Because learning about your brain and sleep can be fun . . .
Sometimes, a bandana blindfold is a quick answer to improving sleep because even a little light can be annoying and interfere with falling asleep. Go to bed like a hostage! Morning sun creeps around gaps in the curtains, getting you up too early. Once again, the sunbeams have started cheating you out of a few…
Zapped by zolpidem: part 2 of 2 When we have a physical problem in the West, our first choice is to take a pill to fix it. Not all people in the West, but most. Pills are a quick fix. Alternative medicine, also called integrative medicine, is getting more popular, though a long way from…
Zapped by zolpidem: part 1 of 2 Back in my teens and twenties, back in my days of work in food service and the Army, my coworkers and classmates would to talk about how wasted they got on alcohol. These drinking stories would inevitably involve a tale of someone drinking a lot, passing out, and…
The Bedtime Stories We Tell Ourselves and Others: Part 3 of 4 Hearing about conflict has a way of making an impression on you. It heightens your senses, makes you sit up and pay attention, gets you thinking about who’s right and who’s wrong. It’s just the kind of thing you want to avoid before…
The Bedtime Stories We Tell Ourselves and Others: Part 2 of 4 Kids are always going through phases. When I was around seven or eight back in the 70s, I went through a phase that lasted for weeks. I wanted to listen to fairy tales at bedtime. That particular phase was before superheroes and after…
Sleep deprivation can be deadly when the going gets tough. Some people lead a staid, predictable life. Lucky them. They can count on being at home almost all the time. They’ve got a consistent routine. They’re the furthest they can be from sleep deprivation. Nothing bad ever seems to happen to them. They live…
If you’ve got thousands of dollars to spend on a mattress, save time. Skip this post. Go to one of the mattress stores and have at buying one. You’re a lucky person. This article isn’t for you. If you’ve got a more modest budget, you certainly don’t want to buy any big-ticket item before you…
It’s common to believe we should support the businesses espousing our values and avoid supporting companies that don’t. They call it “voting with your dollars” or “speaking with your wallet.” It makes sense on the surface. Sometimes other people see things differently than you do for one reason or another. This is one way of…
Journalists write and record the words of men like Elon Musk, Warren Buffet, and Bill Gates like they’re precious bits of gold tumbling from the mouths of living oracles. There’s some sense to it. These men are visionary and forward-thinking. Listening to them, you can feel that the future can be developed into this wonderful…
Cuddling, also known as snuggling, has benefits. Namely, cuddling releases oxytocin and serotonin. That makes you feel good. That means that when you’re sore and irritable, cuddling can make you feel better. “Energy healing” and “energy work” aren’t fundamental concepts in Western medicine yet that doesn’t stop you from hearing about them. You’ll also hear…
Do I need a new mattress or a bed or not at all? Many places and people are willing to sell you a new bed. And that’s a severe understatement. There are probably more than a few places and individuals in your town, many in your city, and many online. Add in affiliate marketers and…
Whether you call it “hemp tea” or “CBD tea” doesn’t matter. It’s the same thing. Hemp tea is full of CBD. Go ahead and call it whatever you prefer. In the United States, it can be confusing, almost purposefully so. There’s a patchwork of rules all across the United States. Herbal teas, on the other…
Sometimes the words of a language fail you. They come up short when describing a concept. There are numerous examples of this. To take one, waldeinsamkeit is a German word meaning being alone in the wilderness while relaxed, solitary, and contemplative. In English, we can group words with this meaning. The result doesn’t quite match.…