Freshman year of college is an exciting time. All the planning, campus visits, applications, and waiting for acceptance letters is over. The choices have been made and a very interesting future, new friends and amazing experiences lie dead ahead.
As does dorm life.
Good news for everyone sick of "greenwashing." The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) is cracking down on the mattress industry as a whole--and Essentia Natural Memory Foam, EcoBaby, and Relief-Mart in particular--for unsupported claims that their mattresses are organic, VOC (volatile organic chemicals) free, all natural, non-offgassing, odorless, etc.
Viniyoga is a wonderful tool if you are suffering from sleep disorders, chronic stress, or just have a tough time unloading your mind of worries before bed. Viniyoga Yoga is a great natural tool that will help you achieve a restful, refreshing night's sleep.
"I love my towels," Catherine--our Marketing Manager--gushed when I asked her what product she was currently most excited about, "They're so absorbent." And she would know, it's like the Brady Bunch over there at casa Catherine. With six children, spanning the years of college to motherhood, rotating through the house during the year, you could say Catherine has given these towels a trial by fire.
"Coffee? I don’t need no stinkin’ coffee!” One very awake blogger’s review of the Sonic Boom Alarm Clock.
It isn't unusual for customers to ask us our opinion on various sleep products--special alarm clocks, sleeping aids, herbal remedies, sound nullifiers, eye-masks...
At Soaring Heart Natural Bed Company, we firmly believe in designing products with cradle-to-cradle lifecycles. Traditional mattress manufacturers design products with linear lifecycles...
A few weeks ago, Soaring Heart Natural Bed Company had the privilege of working with some very dedicated volunteers during our company's quarterly Charity Pillow Build. Together we made 80 natural and organic shredded latex pillows that are going to a summer camp started by Dr. Stanley Stamm to benefit young patients suffering from serious illnesses at Seattle Children's Hospital. This week-long sleep-over camp near Mt. Rainier gives kids the chance to go fishing, ride horses and take part in other typical camp activities they might otherwise miss.
It's a wonderful place doing important work, and Soaring Heart is proud to give these children a comfortable night's sleep after a full day of summer activity.
Here is Mike Schaefer, Soaring Heart Natural Bed Company owner, with more information on Soaring Heart's charity pillow build.
For further information on Soaring Heart Natural Bed Company's philanthropy and for ways you can help, go to the Soaring Heart Gives Back page in our About section.
I just watched a very interesting interview with Jamie Corroon, a Naturopathic Doctor at Bastyr Center for Natural Heath (below). In the interview he discusses how lack of sleep affects our bodies. Now, as someone who has trouble sleeping, my interest was naturally peaked.
You won't be surprised to hear that sleeping six hours or less is not good. Some not-so-pleasant side effects of sleep deficit that you might see reflected in your health include weight gain, irritability, hypertension, and an increase in anxiety and other mood disorders.
Luckily, Mr. Corroon has some helpful tips on how to get to sleep, stay asleep, and buck some of those bad habits such as eating late. One of Bastyr’s recommendations—and of course, we at , Soaring Heart second it—is to use natural and organic bedding, as sleep hygiene is just as important as sleep habits.
If you want to learn more about sleep hygiene as well as helpful, healthful sleeping tips, subscribe to our blog and/or "Like" us on Facebook. There are many articles on and tips about having a great night's sleep. Start with these two:
LIVING NATURALLY: BETTER SLEEP, BETTER ENERGY - BASTYR UNIVERSITY
A lecture from Bastyr University; Living Naturally: Better Sleep, Better Energy.
GUEST BLOG: CHANGE YOUR SLEEP. CHANGE YOUR LIFE
Some helpful tips to fall asleep faster an stay asleep longer by guest blogger and Authorized Teacher at Sounder Sleep System,® Becci Parsons.
About a month ago, a friend remarked on the irony of my working at a mattress company. The irony comes from the fact that for my entire life I have struggled with a sleep disorder. I decided to write a blog post about it after posting a New York Times article about ADHD and sleep disorders to our Facebook page yesterday.
I have had trouble sleeping my whole life. Like a good movie villain, I just won't go down. It quite honestly takes hours. As soon as I'm in bed, and all the usual daily stimulation is gone, my brain goes into hyper drive and I'm still trying to find the off switch. No matter how tired I am, I still lie there for at least an hour—essentially just waiting to fall asleep while visions of everything my admittedly-odd psyche can dream up dance in my head. So, I have gotten used to being tired all the time; it is basically my natural state now and I don't even realize it. My tired is everyone else's (save for my fellow sufferers) exhausted.
