating, something that just makes you happy when you hear it. See if this helps.

Sound Sleeping,
Karen

Sleep Disorders

noreply@blogger.com (flashaltman) — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 16:39:00 +0000

My name is Karen, I’m 45 years old, and have suffered with a chronic sleep disorder for as long as I can remember. I have expended a great deal of time, energy, and study in an attempt to, if not overcome, at least to minimize the occurrences of those long, sleepless nights. I’ve done a great deal of research and with the help and advice from medical professionals, therapists, friends, and family, I have come to better understand my disorder, and develop strategies that help me. I’ve found this site quite helpful and in return I thought I might share some of my experiences with those of you that also come to visit and learn in hopes of a good nights sleep.

As with many disorders, the causes and cures for insomnia vary with each individual, but I do believe that the two most common causes of sleeplessness are stress and anxiety. In my experience it is those busy periods, times of uncertainty, occasions when things of concern are out of my own control that my sleep deprivation is at its most severe, all those times when I need my brain and body working at its best. Life runs at such a fast pace that I often get caught up in it, rather than setting my own course. The key to setting my own course is slowing down, taking time to step back, clear my mind, and breathe; in short, RELAX. What I have discovered is that by taking this time I see ways to increase my productivity and enhance my quality of life. I have found that sound greatly affects my mood and through avoidance of negative sound stimuli, and seeking out positive sound stimuli, I have a control over my stress and anxiety. This sight has provided me with information and resources that have helped me achieve this control. I can’t say that my sleeping disorder has been alleviated, but it has certainly become less severe.

I encourage anyone who is new to SoundSleeping to take some time and investigate it fully. It can really help, and it sure can’t hurt. And please, those of you that have had similar experiences with sleep problems, share with me your thoughts, experiences and strategies. Knowledge is power and I would like to learn to better achieve a “Sound Sleep”.

More later,
Karen

new mp3 downloads

noreply@blogger.com (flashaltman) — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 04:07:00 +0000

I am almost finished working on a new collection of music for the mp3 download section. I've mixed two nature tracks: Evening Bonfire, which has a bonfire with crickets in the background, and Summer Picnic, which has birds singing and a babbling brook. I've almost finished mixing those tracks with the 7 relaxing music tracks.

I'm also almost finished making a desktop application of the Nature Sounds Mixing Board.

Come back soon, I hope to have these new additions online within the month.

Shiatsu Massage Chairs Help Battle the Effects of Stress

noreply@blogger.com (flashaltman) — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 01:39:00 +0000

The millions of Americans who suffer from the physical and emotional effects
of stress might find that Shiatsu
massage chairs make a significant improvement in their quality
of life! Fighting stress can be an uphill battle especially as the average number
of work hours increase throughout the nation. Even common changes in your life
such as a new job, a move, the birth of a child, the death of a loved one, or
simply taking on new responsibilities can make you feel overwhelmed. Stress
can lead to emotional hardship such as depression and anxiety, and over time
emotional conditions can have a negative effect on the body. People dealing
with medium to high levels of stress experience more pain, muscle tension, headaches,
digestive problems, sleep disorders, and other physical ailments than others.

While antidepressants and anti-anxiety medication are often prescribed to help
people cope with high levels of stress in their lives, doctors often also recommend
relaxation techniques such as exercise, yoga, and massage to help the body process
emotional tension. A Shiatsu massage
chair can both help provide relief of some physical symptoms of stress and
help provide a relaxing, meditative atmosphere to prevent stress from having
an overwhelming effect on your life. Many massage chairs use the Shiatsu technique
of “finger pressure”, replicating the movements of the human fingers,
thumbs, and forearms which focus on the body’s pressure points: areas
of trapped energy where tension is likely to build. By pressing firmly on these
points until the tension is released, massage chairs engaging the body’s
parasympathetic function and resulting in slower breaths and lower blood pressure.
Anxiety levels decrease and the massage recipient is able to relax.

Nearly all the physical symptoms of stress can be addressed by Shiatsu
massage chairs. These massage chairs have been shown to relax the muscles
of the neck and back, which is where most people carry much of their tension.
They also have been shown to increase flexibility (great for yoga enthusiasts!),
improve blood flow to the digestive system, relieve headaches, greatly reduce
insomnia, and provide a healthy, natural alternative treatment for anxiety.
Massage is also known to prevent physical maladies before they start. If you
suffer from high stress (or anticipate a change in your life that may result
in stress), consider how a Shiatsu massage chair may improve your quality of
life.

