5 Benefits of a good night sleep

Even though we spend a third of our life sleeping, that doesn’t mean that we lose that part and we can’t get any benefits from it. That is entirely false, because if you manage to rest during your sleep, you will improve the results of your daily activities.

So here are some benefits that you can get by sleeping “by the book”:

1. The sleep is a primary need of your body so if don’t sleep you will die. That means that the most important benefit of sleeping is the advantage to be alive.

2. All the professional bodybuilders know that the muscular mass grows during the sleep, not when you are weight lifting. If you are used to party late and you don’t let your body relax, the entire workout routine will be in vane and you won’t spot any notable results.

3. The lack of sleep destabilizes the immunity system of your body making you more exposed to diseases. A nap during the day may also increase your health condition and it can even offer you an increased protection against heart diseases.

4. According to scientist, sleep is necessary because it helps the body to regenerate certain parts, especially the brain. After prolonged periods of deprivation of sleep, neurons are affected, which is manifested by behavior problems. Each stage of sleep is necessary for the regeneration of neurons in the cortex and to enhance the memory.

5. A recent study, published in Journal of the American Medical Association by Christopher King and his colleagues from the University of Chicago, had shown that the length of the sleep can influence your heart condition. The study results revealed that every additional hour of sleep reduce heart attack menace by 33 %.

In addition, a good night sleep can improve your social life, because it is easier to communicate when you feel and you look fresh and energized.

Therefore, I have only one thing left to say: ready, set, fall asleep !

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• Do you feel sleepy?
• Relax, take it easy!
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• Think positive, act positive!

Written by: Liviu Moldovan

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5 ways to dodge the hiccup attack

As I wrote in my last post, I had a hiccup attack a few days ago. It made me think about my health condition, because there was posted on the web a vast list of diseases and health condition problems and I got scared and I have tried to get rid of the hiccup.

Theoretically, it sounded very well, but it got a bit tricky when I began to fight against this annoying, but still funny, at least for the others, sound. I tried numerous methods to stop the hiccup, some heard from my friends, some seen on the web, but there was at least one good thing I have learned, and that is that there aren’t any universal methods.

There are few people that react in the same manner to the same method of hiccup annihilation. Our bodies are different, and each person has a perfect way to stop a hiccup attack. It took me a while to find mine. Here is what I have tried:

1. Eat a slice of lemon. The lemon will create a strange sensation that the body can’t understand, and the acid from the lemon will make your stomach reduce its size, making the diaphragm relax. It should stop the hiccup in most of the cases, even for a short while.

2. Crouch and hold your breath as long as you can. Although it can cause dizziness and you can pass out if you push yourself to the limit, still it is a good way to relax the diaphragm and suppress the hiccups.

3. Drink water. This one has a lot of variables, because there are many techniques to drink. You can drink in repeatedly small sips, or drink when you feel like hiccup, or drink slowly but continuous.

4. Eat a spoon of sugar. This method has something to do with the action of sugar upon the stomach, and it also give a boost of energy to the body cells, helping them to carry away faster the surplus of carbon dioxide that causes the hiccup.

5. Apply to your both ear lobes pressure with your thumb and index together for approximately 40 seconds. This is the most surprising tip regarding the hiccup that I ever heard and it has nothing to do with breathing in a certain way or eating certain things, it is all about pressure points. With a background in acupuncture, I think this can be the most efficient advice.

Related posts:

• The hiccup terror
• Stop biting your nails by identifying and eliminating the stress factor
• How to work and live a healthy life
  

So how well did you do against the hiccups? Do you know others ways to lose the hiccups?

Written by: Liviu Moldovan

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Stop biting your nails by identifying and eliminating the stress factor

I ran into a forum where someone asks for help about how to stop biting her finger nails. So I decided that I can help many other people, that read my blog by telling them how I stopped biting mine finger nails.

“I am a professional very well respected business woman, wife and mother. I cannot stop biting my fingernails! The only way my hands look decent is to wear acrylic nails from the nail salon. I have done this ever since I was in first grade according to my parents. I am now 40.I want to stop and just grow my own healthy nails, but I bite them without even thinking about it. My husband continually corrects me about this in public and I get embarrassed. Please help me stop this terrible habit is you can.”

“I bite mine too, probably since I was 8 or 10. Same situation, but I don't pay to have mine done, I just go to Wal-Mart and get the cheap ones. I would like to quit, but i just keep doing it even though I tell myself I'm not going to anymore. I've tried the nasty tasting stuff too. I don't know, my nails are paper thin, so even if they grew long they'd probably break right off anyway. It drives me crazy that I can't stop.”

