Author: Aster Haile

Let’s go back in time for a minute. Picture yourself a dozen years ago when you were a kid. You may not remember it but as a kid, you used to laugh hundreds of times a day: laughing for anything, laughing at someone, laughing to tears… Unfortunately as adults, life becomes more serious and laughter is less likely to be present. Now, if you ever want to find a natural and innate way to relax your mind, body and soul, laughing is simply the best.

Keep cool and laugh to relax your body

Laughter is a strong medicine that relaxes the whole body and leaves your muscles relaxed for up to 45 minutes after you laugh. It helps releasing endorphins the “neurotransmitters that pass along signals from one neuron to the next”. Laughing reduces the production of stress hormones and introduces at the same time, more of these natural feel-good chemicals that give overall well-being to your body.

Keep cool and laugh until your body aches

The harder you laugh, the more your muscles are used (especially your abs). A dozen of muscles on your legs, neck, arms are only used when you laugh! Is a virtuous circle: belly laughs help your belly muscles to relax and once muscles are well rested, you feel awaken and energetic. A deep laugh increases the amount of oxygen to the muscles to help them relax which minimizes muscles tension.

Keep cool and laugh yourself slim

A study published in the International Journal of Obesity proved that laughter increases heart rate and helps burn more calories by up to 20 per cent. They concluded that 15 minutes of laughter per day could help burn up to 40 calories depending on each person’s weight and intensity of the laughter: the longer you laugh and the greater are the effects on your calorie loss.

Learn to laugh in order to be healthy

No matter how the laughter is initiated, you keep the same benefits. Your body doesn’t care if the laughter is fake or real which is a good news if you thinks about trying a laughter session. What is it? A 30 minutes in-group intentional laugh challenge leaded by laughter facilitators. The structured laughter quickly leads to genuine and contagious laughter, which leave people relaxed and energized. There are more than 10,000 laughter clubs in 72 countries – you should definitely try it once in your life!

Never forget that if you really need to relieve emotional stress and get rid of anxiety, laughter is one of the quickest (fun and free) ways!

The sun is shining, birds are singing, flowers have started to bloom and your spring clean is just around the corner! However, there is a fly in the ointment. There is this old, used and annoying sentimental value object you can’t live without. Yes, we’re talking about your old mattress! It is time for an upgrade and you don’t know where to start? This article is for you.

Detect the trigger warnings

If you’ve outgrown your current mattress or if your mattress is so old that you don’t even remember when you bought it or worst, you noticed sagging and sides breaking on it? It is obviously time to buy a new one. Moreover, there are other factors that could make you think twice: if you wake up every morning with body aches, if you always feel too hot in bed or if you hear creaks when moving around, it is also time to consider switching.

Know your budget

There are two main related issues with buying a mattress. The first one is to figure out the real value for money and the second, is the price. Mattresses’ brands give themselves generous markups this is why higher prices don’t necessary mean better sleep. Let’s say you get 8 hours of sleep per night: that’s 2920 hours per year. Then considering the 8-year mattress recommended lifespan, it’s a total of 23360 hours! We do think that anything over $1500 doesn’t mean better quality, and anything under $500 may have a poorer quality. It’s worth investing in a mattress that will help you spend the best nights without overpaying.

Prioritize comfort, size, support and durability

Bigger is better: you and your partner should be able to roll over, move and stretch your bodies without disturbing each other’s sleep. In terms of support, focus on how your mattress is supporting your back and spine. You should never feel uncomfortable in relaxed position in your own bed. Durability is also a key indicator and it is something completely different from warranty: durability is based on comfort and material firmness, while warranty covers visible defects in a mattress.

Wait for the best time of the year for great deals

Unfortunately, April isn’t a great month to buy a new mattress. New models will be coming in soon that’s why manufacturers need to clear older mattresses. We recommend waiting for September since many companies offer offline and online special deals with Labour Day sales. You’ll probably have the chance to find handful of innerspring and memory foam sets on sale. Before buying, make sure to try your mattress, keep in mind that you can haggle in any sales channel, and prioritize sellers with a good return policy.

Choose the right mattress for your back

Everything depends on your sleeping habit. If you’re a back-sleeper, avoid soft mattresses that will not support your back enough and go with a medium-firm mattress that will support your lower back. If you’re sleeping on your stomach, firmer mattress is preferred as well. But if you sleep on the side, you should go with a softer one to cushion hips and shoulders. If you want to prevent back pain, a memory foam mattress is the best: it keeps a good lumbar support and perfect spine alignment. You can even pick a mattress that combines traditional coil springs and foam advantages.

