TresSugar

Do You Like Sleeping Alone or With Your Partner?

TresSugar — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 06:00:00 -0700

Attention spooners! It is now officially bad for your health to share your bed. According to British experts, when you share a bed with your partner and one of you moves in your sleep, there is a 50 percent chance that you will disturb the other person's sleep. And what happens when you don't get good sleep? Depression, heart disease, strokes, traffic accidents, lower productivity, and, perhaps, divorce!

Of course, one doctor (who sleeps in a different room than his wife) says if you sleep well together, there's no need to change. And I say - if you're used to sleeping with someone, the change might actually disturb your sleep too.

Does this news give you a welcome excuse to start sleeping in separate beds, or do you need the option to cuddle all night long?

Front Page: New Survey Shows US Is a Nation of Nappers

TresSugar — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 08:00:20 -0700

A new survey says that one in three adults say they nap on a typical day. - NY Times
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, old white men are the first to get laid off. - USA Today
A baby taken from her murdered mother's womb has been found alive. - Boston Globe
Four US senators have proposed a bill that would nationally ban texting while driving. - CNN
During a meeting among fashion industry insiders this week, Vogue editor Anna Wintour apparently suggested price fixing as a way to help boost retail sails.
- New York Post

Listen Up! Lack Of Sleep Hits Women Harder

TresSugar — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:00:00 -0700

Hey ladies - do you need a new excuse to get your recommended eight hours of sleep? New research shows that a lack of sleep raises a woman's risk of heart disease more than it does for a man.

The study even showed a significant increase in risk factors among women who get seven hours compared to those who get eight.

Whether due to their careers, families, or bustling social lives, women often find the goal of eight hours of sleep elusive. I'll admit that I regularly make up for a loss of shut-eye with an extra cup of coffee. What about you - are you able to find the time to make sleep - and your health -a priority?

Photo by Miss Gong & The Flickers

Remembering Your Dreams Is Beneficial to Your Well-Being

DearSugar — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 10:00:00 -0700

I'm sure this happens to you all the time: your alarm goes off and you get pulled out of an amazing dream, but as soon as you hit the snooze button, you can't remember many details, if any, of what you were dreaming about. New research suggests that you actually try to remember, because your dreams can give insight into your personality. Tapping into what happens in your dreams can help you understand the thoughts, feelings, and actions you have when you're awake, which in turn can help "heal emotional stress and trauma, enable us to sleep better, make us feel happier while awake, or even answer nagging questions about our lives."

So how can you take advantage of your dreams? To learn some tips, read more.

Here are six strategies to help you harness insight from your dreams. Check out MSNBC.com to learn more about them.

Wake slowly and try to concentrate on what you were dreaming about.
Don't take every detail literally.
Confront the "demons" you dream about, when you're awake.
Put yourself in the dream after waking. Imagine yourself as all the different characters, even the non-human ones, to uncover specific emotions or situations that may have inspired your dream.
Describe your dream to someone to help you recall details, zero in on important aspects, and better interpret dream symbols. Writing down details may help.
Plan a course of action on how to deal with what you discovered in your dream.

Source

Where Do You Stand? Going to Bed at Different Times

DearSugar — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 10:00:00 -0700

Nighttime is a popular snuggling time for most couples - it's a great way to unwind together and de-stress from your long day at work, but what happens when one of you wants to hit the hay before the other? Is staggering your bedtimes no big deal to you, or do you have a hard time falling asleep unless you go to bed at the same time? Tell me where you stand in the comments below.

Source

I Had a Dream: Study Finds Bias Distorts Dream Interpretations

CitizenSugar — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 07:18:00 -0700

Two psychologists have studied over 1,000 people's dreams (join in here), to examine how people assign meaning to them. Turns out we only bother to interpret the ones our waking selves agree with.

