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Echoes of a Dream

Many of us have escapes that we use to get away from our day-to-day lives, and many of those escapes can be as simple as reading a book or watching a movie. Music, however, for the most part, seems to be universal in helping many people deal with their emotions. Music, and lyrics, and singing, and all kinds of different tunes can help a person either mentally prepare for a big event (like listening to your favorite jams before a big event) or to help you mellow out at the end of a long day. Music is great for break-ups as well as hook-ups. In fact, you could probably find a song to fit every occasion.

online-yoga

Studies have proven that when listening to music, the dopamine in peoples brains is activated, making us want to listen to more and more of it (unless, of coarse, the song is Friday.) However, no one has been able to figure out exactly why this is because while dopamine is activated during activities such as eating good food, or during exercise. If you are a gym rat, like myself, then you will understand how music can heighten one’s workout experience. As for myself, I will never understand those who are able to run on the treadmill or dead-lift without some awesome tunes ringing through their ear buds, but that might just be me.

So why is it that music gives us such a sensation that we feel the need to listen to it almost every day, at work, on the way to work on the way home from work, in the bath, in the bedroom, in the club. It’s almost like music was programmed into human DNA, and gives many of us a natural rhythm that can’t be defined by mere statistics of race or ethnicity (because some white boys can dance.) There are many different dynamics to music too, like sad, slow songs that you for some reason can’t get enough of and love to cry along to. There are fast tracks with pumping melodies and soaring chorus’ that make you feel like the universe is your oyster. Of course, there will always be that one boring song on an album that you skip every time that it comes on (OK, not always because sometimes an artist is that good.) I think it’s safe to say that for the most part, music gives us feelings.

These feelings can translate into our night lives too, because if you go to bed in a sour mood your probably not going to sleep very well, while going to bed in a neutral or happy state of mind can make for pleasant dreams. You might find that falling asleep to your favorite rock track can be a difficult feat, and that’s because its probably not designed to create delta waves in your brain which will help one fall into a deep slumber. White noise such as crashing waves and a ceiling fan can help to lull a person into the world of sleep, but classical music can also induce a person into this state. There are many things that you can find on the internet that will aid in helping a person sleep, and many musical compositions that can be found on YouTube and various other sites that can move this process along. Getting the proper support from your mattress and pillow and finding the necessary comfort are also factors that contribute to how fast one might fall asleep – besides the obvious how tired you are.

The Natural Transformation by Tomorrow's World

Some of these internet tracks are very interesting and might even carry over into dreamland. Listening to a song that remind you of the ocean could put you on a raft in the middle of the Pacific, while listening to some jungle oriented vibes could place you in a safari, among the beasties of the forest. Give it a try, listen to a soothing rhythm tonight that will help you drown out the world around you and escape into the realm of sleep.

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Environment Green Living Healthy Lifestyles Made in the USA Miscellaneous Natural Bedroom Natural Fibers Natural Home Organic Apparel & Textiles Organic Comfort Organic Mattress & Bedding Sleep Tips

Precognition

Last night I was dead asleep when all of a sudden I’m in the middle of school, just about to enter my math room, when my teacher pulls me aside and begins to scold me. “Why weren’t you here last class?” He reprimands and I reply to him, wide-eyed, “I was here last class…” There is a moment of intense silence that builds between the two of us for a brief moment before my teacher continues, “Really? What did we do?” I ponder this for a moment, trying hard to remember exactly what we did do the class previous. Did we take notes? No. Did we take a quiz? No, but you’re getting warmer. I remember, “We did the ‘thinking’ piece.” I finally respond with a smile on my face. Ha, I think as my teachers expression shifts from anger to remorse. “Of course,” He says and smiles at me as I walk past him into the math room. Just then my alarm clock wakes me up. I look at the time and see that I have been sleeping through my alarm for the past ten minutes and am probably going to be late for school. I quickly get out of bed and dress up in my normal ‘sweatpants Friday’ get-up, which consists primarily of, well, sweatpants and a hoodie. I barely bother putting a comb through my hair before inhaling a bowl of cereal and rushing out of the door, into the car, and driving down the street just in the nick-of-time.