Make your investment last

Mattresses and pillows must be cleaned at least twice a year, sheets and bedding every week. Use the appropriate cleaner to spot treat and remove stains from your mattress (for sure a baking soda recipe can be found anywhere on the web) and finish with a vacuum of the entire surface of the mattress while focusing on cracks. You can also buy a mattress pad to add an additional layer of protection.

April is finally here and you’re probably starting to worry about your unreachable bikini body goal for this summer. Don’t worry! You still have few months ahead of you to take back control over your body, remove unhealthy habits from your routine and review your sleep habits at the same time.

Working out in the morning is better for weight loss.

Kick starting your day with an early workout is the best way to boost your metabolism and burn more calories and fat during the day. After a 45mn workout, a woman is more likely to make healthier food choices and eat less based on a BYU University study. As long as you sleep well and long enough, when you wake up, your body is freshly prepared for a workout. Just make sure to deeper warm up your cold muscles before digging deeper. Another study from Appalachian State University also showed that morning exercise reduce blood pressure, which has been correlated with better sleep.

A good sleep helps you control your diet.

Sleep should be considered as a reward for all your efforts! Diet, fitness, healthy habits, healthy food, detox journeys etc. Can you imagine doing all these efforts for nothing? A research published in the Annals of Internal Medicine showed that the lack of sleep reduce or even undo the benefits of dieting: it can reduce the amount of fat lost in half.

Lack of sleep makes you hungry.

The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism discovered that lack of sleep increases your need for food and encourage cravings. Hunger, which is controlled by leptin and ghrelin hormones, is not efficiently regulated by the concerned area of the brain when you lack of rest. On top of that, your cortisol levels rise when you don’t sleep enough: it directly affects your ability to regulate fat gain.

Always prioritize sleep.

Our best advice and health tip is to prioritize sleep over everything! At least make sure that a poor night of sleep is not followed with another one, and another one and few more… Sleeping well will be a huge differentiator to be successful with your diets, healthy habits and weight loss journeys. You must keep in mind that sleep goes far beyond just losing weight, looking good and reaching fitness goals: it is one of the key element to help fighting health issues such as heart failure, high blood pressure, diabetes or obesity.

You probably already heard, at least once in your life, these 5 misconceptions about sleep. Time to know the truth!

We all need 8 hours sleep per night to feel good

FALSE. “It’s like saying that everybody should have size eight shoes”. Everyone has its own unique circadian rhythm. The average sleep duration is between 7 to 8 hours but some people do need more and some others don’t. Professor Jim Horne, confirms that it’s really about what your body is accustomed to, what your genes are but also what your physical activities are. You have to listen to your body and let him adjust automatically with your sleep pattern. Buying a comfortable mattress too will help even if you have less than the required amount of sleep.

Alcohol helps sleep better

FALSE. If you still believe in this, first you should have a look at our special article about the subject: Running out of alcohol? Sleep tight and enjoy your sweetest dreams. Second, you must keep in mind that alcohol may help you temporary forget your daily problems and fall asleep quickly, but you will see the other side of the coin with snoring, insomnia and rough night few hours later.

Don’t nap if you want to sleep at night

FALSE. If you ever feel the need to nap during the day, go for it. Lack of sleep can decrease alertness and this nap will certainly help you with alertness, mood and mental/physical performance. However, you must follow one simple rule: set your alarm clock to 20 minutes! It’s all you need to get the benefit of napping. After 20 minutes, you may suffer from sleep deprivation the night after. PS: If it’s the weekend, or if you really need to make up for sleep loss, you can nap as long as you want!

Waking a sleepwalker could kill him

FALSE. You would probably want to wake him up to take him back to his bed safely but this may be very brutal and not necessary. “Sleepwalking, or somnambulism, is part of a larger category of sleep-related disorders known as parasomnias.” Sleepwalking symptoms are: meaningless talk, disorientation, opened eyes with blank expression and amnesia after the episode. In most cases, we would recommend to help the sleepwalker return to his bed without waking him.

Insomnia means anxiety

FALSE BUT not entirely wrong. Insomnia is very often related to anxiety but there are so many different types of insomnias that we cannot assume that these two exclusively belongs together. So much diverse factors could interfere with people’s sleeping issues. Therefore, insomnia does not mean anxiety in each and every case.