To learn more about the latest technology in massage chairs please visit Panasonic
Massage Charis.

Relaxing Music - Does it work for everyone?

noreply@blogger.com (flashaltman) — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 22:18:00 +0000

I've received a few emails from people who wonder if the relaxing music sold on my site is guaranteed to work for everyone. It isn't guaranteed, and in fact I can guarantee that the music absolutely won't work for everyone.

Music is a very personal thing, and the effects it has on one person isn't necessarily the same as what it would have on another. However, if you find yourself on this site and considering purchasing music for relaxation, I think there's a good chance it will work for you. People who don't find nature sounds and free spatial music relaxing wouldn't spend more than 2 minutes on this site - that's why I've never felt it necessary to explain this before.

A good way to check to see if the music on this site would work for you, is to go to the home page and play around with the relaxing music tool. If you find the music soothing, then you will probably enjoy the mp3 downloads.

One more thing I should mention - I've sold thousands of mp3 downloads from this site now, and I haven't received even one complaint about the effects of the music. Therefore I feel confident in saying that if you're on this site, you will enjoy my mp3 downloads and find them to be relaxing.

Relaxing Music Proven to Help You Sleep

noreply@blogger.com (flashaltman) — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 03:09:00 +0000

Researchers have shown just 45 minutes of relaxing music before bedtime can make for a restful night.

The Taiwanese researchers studied the sleeping patterns of 60 elderly people with sleep problems.

They told the Journal of Advanced Nursing, how the technique was easy to learn and lacked the side-effects of other treatments.

If anyone is a bit agitated before they go to bed then anything that can help calm them down and relax is a good thing.

The study participants were either given a choice of music to listen to before going to sleep or nothing at all.

The music group were able to choose from six tapes that featured soft, slow music - around 60-80 beats per minute - such as jazz, folk or orchestral pieces.

Listening to music caused physical changes that aided restful sleep, including a lower heart and respiratory rate, the researchers found.

The people in the music group reported a 35% improvement in their sleep, including better and longer night-time sleep and less dysfunction during the day.

Lead author Professor Hui-Ling Lai, of the Buddhist Tzu-Chi General Hospital and the University of Taiwan, said: "The music group reported a 26% overall improvement in the first week and this figure continued to rise as they mastered the technique of relaxing into sedative music."

Professor Jim Horne, from the Sleep Research Centre at Loughborough University, said: "If anyone is a bit agitated before they go to bed then anything that can help calm them down and relax is a good thing.

"Some say making sure older people sleep less in the afternoon and get plenty of exposure to daylight can help them get a better night's sleep."

Improved Sounds

noreply@blogger.com (flashaltman) — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 05:26:00 +0000

Two weeks ago I mentioned that I'll be creating 2 more relaxing music tracks, and making a desktop application version of the mixing board. In preparation I've improved some of the old sounds. Both drum sounds are cleaned up, and I've also improved the birds, bonfire, and crickets sounds. I'll be working on a new seagulls recording soon.

Please let me know if there are any other sounds that you'd like to see added to the mixing board.

Thanks to Stumbleupon members

noreply@blogger.com (flashaltman) — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 19:07:00 +0000

Recently there have been a lot of visitors to Soundsleeping from the website Stumbleupon.com. I'd like to thank all of the visitors for their posts and for their interest in this site.

Coming Soon to SoundSleeping

noreply@blogger.com (flashaltman) — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 19:49:00 +0000

The mp3 section of soundsleeping will soon be expanding. We are working on two new nature soundscapes. The first one is "Evening Campfire", with campfire sounds and crickets. The second one is "Summer Day", with a babbling brook and singing birds.

Another project we are working on is a desktop application version of the nature sounds mixing board. We've had several requests for a program of this type. This application will be fast and responsive and can be used on computers with no internet connection.

Relaxing Music Resources at Squidoo

noreply@blogger.com (flashaltman) — Sat, 05 May 2007 14:20:00 +0000

Hello everyone. I haven't written for soooo long now. I guess I've been going through a lazy stage.

I've published a bunch of relaxing music resources on a lens I've created at Squidoo. Please take a moment to visit it and leave a comment or suggest a link.