This morning was also a rainy one. Sheets upon sheets of rain poured down onto my windshield as I drove down a thirty-five mile per hour street at a whopping twenty-seven miles per hour in order to avoid the hassle of getting myself stuck in a flooded street. This mess of a road trip continued until I was finally making my way onto the street behind the school, where I found myself blocked by a large flood in which a sad mini-van was hopelessly rendered useless in. I could have been a good-Samaritan and gotten out, trudged through the flood, and asked if there was anything that I could do for the mini-van; however, seeing as I was already about ten minutes late for school, and that it was there problem and not mine, I quickly turned around and found my way into the school parking lot through a series of back roads that weren’t as flooded.

free_horses

Upon arriving in the building, around twenty minutes late, I stumble into the front office, soaking wet, and receive a late pass along with a pitiful look from the woman who runs the front desk before heading to class. Life goes on, I sit in class soaking wet and bored to death as my teacher goes on about something or other, and I realize I could complain about how cold and wet I am except that no one is actually listening to me, nor the teacher for that matter – half the class is sleeping, the other half on their phones. The bell rings and I zip out of class as usual. As I arrived at my second block of the day, my math class, my teacher asks me – not at the door but as I’m sitting in my seat – “Eric, were you here last class?” I am taken aback, “Of course I was, we did the ‘thinking’ piece.” I reply with conviction and my teacher nods. “Right,” He says and then goes to mark something into his computer.

Why is this significant? Did I predict the future? Was this all deja-vu? Had I already lived through it? Were my dreams trying to tell me to make sure to get to class no matter the pouring rain and what not? Precognition is the ability to read the future in one’s dreams. Though it has never been either proven nor dis-proven it is nearly impossible to study. While I’m not claiming the be the next That’s So Raven, I do find it very interesting that dreams could possibly have a very real way of making predictions, whether they are exact or close enough to an actual event. In 1865, Abe Lincoln claimed to have had a dream in which he was attending a funeral and asked “who is in the casket?” and received the reply, “The President of the United States.” Two weeks later he gave his bodyguard the night off and was assassinated. Others have claimed to have foreseen the sinking of the Titanic and other historical disasters. I myself believe that dreams hold some kind of fragment, or glimpse, or detail that coordinates with one’s life. While I don’t believe everything that psychologists such as Sigmund Freud and various others might have noted (like the connotations behind seeing a skyscraper in our dream, or a cave…) I do understand that these very well might be hidden signs that can foretell what our lives might entail or can breathe new life into problems that we face daily, and in the end can either help us get through them or not. Dreams might have a way of healing the soul or destroying it. One of the greatest authors, Stephen King, is said to have been plagued by nightmares all his life. one day he was told to begin writing them down, and now he has an entire library of books under his belt. Perhaps his dreams were promoting him to fulfill his destiny, which was to become the King of Horror.

 

As for what my dream of math class means, I think that it was pretty self-explanatory in its message of getting me out of bed this morning; however, the fact that my teacher asked me the same question in real life as he had in my dream might mean that perhaps I am the next to be the next Nostradamus. Who knows, only time will tell. I can tell you one thing, though, and that is that whatever prophecy that comes to me in my sleeping hours will be made even more vivid by the deep sleep I’m in, promoted by the comfort of my natural CozyPure bedding, which is one thing that no prophet needs to tell you is worth investing in.

 

 


eric-SAT-picEric is currently a student and part-time team member for Norfolk, VA based business Organic Comfort Zone, manufacturers of CozyPure organic bedding and mattress. For more information visit organiccomfortzone.com or cozypure.com or call 757.480.8500.

 

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Healthy Lifestyles Miscellaneous Natural Bedroom Natural Home Organic Comfort Organic Mattress & Bedding Sleep Tips

Sleeping Outlets

Falling asleep is the constant struggle when you are too preoccupied with worrying thoughts. Staring at the clock only to find out that you still haven’t fallen asleep by one in the morning can be the twisting of the knife in your heart when you know that you will have a long and busy day when the morning comes. Falling asleep on a CozyPure mattress can surely help with falling asleep and comfort. But sometimes, when comfort isn’t enough and you have too many thoughts racing through your mind, try some other ways to relax and fall asleep.

Reading before bed can be very therapeutic because it can help get your mind off of the constant stress that plagues you. Reading, and focusing on the words on the page, and lying in bed or curled up on the couch, can easily make one sleep. With eyes concentrating on the tiny words in front of you it is sure to make your lids droopy and calm your mind – depending on what book you are reading.

Celebrate Book Lovers Day!