Now, most sleep disorders are the symptom of something larger, so you can't just cure them; but you can manage them. I've tried eight billion different tools and techniques (I'm being a little hyperbolic) but—you knew it was coming—a new mattress made a big difference. I won't lie to you and say that after one night all was fixed--that I fell asleep immediately and leapt, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, out of bed the next morning like a newborn fawn. I did, however, feel more rested and waking up wasn't quite so excruciating.
Over time this has improved even further. I still don' t sleep much--a new mattress won't change that-- but when I am asleep, I stay that way and feel more revitalized the next morning. It has become easier for me to wake up and the AM stress I had become used to over the years is essentially gone. I now—for the first time in my life—am confident I will wake up when I am supposed to wake up.
This might sound pretty small, but for me it's huge.
Visit Soaring Heart Natural Bed Company on Saturday April 27th for the Northwest Eco-Building Guild's Northwest Green Home Tour 2013 and receive 10% off our wool pillows! If you can't join us in person, our wool pillows will be 10% off online as well! But it's only for Saturday the 27th!
Buying a new mattress can be confusing. There are so many options in the mattress and bedding world it can be overwhelming. Every day we answer a huge variety of questions via email, over the phone, and in the store. We decided to make this a more interactive process, where people can see other customers' questions as well as their own. We will continuously post more frequently asked questions, but please comment with any further or different questions you may have and we will be happy to answer them.
Are you feeling less alert?
Are you unable to think clearly or sustain your focus?
Do you have difficulty falling asleep or problems with frequent awakening during the night?
If so, you may be suffering from insomnia.
We tend to think of insomnia as the constellation of symptoms that we experience just before sleep or during the night when we awaken with our mind racing and the bed sheets twisted. The process of insomnia actually begins much earlier in the day for most of us.
How?
Through the choices we make about how we spend our time.
It could take between 9-14 hours to fully metabolize the caffeine. Even if you have no difficulty falling asleep, the caffeine could undermine the quality and duration of your sleep.
Blue light from many of these devices is as brightas daylight and activates the nervous system sending the brain and body into“wake up mode”.
And what about the emotional responses that are triggered by these late night, last minute, urgent communications?
Life in the twenty first century is stressful and fast paced. A full, zoom-zoom workday of 8-12 hours is often followed by a long commute and sometimes a cocktail or a glass of wine to take the edge off. We eat late, do a few more email or text messages; watch a movie, read or log on to Facebook in an effort to wind down. Unfortunately very few of these activities actually promote relaxation and set the stage for a good night’s sleep. Most of them tip the nervous system far in the other direction to a state of hyper-arousal.
Hyper-arousal is a chronic over-activation of the body’s stress-response mechanism. There’s no instant ON/OFF switch. When these pathways are repeatedly excited, they become the default setting. We essentially travel a well-worn path leading us in the direction of elevated blood pressure, holding our breath, clinching our jaw and lifting our shoulders, without respite. Many of these sensations fly below the radar of our self-perception and become the background noise of our busy, over stimulated lives.
What to do?
“For fast acting relief, try slowing down”.
--Lily Tomlin
On the one hand, we can increase the quality and duration of a good night’s sleep simply by making better choices. Following a good sleep hygiene program is an empowering start. For more detailed information about sleep hygiene refer click here.
We also need to hit the pause, re-set button during the day to get off of the cortisol/ adrenaline high that many of us associate with feeling good and being productive. Functioning under the influence of stress hormones is not a sustainable practice. Biological systems thrive with ebb and flow. Metabolically speaking, we need to interrupt the cycle of prolonged excitation and dial things down to a more balanced, calm and functional neutral.
Learning to move more fluidly between states of stress and relaxation is key. It is positive motion in the direction of re-establishing the natural biological rhythms of exertion and recuperation. Think of it as self-regulation with applied intelligence. When we develop the capacity to meet the demands of a stressful moment and the flexibility to return to a state of equanimity in a relatively short amount of time, not only will we sleep better, but we’ll also be a kinder, gentler, version of ourselves.
Becci Parsons
Offers workshops and private coaching in the techniques of the Sounder Sleep System® in the interest of helping to create a more sane and peaceful world. Restful sleep is necessary for the healthy function of every system in the body and helps to regulate mood, energy and emotional intelligence.
The Sounder Sleep System® is comprised of a variety of calming and sleep inducing techniques to be used during the day and at bedtime, taught while sitting or lying down. The simple exercises are designed to restore our natural capacity to rest, recover and heal from the stress of daily life, one breath at a time. They are elegantly simple and simply profound.
For more information about workshops, classes or private sleep coaching contact me:
Becci Parsons, Authorized Teacher, Sounder Sleep System®