The web address is: http://www.squidoo.com/relaxing_music/

Thanks alot :)

Women, Multi-tasking and Insomnia

noreply@blogger.com (flashaltman) — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 01:16:00 +0000

I read this article in "The Peninsula", a leading newsapaper in Qatar. I thought that you may find it interesting and that it may spark some discussion.

The National Sleep Foundation released the results of a poll last week showing that most women don’t get sufficient shut-eye and suffer negative consequences as a result. A random telephone survey of 1,003 women aged 18 to 64 found that 84 per cent experienced insomnia more than one night a week. And 40 per cent reported snoring, sleep apnea or restless leg syndrome. Unsurprisingly, the groups that suffered from the worst sleep disturbances were mothers (both working and stay-at-home), although single working women without children spent the least amount of time in bed (less than six hours on work nights versus an average of roughly 8 1/2 hours).

To cope with drowsiness, 65 per cent of the women surveyed said they drank caffeinated beverages during the day, and an alarming 36 per cent reported fatigue-generated mood symptoms that left them “feeling hopeless about the future.” Asleep yet? Or just depressed? The foundation’s report, which is 53 pages long and includes details about the relationship between sleep and such factors as caring for an ageing relative, menopause and watching TV or using the Internet before bedtime, is both impressively comprehensive and only slightly less exciting than the first inaugural address of Grover Cleveland. So it’s no surprise that much of the news coverage of the poll has not featured headlines saying “Women Don’t Sleep Enough” or “Ladies, Don’t Check E-Mail Before Bed!” but “Women in the US Too Tired for Sex.”

The poll did find that 33 per cent of women opted out of sex when they were “too sleepy or ran out of time.” But that sacrifice actually ranked fifth on the list, trailing other things women ignore when they are too tired or pressed for time, like eating right, seeing friends and family, exercise and, ironically, sleep itself. Still, the media have run away with the sex angle, mentioning (with notable scorn) that the activity women are least likely to put on the back burner is work, even though 2 in 10 said they were late to the office more than once in the last month due to oversleeping or feeling too tired in the morning.

The real news – that we’re too sleepy to sleep – might not be as titillating as apocalyptic conjectures about the state of American romance, but it’s a potentially far more interesting peek at the American psyche. There are all sorts of reasons we don’t sleep well or long enough – stress, illness, child-rearing, late-night reruns of “Xanadu” – but the common denominator seems most often to be our inability to be quiet, still and (as we are in sleep, even if there’s someone next to us) essentially alone. And why should we have these abilities? There’s hardly any need for them in modern life.

We check our e-mail from our cellphones, call Bhutan while driving to Bakersfield and apply for life insurance online while watching TV, talking on the phone or maybe even having sex. (The secret of highly effective people? Do all three at once!) There is no longer any excuse for doing one thing at a time, let alone indulging in a few moments of idleness. Even meditation has been reformatted into active, even aggressive, magical thinking. Instead of focusing our thoughts inward, we’re told by the latest bestseller “The Secret” that we should be “manifesting” (seeking what we want) through “visualisation.” We close our eyes not to shut the world out but to invite more stimulus in.

No wonder we can’t sleep. Sleep equals doing nothing, and doing nothing is such a low priority that we are way out of practice. Sure, we want slumber, need it, even crave it. But because we can’t work, buy things or communicate while we do it, it has very little relevance to our lives. And because the very essence of sleep runs counter to the nonstop consumption that’s become the governing principle of our lives, we see it as a sign of weakness, even diminished social status. Those who have time for adequate sleep are assumed to be professionally unambitious, neglectful of their families or not affluent enough to maximise their participation in our around-the-clock culture. In other words, they’re the losers. Those of us who have bags under our eyes and throw tantrums in crowded Trader Joe’s parking lots? We’re the American success stories. Just don’t get too close to us on the freeway. We really shouldn’t be driving. Sleep, it seems, not only eludes us, it’s taboo.

Yoga - Stress Reduction for Children

noreply@blogger.com (flashaltman) — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 03:09:00 +0000

Jamshedpur, March 6: Experts say yoga could prove to be a solution for children who are battling stress in the present competitive scenario.

The Satyananda Yoga Kendra (SYK), a city-based institute affiliated to the Bihar School of Yoga, has decided to lay special emphasis on school children and take the purest form of yoga to them. This, they believe, would help in dealing with stress and health problems faced by today’s youth.