How so? Let's say you dream your partner saved you from a burning house in one dream and cheated on you in another. You'd probably shake the latter off as a silly dream, and look up "house, burning" in Dream Moods A-Z for the former. It's a self-serving bias - kind of like how Freud saw sex everywhere he looked for it.

So basically dreams can be self-fulfilling prophecies or an easy way to shirk off responsibility. But knowing that, now what? Should we crack open the dream journals, or write interpretations off to Never-never land?

Source

Nightmares More Common For Women

DearSugar — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 10:00:00 -0800

Whether you remember your dreams or not, research shows that women suffer from having more nightmares than men, and they're more emotionally intense too. Those dreams can be divided into three categories: fearful dreams (like being chased), losing a loved one, or confused dreams (where you're lost, or things don't make sense). The scientists discovered that there was a strong correlation between actual events and anxieties the women experienced in their lives, and things they dreamt about.

Another interesting finding is that women dream more often about family members, negative emotions, and indoor settings, while male dreams contain more physical aggression (like fighting or attacks). Both genders dream about sex, but men dream about actual intercourse when women dream about kissing and fantasizing about other people.

Since men and woman are so different, it would make sense that we dream differently too, but I'm curious, how often do you have vivid, intense nightmares?

Source

Having Trouble Sleeping? Your Partner Could Be to Blame

DearSugar — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 11:00:00 -0800

Getting a good night's sleep doesn't come easily for all, especially if you sleep next to a bed hog or a snorer, but new research shows that the remedy for catching those much needed zzz's is sleeping next to the right partner.

A study conducted at the University of Pittsburgh discovered that women who are happily married or coupled up have less trouble sleeping than their single, unattached peers; and you might be surprised to know that caffeine, the amount of sex they had, stress, and alcohol consumption had little impact on this study. Wendy Troxel, an associate professor of psychiatry who worked on this study, explained:

The results showed that even after taking into account all of these factors that are known to influence sleep, the level of marital happiness emerged as an independent risk factor for the existence of sleep disturbances.

Whatever your relationship status may be, tell me, do these findings ring true to you?

Source

Smells Can Affect Your Dreams

DearSugar — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 07:00:00 -0700

The smell of apple pie always reminds me of my grandmother, who used to make it whenever I came to visit. I'm sure you have certain feelings and memories connected to scents too. And just as they affect us during the day, researchers have found that aromas can influence the emotions we experience when we sleep. Fifteen women in their 20s were part of this dream study. Each had a tube taped to their nostrils and while they slept, one of three scents was pumped through their noses: rotten eggs, roses, and plain air. While they snoozed, their brain activity was monitored. The scientists allowed them to reach REM sleep and after one minute, they woke them up and asked the sleepers to describe what they were dreaming about. The women didn't dream about the specific smells like you might think, but rather when they smelled roses, they had pleasant dreams, and when they smelled rotten eggs, their dreams were just the opposite.

Isn't that interesting? Since a good night's sleep is so important to our health and overall well-being, I'm all for anything that can inspire some delightful dreams, so go out and buy some lovely scented candles or sheet spray for your pillows. Lavender essential oil will also do the trick. Try it, and let us know how it works!

Source

Do Tell: How Often Do You Have Sexual Dreams?

DearSugar — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 09:00:00 -0700

It's a rare but exciting moment when I wake up in the midst of a sexual dream. I've only had a handful, but let me tell you - they're almost as good as the real thing! We dream about sex because it's such a powerful human drive, and in our sleep we have no control over what surfaces in our subconscious minds. So you may have a sexual dream about your present lover, a past lover, someone you've had your eye on, or even a celebrity (did someone say Brad Pitt?). You may have surprising dreams about people you've never really thought of (like a co-worker), or dreams where your sexual identity has switched (maybe you're involved in a lesbian love fest when you're actually heterosexual). Or maybe, you'll be lucky enough to have a sexual dream where you actually climax. So tell me ladies, how often do you have tantalizing sexual dreams? Care to share any of the details?

Source