Coffee Nap Anyone...?

What is a Coffee Nap. Basically it’s drinking your coffee quickly then taking a power nap… This gives the caffeine a chance to work, so after that power nap you are more alert. Don’t get me wrong I think it will still help to throw some cold water on your face when you wake up or even take a shower. These seem to be time tested helpers to wake you up. So don’t think you are going to jump out of bed ready to take on the world but it is something Japanesse researchers have found to be true.

All these new terms that are out there these days…tech neck, coffee nap, etc…

Additional Reading:

"Just Coffee, and lots of it"

Arc4life News

Coffee...A Nap...How about a Coffee Nap!



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Healthy Seeds You May Have Heard About, But Are Still A Big Question Mark...

Healthy seeds:

Chia seeds - these guys are everywhere now. Early civilizations knew some of the great benefits, such as high fiber and protein. Theses guys are also great energy boosters. To eat them, just sprinkle over what your eating. I put a couple table spoons in a protein shake I make.

My mother-in-law gave us a couple different kinds, one was black and white, one was blackish. I've learned they may have slightly different qualities but very similar.

Hemp seeds - I remember seeing Woody Harrelson taunting hemp at one time. They make clothes and everything else out of hemp but let's talk about the seeds.

Known as a "complete protein", these seeds can also be added to anything. Another great thing is that they taste good too. In fact, adding any of these seeds to your yogurt or oatmeal gives some nice flavor.

Flax seeds - definitely high in fiber and omega 3's. These little guys are also know to have a good amount of magnesium. Lastly, let's not for get about lignan content and all of their antioxidant qualities.

I've now seen these in a pill form or actually in a bottle (flax seed oil). Knowing this, you can actually pour the oil right into you shake or juice.


Additional Reading Resources:

• I want More Sleep!
• Arc4Life's Blog...
• I live outside the U.S.
• Relieving painful muscles at home with the Theracane Massager Trigger Point Tool
• Neck and Shoulder Pain

Visit Arc4life.com for your online selection of cervical support neck pillows, orthopedic pain relief products and Home traction units. Products for pain relief. Bookmark this on Delicious Stumble It!

Discover How You Can Finally Sleep Better!

Always an important subject: getting better sleep.  Besides using a good Lin. gravity neck pillow, this short video will help you get better sleep...




Additional Reading:

• Poor Sleep Is not Good For Brain Cells, Study Shows
• For the best sleep possible, get a stand up pillow
• What to do for a pinched nerve in the neck when you cannot sleep because of the pain
• Not Getting to Bed On Time...
• Sleeping Comfortably on Your Back

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A Poor Night’s Sleep Can Cause Much More Than A Sluggish Morning…

Scientists have discovered that sleep plays a big role in the body’s healing. More specifically: immune system functioning, memory, and your metabolism to name a few.

If your immune system isn’t functioning at its best that means you are leaving yourself open to many things; much worse than feeling sleepy…

Here’s one example, in a study by the Institute of National Health and Researchers from the Netherlands discovered that lack of sleep can equal a greater chance of cardiovascular disease.

Visit Arc4life.com for your online selection of cervical support neck pillows, orthopedic pain relief products and Home traction units. Products for pain relief.

Additional Reading Resources:

• The Arc4life Traction V Pillow Vs the Arc4life Linear Grav Pillow
• Remedy for a Stiff Neck
• Get a Better Sleep Regimen at Night
• Get healthier and happier by getting better sleep at night
• Numbness and Tingling at night

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The Traction Pillow is Two Pillows in One

Rotate the pillow for support and traction

As you can see from the pictures above one of its many features is that you can rotate the pillow and have something completely different to sleep on. The traction pillow is two pillows in one. The 1st picture is the traction side of the traction pillow. The next picture is the Linear Gravity side of the pillow. The actual full name is the Arc4life Cervical Linear Traction Neck Pillow.

• Arc4life Cervical Traction neck Pillow FAQ's
• Top 10 Factors To Consider when choosing a Neck Pillow
• Exercises for the Neck
• What is the Hump On My Neck?
• What is Tech Neck?

Visit Arc4life.com for your online selection of cervical support neck pillows, orthopedic pain relief products and Home traction units. Products for pain relief.

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Wishing Yourself a Good Night's Sleep

Arc4life's Tips for your Best Night’s Sleep 


Arc4life's Top Tips for Better Sleep



1. Spinal Alignment- the top thing we recommend is a neck pillow to keep your natural alignment. Not only will this improve your night’s sleep, but it will improve your neck posture and neck alignment when you are awake.
2. Make it dark. Studies have shown we get our proper REM sleep when we sleep in complete darkness. So, if the street lights shine in or all your electronics glow in the dark, get curtains and move the gadgets.
3. Put away your electronics. To continue on from the 2nd tip- Get rid of electronics in the bedroom. Not only do they often emit light, but studies are showing the electromagnetic waves or currents they give off can be harmful to your health.
4. Reduce Noise- if your partner keeps you up because of their snoring get them the traction pillow. If you have to, get earplugs. Mainly, I find lately too many of us have a TV going that we fall asleep to. This is not a great idea. The TV room is for TV, the bedroom is for sleeping.
5. Diet and exercise- do not eat or exercise too close to bed, or you will not sleep well. Preferably, you want to have down time or time to relax before bed, this calms your nerves allowing you to sleep and sleep better.
6. Make sure you are breathing well. You should be breathing in and out comfortably. If your partner notices your breathes are very shallow try to inhale, hold for a few seconds, and release. Do 10 reps before bed to get your breathing deeper before you fall asleep.