The Kendra is gearing up to hold yoga sessions in the future and intends to send invites to various city schools.

SYK secretary Dilip Singh pointed out: “We would conduct the sessions making sure that no examinations are held so that we can get maximum students to participate and benefit from them.”

The competition has become very tough academically for children.

They are completely stressed out. Yoga in its purest form, not sports yoga, can benefit them in a great way, added Singh. He said several schools have been asking for such courses to help their students.

Apart from that, the SYK has also planned a week-long yoga camp from March 20 that aims to take yoga to all the sections of the society.

Experts from the Bihar School of Yoga would conduct the classes. The week-long camp has been planned in three categories — the advance category, the basic and the ladies category.

Those who are adept with the basics of yoga would go through the advance course while the basic course would cater to the first timers and ladies section would benefit women with physical disorders like obesity, SYK officials pointed out.

The SYK was formed in Jamshedpur in 2002 and has around 150 members.

The organisation plans to bring yoga to the poorer sections of the society and orphan children as well, officials added.

Sleep For Your Brain

noreply@blogger.com (flashaltman) — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 16:38:00 +0000

Losing sleep may cause the brain to stop producing new brain cells, a study conducted by New Jersey's Princeton University has found.

The Proceedings of the National Academy of Science research on rats found that the hippocampus portion of the brain was directly affected by a lack of sleep for a long period, the BBC reported.

By depriving rats of sleep for 72 hours, the researchers found that those animals consequently had increased amounts of the stress hormone corticosterone, and produced significantly fewer new brain cells in the hippocampus.

When the rats' sleep patterns were returned to normal a week later, their levels of nerve-cell production remained hindered for two weeks.

The lack of production appeared to prompt the brain to increase its efforts to maintain an appropriate balance.

British sleep expert Dr. Neil Stanley called the finding "interesting," but said more study on sleep depravation might be useful.

"It would be interesting to see if partial sleep deprivation -- getting a little bit less sleep every night than you need -- had the same effect," he told the BBC.

NewsTrack - Science
TRENTON, N.J., Feb. 10 (UPI)

Sleep and Relaxation Blog is Back

noreply@blogger.com (flashaltman) — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 20:35:00 +0000

The old "Discussion Page" is back. For the last couple of months this page was replaced by a "Forum". Unfortunately, I didn't have the time to delete all of the spamming, so I'm going back to a format that I have more control over - this one.

The forum opened my eyes a bit though. I found out that the posts that generated the most discussion were "Sleep news" and "Relaxation news". Basically, people would post an interesting article about sleep or relaxation, and people would post their comments.

Come back soon!

Sleep Aids

noreply@blogger.com (flashaltman) — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 02:48:00 +0000

I've been emailed questions about sleep aids, and whether or not the tool on my homepage is really an effective answer. Well, I have to admit, that unless you're computer is in your bedroom and it's attached to good quality speakers, the tool isn't really going to help your sleep.

This site has gone under a lot of modifications since it was launched. Originally it was meant to give sleep advice, but it has moved toward a combination of relaxation and sleep. I think the mixing board is very nice for relaxation, and certain mixes would be effective as a sleep aid (I may write about specific sound combinations in a follow up post). However, many of the mp3s on the mp3 download page would probably do a better job of providing targeted help for sleep, relaxation, or stress-reduction.

I intend on writing a post explaining the therapeutic qualities of my different mp3s very soon.

Nature Mixing Board Instructions

noreply@blogger.com (flashaltman) — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 02:21:00 +0000

I've been getting a few emails and posts that ask for instructions on how to use the nature sound mixing board. Here is a bit of instruction and general advice:

Use the drop down boxes to select from a variety of sounds. The vertical slider controls volume for the sound displayed in the drop down box. The small horizontal sliders control the pan (left to right speaker balance) for the sound in the drop down box.

Experiment with sounds, volumes and pan. Most people find fewer sounds (3 or 4 sounds) to be more relaxing than a larger number. Also, most people find lower volumes to be more relaxing and sleep inducing than very loud volumes.

Once you find a selection of sounds and volume/pan balances that you like, you can leave the sounds playing for as long as you like.

Hope this answers all the questions. Enjoy the soundboard, and please post any comments or questions you may have.