Monthly Archives: April 2015

The image of sleepwalking has often been somewhat comedic. Whether your familiarity with the issue comes from childhood episodes and tales that your parents told of you walking into the room muttering nonsense and clutching a pillow, or from nonsensical cartoon scenes in which sleepwalkers make their way through a scene with their arms outstretched, helping themselves to food in the refrigerator and getting into all sorts of hijinks, the truth is that there is a lot more to it, and for those who suffer from the sleeping disorder there is nothing to laugh about. Continue reading →

Today many consumers do almost all of their shopping online. This may be a matter of convenience or of necessity depending upon the specifics of a situation, but whatever the reason there is no doubt that there are very few things that can’t be found and purchased with the press of a tablet, iPhone or computer button these days. Continue reading →

We’ve all witnessed the classic toddler meltdown in the supermarket or at the mall. Experienced parents lock eyes and nod, murmuring, “Somebody needs a nap.” Yet that automatic recognition of the impact lack of sleep has on a small child is all too frequently lacking in adults who are experiencing the same kind of need. Not only do we as grownups have a peculiar tendency to take pride in the amount of sleep that we cheat ourselves of, but we also refuse to acknowledge the fact that it has an affect on the way that we perform, react or feel. But now a study conducted by researchers from Harvard Medical School and the University of California at Berkeley has made it extremely clear that sleep deprivation has a massive effect on the way that the brain reacts to stimuli, and it’s not a change for the better. Continue reading →

Sleep experts say that the magic number for sufficient sleep falls somewhere between seven and nine hours per night, and if you’ve been working hard to fit that into your schedule, you’re not alone. More and more people are paying attention to their physicians’ advice, as well as numerous news reports blaming sleep deprivation for a bevy of physical, cognitive and emotional issues, and are trying to bulk up their sleep quantity and quality. The problem is that it can be hard to find the time, especially for those whose busy work days are followed by busy evenings. Continue reading →

Ikea is a Swedish company with an international presence. Known for its affordable furniture that consumers assemble themselves, its stores can be found around the world, with extensive displays of different styles and configurations found in mazelike configurations. The shopping experience can be overwhelming and time consuming, and apparently that has resulted in some of the store’s visitors transitioning from simply testing the beds to actually using them. Continue reading →

Sleep is one of our most basic functions – we’ve been doing it since we crawled out of the primordial ooze, and we can do it anywhere (though it’s certainly more comfortable to do it on a comfy bed with high thread count sheets). Despite the fact that we’ve been practicing our sleep techniques since we’ve been in the womb, many of us still struggle with insomnia, tossing and turning and staring at the ceiling instead of getting the restoration and recovery that we need. But the world of high tech gadgets has come up with a bevy of answers to our problem. Here are some of the top answers that science has provided to help us fall asleep more easily. Continue reading →