Additional Reading Resources

• Choosing the Best Neck Pillow Possible
• Sleep Like a Baby and Wake Up Feeling Refreshed
• More Help wwith sleeping through the night
• Which sleep position is best for you
• The Cervical traction neck pillow can help reduce snoring

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The Importance of using a Good Neck Pillow for Sleeping to Prevent Stiff Neck

Waking up with a stiff neck is not fun at all. It can only ruin a great day, but it can affect all the activities you planned for that day. One way to make sure you are getting the best nights sleep is to use a good cervical orthopedic neck support pillow. It can make a big difference and make sure that your neck is positioned correctly. Basically you want a neck pillow that will conform to the cervical spine shape: A C curve. This is the best sleeping position for your neck. The cervical traction neck pillow is an example of a great neck pillow for sleeping. It has two distinct sides to the pillow:

• Support Side of the pillow- support for the cervical spine and support for the neck muscles
  
• Traction Side of the pillow- this will give you a gentle stretch in your neck while you are sleeping. This is particularly good if you have arthritis of the neck, a disc herniation or bulge, or even stiffness of the neck muscles

With an effective neck pillow, you can experience a deep sound sleep because your body is able to relax. Muscle spasms are decreased because pressure is relieved when your head and neck are supported correctly. Blood flows better through relaxed muscles, thus enhancing circulation. A good neck pillow can even reduce snoring and allowing for easier breathing while sleeping because you air passages are unrestricted.

Enough cannot be said about using the right and correct neck pillow for sleeping at night. Check out Arc4life's Neck Pillow Reviews to help you choose the best neck pillow for sleeping.

Visit Arc4life.com for your online selection of cervical support neck pillows, orthopedic pain relief products and Home traction units



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Is a flat or fluffy pillow better for someone who has neck and shoulder pain?

A Flat pillow is not good, and too fluffy is not good either. You want to get a pillow that is going to give you proper support in your cervical spine when you sleep.The best suggestion would be to get a pillow that has a roll on it- that way you can support the head neck properly. Yes, these types of cervical pillows can take a while to get used to, but they are very effective. I am not a big fan of the temper pedic type pillows because they do not give you the proper support in your neck, plus they are temperature sensitive. I have used the cervical traction neck pillow from www.arc4life.com- its a good pillow- read their testimonials to see how people with different neck conditions have been helped.

I Cannot Fall Asleep at Night.....

If you are unable to fall asleep within 15-20 min of hitting the bed, you should get out of bed and do what you can to make yourself sleepy. Go read a book, do some activity (for example- crocheting) that won't over stimulate your mind. Staying in bed can make your over anxious, fustrated thereby prolonging your ability to fall asleep. There are actions that you can do to promote being able to fall asleep:

• Drinking a glass of warm milk can be helpful, because it contains tryptophan, an amino acid.
  
• Avoid having any caffeine in the 2nd half of the day
  
• Regular physical activity will help, but don't do it just before going to bed
  
• Do Relaxation techniques before going to bed
  
• Do some journal writing before going to bed. Sometimes we are unable to sleep because we cannot get certain things and ideas out of head. Write them down before going to bed, it can make a big difference and clear your head
  
• Avoid eating or drinking excessive water 2.5 hours before going to bed
  
• Avoid taking naps during the day
  

Some people can fall asleep so easily..for others it takes some time. It can fustrating especially because getting proper sleep at night determines how well we perform at our jobs, our alertness, our moods- so it is vitally important we do everything we can to get a good nights sleep.


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How much sleep is enough for me?

The simple answer to this question is, Are you a night owl or are you an early bird. Believe it or not, it has to do with genetics...and there are special clock genes that determine this. The average amount of sleep that an adult requires is between 7.5-8.5 hours per night. This number varies person to person. The amount of sleep that we require is determined by the following factors:

• amount of time spent awake
  
• genetic factors
  
• our age
  
• our circadian rhythm which starts the process of sleep

It is true, a newborn does just one of three things- they eat, they poop and they sleep. In fact, new born babies spend more than half of their time asleep. Over the first 5 years of life, the amount of sleep one requires goes down, and then again in the teenage years and finally when an individual turns age 50.


There are two types of people- the ones who like to stay up and then the ones who like to go to bed early. The “night owls” have a natural inclination to stay up late and function better in the latter part of the day. As opposed to the “early birds” who wake up early, go to bed early and function best in the beginning part of the day. Most people tend to fall in the middle of these two extremes. The differences are genetically caused – specifically by circadian genes.


Source: Sleep Your Questions Answered, April 2007 by Renata L. Riha, MD

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Get rid of the bags under your eyes from poor sleep

You wake up feeling groggy, tired and you look terrible. That is a definite truth that you don't look your best when you have'nt slept well. A lack of sleep means a change in metabolism similar to the changes that occur when one ages. As we get older, growth hormones play a very important role in how we look as we age.
Growth hormones are responsible for:

• Enhancing your immune response thereby allowing for greater resistance to disease and infection.
  
• Reducing body fat without dieting
  
• Increasing muscle mass with exercise
  
• Bolstering energy, strength, and stamina
  
• Improving bone density
  
• Improving skin tone
  
• Sharpened memory and heightened well-being
  

We should do everything we can to keep our growth hormones as high as possible and one method of doing that is to get adequate amount of sleep each night. The Growth Hormone has been called the Fountain of Youth- No doubt one simple way to get more of it is to sleep well.