After reading “Why Mom Wakes before Dad,” an article by LiveScience.com, I found that women have different circadian rhythms from men.  Researchers at Harvard Medical School headed up a study that looked at how easy it was for the participants to fall asleep and stay asleep.

Apparently, there are two indicators of circadian rhythm: core body temperature and levels of melatonin.  What I did not know was that the “natural circadian rhythm is reset daily by exposure to natural light.”  Perhaps, this is the reason why some people use black out curtains in their bedrooms.  I, personally, use a black out curtain in my bedroom because the light in the morning is so harsh and bright.  The curtain is especially useful on weekends when getting up early should be out of the question.  The thought also popped in my head that some people like to sleep with a fan constantly running while they sleep.  Maybe that contributes to the decrease in their core body temperature, therefore, allowing them to sleep better.

In the study, researchers found that about “35% of women had circadian rhythms shorter than 24 hours, compared to the 14% of men.”  I suppose this means that women need less sleep than men, according to the study.

There are many other factors that contribute to the way you sleep at night, however.  Some factors might be:

1. Having caffeine before you go to sleep at night
2. Your stress level
3. Types of food you’re eating
4. Comfort of your bed
5. Whether you’re hot or cold
6. Body pain
7. Etc.

I have heard that if you read a book or magazine before you go to sleep that it encourages your body to relax.  I always remember my grandmother drinking hot tea before going to sleep also.

What are some ways that you encourage your body to relax before you sleep?

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This is the last, Ladies and Gentlemen! The last part of How to Spring Clean Your Life. If you are just now joining us, you’ll want to go back to Part 1, 2, and 3. You don’t want to miss an area of your life in which you could totally re-vamp!

Our last section is our Environment. Specifically, I am talking about your home, apartment, condo, duplex, cardboard box…Wherever you call home. Your surrounding environment is extremely important and, believe it or not, contributes to your overall health and wellbeing. If you are surrounding yourself with so much clutter and “things,” you need to take a day or days, depending on how severe, and literally, Spring Clean your Home. Here’s a list of things you’ll want to drop off at your local Goodwill or Salvation Army:

1. Old books that you know are already gathering dust
2. Clothing that you haven’t worn in years
3. Clothing that still has the tags on it. If you haven’t worn it by now, then why did you buy it????
4. Shoes that are decades too old and unfashionable (then again, we might be biased because this is an Indulge blog, and, of course, we’re into the latest fashions)
5. CDs-Burn them to your computer, get rid of all of the cases and put into a larger CD case
6. Knick-Knacky stuff-Do you really need it sitting there collecting dust?
7. Comforters/Sheets-Get rid of the ones with holes or cut up to make dust cloths
8. Anything else that is junking up your home (Take an honest look around and tell yourself what purpose does that item serve)

Your home should be relaxing and inviting. Choose paint colors that are soothing and encourage relaxation. Hint: Vibrant red, black, orange, neon anything do not encourage relaxation (in fact, they up your pulse-constantly putting your subconscious mood in overdrive-It’s like starbucks double shots ’round the clock. No Beuno!).

Once your home is windexed, dusted, organized, de-junked, bleached, and washed, it will be the epitome of  “Homey”. When you can come home to a clean, well managed environment, you will be less stressed, and you will have created a home in which to relax and feel at ease (which is the whole real definition of Spring Cleaning).

So-Good Luck! Let me know how the minor Spring cleaning improvements have affected your life.

As always,

Live your life…FULL THROTTLE!

We continue our lesson on how to Spring Clean our messy lives with Part
3…devoted to Spirituality.

Now some of you will argue there isn’t a God, but whether or not you believe in a Higher Power, we all possess a certain level of spirituality.  If your spiritual cup is below empty you may be off balance in the rest of your life. Often seen as a spiritual pathway, immaterial, and unearthly, spirituality is a part of each and every one of us. You know those days when you feel off kilter, grumpy for no reason, and just indifferent to the world? We need to spring clean our spirituality to avoid those situations. Once our “spiritual center” is grounded either by attending church, meditation, yoga, prayer, or fasting, our balance returns and our overall wellbeing is improved. Our balancing scales in life are leveled out and we have less indifferent days. We become better aware of ourselves and our part in this whole world. So, get in better touch with your spiritual self and clear out, and find your inner peace. You’ll benefit not just on the inside, but everyone on the outside will notice a clear change in your attitude and outlook on life.

we continue our life cleaning path in tomorrow’s last and final post: Part 4…spring cleaning your environment

As always,

Live your life full throttle.