“I think it is anxiety...I know it is hard, I am considering seeing a doctor because perhaps I need help to conquer anxiety. Well, I don't know your history and stress levels but I know that stress can make you anxious and nail biting is an induction of anxiety which can be caused by stress...”

These are only three testimonials of people that bite their finger nails and the last one even agrees that the factor causing this is the stress. So if you want to have success in losing this habit fight the stress and then try to stop biting nails, not the other way.

So here is my story and how I stopped biting my finger nails:

I began biting my fingernails long ago, when I was like 8 or 9, just after I stopped sucking my thumb. It was interesting at that age, but with time I realized that I had to stop because my nails began to hurt, bleed, and my skin began to harden and replace the nail in some way.

Later, after doing some researches, reading some psychology books and going to some doctors, I found the answer to my problem: I was biting my finger nails because I was stressed, by any small thing, a test in school, talking in front of the people, presenting my projects, etc.

At the age of 16 I had problems dating girls, and at the age of 19 I had problems when showing my artwork to others, because of how my nails looked. So I decided to lose this habit. It was harder for me, because biting my finger nails went along with smoking. And I could not stop biting my fingernails, until I stopped smoking (but that’s another story).

After solving the smoking problem it was really easy to drop this habit. But I have to admit, that any stressful situation makes me put my finger in my mouth and taste my nail, and even try to bite it with my teeth if I am stressed enough, but I can control myself, and I am not biting my finger nails any more.

I saw guides that state that you can lose this habit by placing bitter solutions on your finger, etc. I disagree, because you can never lose a bad habit if you don’t solve your brain problem first. So in this case, try to realize what you are doing, understand that it doesn’t bring any benefit to you or your health, and that it’s bad to bite fingernails. Analyze what makes you put your finger in your mouth, identify that factor, which in 90% of cases is the stress factor.

The last step is to eliminate that stress factor, by fighting it your way. I have discussed how to relax and get out of a stressful situation on many topics (more about this topic here - How to work in stress, and under pressure). You can fight it by doing something that relaxes you, by drinking the “usual glass of water”, by disconnecting your mind from the problems and try to find the solutions later, and trough different methods, you name the method regarding to the situation you’re in.

Tell us the method you used to stop biting your finger nails !
Have you succeeded identifying and eliminating the stress factor that was causing you to bite your nails ?
Tell us your story, or ask for our advice, and we’ll help you. Write or call and we’ll answer.

Written by: Alexandru Hategan

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How to work in stress, and under pressure

First of all what you need to do is to deal with stress. Try to identify the thing that is stressing you – the stress factor. Then try to be aware of that factor and try to concentrate at it. After you are aware of the stress factor try to encourage yourself that you will finish your work, that you have to finish your work, and nothing bad will happen because you are on schedule.

Stress is a great factor and it will stop you from achieving your goal. If you have something to do, and you get stressed, your brain will stop being inventive, and you will work very hard, and you won’t be productive. Don’t lose your inspiration by working in stress.

I also recommend that you don’t work under pressure of not finishing your work, because that will automatically make the stress enter the scene. If you feel stressed, and under pressure of not finishing your work, try one of the seven following methods:


1. Get up and walk to the bathroom, wash your face with cold water, and repeat this in your mind: „I can do it, I will finish the work on time, nothing will stop me from doing my work, and I am not stressed anymore". Remember that fresh water actives blood flow, and so your face muscles will feel less tensioned, and you will feel less stressed and a little relaxed, just by washing your face.

2. Open your window so that you can have a good fresh breath of air, so that your brain get’s some oxygen. Of course that you will not open your window for some fresh air, if your office is in the center of the city, where the air pollution is very high.

3. Have a chewing-gum! It might sound silly, but trust me it does magic against the stress, and it helps you work under pressure without actually feeling the pressure around you.

4. Try not to eat food when you are stressed, at work. Because eating while under stress, will make your stomach hurt a lot, and that might hold you from giving the best for your project.

5. This is an exception from the above advice. Try to eat a fruit, like an apple, or other fruit with C vitamin. The vitamins contained in fruits are great for your organism, and help you pass a stressful moment, or even the entire day.

6. Try do close your eyes and count to ten. This will make your brain disconnect for a moment, and force it to relax, so that it can work better after this short break.

7. Don’t drink too much coffee at work. Too much coffee will make your muscles tremor, and your stomach shrink, it will make fatigue gone, but it will make stress to come.

Though I said that there are seven methods, I will give you the 8th method as a bonus:

8. Think positive, relax and focus on little stages of your project, so that your brain will focus only on small parts, and it will work more effective.

Have you ever worked under pressure, or being stressed by your schedule, or by your boss ? Tell us your story, and we'll discuss it together.

Related posts:

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Written by: Alexandru Hategan

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