Now that you know the truth, if ever you find yourself stuck talking about sleep clichés with a “know-it-all” discussion partner… you have solid counterarguments!

Easter weekend is just around the corner! Do you know what rhymes with Easter weekend? Chocolate bunnies, candy eggs, chocolate eggs etc. in other words, sugar sugar and more sugar! Don’t worry, this article is not going to be a sugar/witch hunt. We acknowledge that sugar is an essential ingredient of any diet: carbohydrates “also known as saccharides or carbs, are sugars or starches. They are a major food source and a key form of energy for most organisms.” Unfortunately, when we talk about a sugar rush, we usually refer to the real witches: processed and refined sugar found in sodas, candies, cookies and cakes. These can bring harmful symptoms of a sugar rush that will directly affect your sleep.

The chocolate bunny rush

Did you know that eating chocolate at night could potentially keep you awake? You probably already know about it but chocolate contains caffeine and caffeine (which has been called the most popular drug in the world, by the way) is a stimulant: it “enters the bloodstream through the stomach and small intestine and can have a stimulating effect as soon as 15 minutes after it is consumed”. It easily causes sleep disturbance or insomnia in some cases. You should definitely avoid any source of caffeine, including this tempting chocolate bunny close to bedtime, otherwise you’ll be counting sheep for the rest of the night.

The jelly beans rush

Wikipedia describes a jelly bean as a “small bean-shaped sugar candies with soft candy shells and thick gel interiors”. This description should make you drool with envy… Just looking at their bright, colorful and tasty colors, is an invitation to eat them all! However, have you ever consider looking at the ingredients and nutrition facts of your favorite Easter candies yet? Well it’s easy, they are primarily made of sugar. These types of processed sugar/carbs can screw with your sleep : they can “delay your body’s release of melatonin, a hormone that controls your sleep-wake cycle and helps you slide into deeper, higher-quality sleep” as explains a recent Columbia University study from Marie-Pierre St-Onge, Ph.D.

Every day, the average American consumes 23 teaspoons of added sugar.

While sleep can affect your blood sugar levels, your blood glucose control can also affect your sleep. It’s a vicious cycle and you must tackle this problem seriously. I’m sure that you’re going to say: But it’s Easter! Therefore, our final advice would be: do not restrict yourself too much but eat your Easter treats with moderation and you should avoid sleeping crash for the rest of the weekend.

Happy Easter and good night to everybunny!

Most adults need between seven to nine hours of sleep per night. It may sound a lot but it is the result of an actual study made by the US National Center for Biotechnology Information, showing that sleeping below this average significantly reduce our cognitive skills. Keeping that in mind, our main concern should be how do we make the most of these crucial hours? Today, we want to go through the list of few items that could help you to fall asleep easily moving forward.

Clothing can provide enough insulation to cause overheating.

Our second tip is to sleep nude and stop buying pajamas! Body temperature is one of the major key component of a good night. Ideally, your bedroom should never be warmer than 70 degrees Fahrenheit. If you don’t like being naked in bed, your go to pajama should be made of silk (silk is a thermoregulatory, it keeps cool when you’re hot and warm when you’re cold). You also have the casual 100% cotton option, to keep you cool and non-clammy. The best pick will be a pajama that is comfortable for you.

A good mattress is good but don’t underestimate the power of bed sheets and pillow cases.

When buying new bedding, don’t take a higher thread count for granted. It may sounds like you’re buying a luxurious product but as Ariel Kaye (CEO of the Parachute Bedding company) mentioned, “Anything that’s over 400 is a manipulation of fabric or thread”. In terms of raw material, cotton or Egyptian cotton are the best choices versus synthetic fabrics. You’ll certainly get a more uncomfortable sleep experience with synthetics: they have a tendency to wrap heat.
Quick reminder, you must always wash new bed sheets before using them: so many irritants could transfer from the packaging to the fabric. Bedding must be tossed to the laundry basket every week: the more you’re active, the sooner you should wash them.

Free bonus item: get as much natural lighting exposure as you can!