Reading is a good way to set one’s mind up for a good dream. I know that when I read a good book before bed, such as Harry Potter or other books of the sort, my mind travels to a different world, a world where anything is possible. I like to visit these worlds before I enter sleep because I like to fall asleep with a positive outlook on things. Reading before bed is entertaining and soothing, its the best of both worlds.

I also like to write before I go to sleep. Sometimes I stay up late at night writing stories on my laptop of scrawling poems into my notebooks while my favorite music plays. It helps me drift into another universe, one where I am in control. Writing can be a good thing before bedtime, no matter what you write about. You can make journal entries or work on that novel you keep telling yourself that your going to write one day. It is a good way to explore your deeper consciousness. It can be used as a way to heal the things inside of you, just like the best break up songs can help to heal the pain of the worst heartbreaks.

Finding an outlet is important for a lot of people. For me those outlets are reading, writing, and going to the gym. These activities just also happen to be beneficial in helping me fall asleep easily. I’m probably a disappointment to teens all over the globe, seeing as I go to bed before ten-o-clock, but it’s a good thing that I do because sleeping is also a very important outlet for me. It helps my mind recover from stressful things that linger inside of it, and it keeps me from digging my fingers into the eyes of dozens of people who make me angry throughout the coarse of a day. Enjoying the comfort of my own CozyPure bed and other bedding materials, and the comfort of my own bedroom (which, by the way, I am always decorating differently as yet another stress reliever) is surely something that keeps me sane.

So try out your own outlets and see what they might do for you. Try reading or writing before bed and listening to soothing music in the warm glow of a small lamp or a candle. It can only be for the best, so give it a try.

womeninbed

 

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Miscellaneous Natural Bedroom Organic Comfort Sleep Tips

Physiology of Sleep

The relation between sleep deprivation and weight gain is debatable, however there
is some science behind the concept of it. The important question everyone has been
asking since the beginning of sleep study is whether or not sleep has any
physiological effects. A recent study performed on rats in which the experimental
group went a substantial amount of time without sleep while the control group
received time to sleep indicated paramount conclusions. The results were clear:
sleep distress increased the likelihood of severe debilitation and even death in
those who were part of the experimental group, while the control group suffered
no consequences.

track athlete 
What is also significant about sleep studies is that after even one night of sleep
destitution one's ghrelin levels may rise. Ghrelin is a chemical produced to alert
us of whether or not we are hungry and need food. Reports show that after 3 nights
of sleep regulation (7 hours the first night, 4.5 hours the second night, and total
sleep restriction on the last night) men with a normal BMI stated that they felt a
remarkably stronger feeling of hunger. The science behind it cleared up that ghrelin
levels were indeed at a much higher percentage after sleep deprivation than after a
normal 7 - 8 hour rest period.
Whether or not comfort has an affect on ghrelin levels is unsettled. But comfort in
bedding material surely can help one fall asleep easier - and for all the right
reasons. While America once held the record as the most obese nation (only to be lost
to Mexico in March of 2013) it is still alarming the percentage of overweight adults
in the country (35.7% are obese.) These statistics could be correlated to the fact
that over the past few decades the average American is sleeping at least two hours
less than those who survived in the early to mid twentieth century.
Better amenity in sleeping hours can induce a deeper, more relaxed sleep which can
help in relieving one's body of grogginess and discomfort in the early morning hours.
While sleeping healthier stimulates the body's natural sleep cycle it will also reduce
stress levels which can eliminate unnecessary feelings of hunger and the need for oral
fixations such as smoking and drinking. Some research suggest that the time spent
sleeping and also the QUALITY of one's sleeping hours can actually affect weight LOSS!
This is because when a person gets the proper amount of rest their ghrelin levels
decrease while their leptin levels (which are produced in fat cells and send signals
to the brain alerting one that they are full) increase.

snuggle-up-comforter
Even though research on the correlation between sleep and weight loss is still up in
the air, many experts agree that if you are working on a diet, putting in a few extra
hours of sleep certainly will not hurt. Director of the Connecticut Center for sleep
medicine Dominic Roca says that "more and more data comes to the forefront to suggest
that you simply can't cut back on sleep without paying some price."

 


eric-SAT-picEric is currently a student and part-time team member for Norfolk, VA based business Organic Comfort Zone, manufacturers of CozyPure organic bedding and mattress. For more information visit organiccomfortzone.com or cozypure.com or call 757.480.8500.