Did you know that exposure to more light during the day and less light at night is critical for healthy sleep patterns? Light exposure affects our cortisol patterns, melatonin production and our sleep/wake cycles. One solution to improve your sleep is to make sure to expose yourself to natural lighting during the day and before bed. If you’re working in an office 9 to 5, we know it’s a challenge but you must find a way to “look out a window, seek light during the day, especially during the morning or go out during lunch time” as advised by Mariana Figueiro, Director of the Lighting Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Keep in mind however, that simply buying new pajamas and bedding or relax in the sun will never be the only things that will help you sleep well at night. Following a sleep schedule and obeying proper sleep hygiene rules are both essential to a good night’s sleep.

Sweet dreams!

The weekend is almost here! You’ve been waiting the entire week to hashtag TGIF on your favorite social media, and you already know how you’re going to enjoy your well-deserved out of office: you’re going to use one of your favorite glass, pour your favorite liquor in it, and enjoy the most relaxing and peaceful moment of your week.

The first thing you’re going to feel, will be this very special relaxed and uninhibited pleasure.

Like a drug, alcohol has direct effects on the brain. It “may seem to be helping you to sleep, but overall it is more disruptive, particularly in the second half of the night,” based on researcher Irshaad Ebrahim from the London Sleep Centre in the U.K. The more you drink before bed, the more pronounced these effects. Alcohol consumption can trigger:

– New or deeper sleep disorders including insomnia and sleep apnea.
– More frequent need to get up to the bathroom (the body wants to evacuate toxins from kidneys and bladder)
– Greater risk of snoring (due to excessive relaxation of head muscles)
– Increased sleep walking

The results of these triggers speak for themselves: a light and disrupted night’s sleep that leads to exhaustion and dehydration.

Alcohol is the most common sleep aid: at least 20 percent of American adults rely on it.

The truth is, drinking regularly (even moderate drinking) is much more likely to interfere with your sleep than to assist it.
Nevertheless, we are all humans, we know that nobody is perfect; we also know that St Patrick’s Day is just around the corner and we’re not going to judge you by your whisky consumption… This is why we want to give you a few tips to let you enjoy your favorite one, while considering your sleep moving forward:

– Try to empty your last glass of alcohol, 3 to 4 hours prior bed.
– Avoid sparkling wine or alcohol and soft drinks mixes. They are MVPs for bloating issues!
– One drink of alcohol = one drink of water! That’s the best anticipated hangover cure.
– Never ever, combine alcohol with sleeping pills. These two encourage respiratory difficulties.

Once again, we come face to face with the simple fact that, no matter how you look at it, moderation is always the key.

Today is the day to set the record straight. First, we are celebrating overall achievement of all women for this International Women’s day 2018, but we also want to take the time to remind you (or to teach you) that gender gap issues are not only linked with salaries or opportunities: they are also impacting our sleep patterns.

There is scientific evidence that women need approximately 20 minutes more sleeping time every day.

This evidence based on Professor Jim Horne studies, seems surprising at first sight. However, if science is able to acknowledge that the “man flu” really exists (when a man is regarded as exaggerating the severity of his flu symptoms), why not also rethinking our preconceived gender sleeping notions?
It is known that women’s brain activity is different from men. A woman instinctively knows how to switch rapidly between several tasks, which is something good and bad at the same time. Switching also means frequently interrupting the brain’s activity and this could potentially leads to anxiety. Since we sleep to heal and regenerate our brain, it is also obvious that the more the stress, the worst it is for our sleep length and quality.

Another scientific fact: women suffer from insomnia a lot more than men do.

There are many physiological reasons to explain that: periods, estrogens, progesterone, hormonal fluctuations, pregnancy, stress, anxiety, menopause… On top of that, have you ever heard about the “mom’s ears”? In other words, a mom never really sleeps deeply because there is a mysterious physiological internal body clock, that wakes her up at night, to respond to any infant or children’s need. All these wonderful events directly affect women’s ability to sleep or to stay awake.

Now, are there solutions to help improving women’s sleep?

Dear women, we are not going to let you down! Thanks to the National Sleep Foundation, we listed below some of their most relevant tips to improve your sleep moving forward:
• You need to maintain a regular bed and wake time schedule.
• Bedtime routine should be relaxing! You better leave your cell phone and Instagram feed closed…
• Your bedroom should be comfortable, quiet and dark as much as possible.
• Finish eating at least 2 or 3 hours before bed. Nobody ever slept peacefully with bloating discomforts.
• Avoid nicotine, caffeine and alcohol prior to bed (and in general, that goes without saying)
• Sleep on your side for a better breathing.

Ladies, please use our tips and have a good night! We wish you a wonderful International Women’s day.