sleeping bats

Sometimes when I want to crank my brain power up to high, I’ll change my work schedule. For instance, I’m definitely a morning person. But if I’m in a creative rut, I’ll take a project that requires me to work at night. Even overnight.

It’s a risk I’m willing to take, for a short amount of time. Very short.

In the past, the strategy has given my creativity a little wake-up call, so to speak. Of course, it also blows up my sleep schedule, too.

But sometimes this could be  good thing.

Ever hear of polyphasic sleep? Some people go to sleep more than once in a 24-hour period, taking incredibly short naps in order to actually get more time awake. Babies do it, older people do it. It can be a great strategy for people confronted with extreme situations, such as fighting in a war.

A few bloggers have been known to do it, just to blog about it.

You won’t know how your system reacts to it unless you try it. Most likely, you won’t want to make a lifestyle out of it, but it can be helpful in situations where you can’t avoid sleep deprivation.

Photo Credit:  YuvalH

In addition to writing about sleep, I also write about wellness for iHealthBlogs. While writing about the sense of smell and memory, I came across an article about how scents can improve memory during a good night’s sleep.

Not only can scent help to improve memory, but Robert Stickgold, a Harvard University psychiatrist interviewed in the article, comments that a recent study “shows not only that sleep is important for declarative memory, but also allows us to look at exactly when and how this process might happen.”

Researchers used the scent of rose in this particular study, which the participants had no memory of smelling, interestingly. Their memory recall scores were near perfect after they smelled roses during sleep; not so effective before sleep.

Perhaps not so effective during sleep, either.

What’s up with the scent of rose? Could a lavender scent have contributed to the same result? No information is shared about why the researchers chose a rose scent.

However, the scent of rose is apparently associated with improving memory, especially when used during key periods of sleep. Yet some research does support the proper use of any scent during sleep to improve memory.

There’s the rub (pun intended, I guess). How do you get the right burst of scent at the right time while you’re sleeping? Seems like a job for pillow designers, n’est pas?

In any case, if you want to improve your memory, try doing it in your sleep. And a little scent of rose on your pillow may help.

Photo Credit: Nieve44/La Luz

Recently I was reading an article from United Press International about the findings of a study conducted by the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) exploring the effect of blue light on a person’s circadian  rhythms, and how it relates to better sleep.

RPI is located in Troy, NY. I used to live in that area. Guess I was first attracted to the “Troy, NY” locater on the story. Little did I know how age affects the way our eyes see light, enough to possibly cause changes in the quality of our sleep.

The researchers used a “personal light-treatment device” to shine a particular blue light in the study participants’ eyes – for 90 minutes at a time.

I don’t know. Would you do all that work for a better night’s sleep?

I have sleep apnea and wear a mask attached to a machine to help me keep breathing at night. Whenever I move, I also have to move the mask, and the tube around me, so I’m not laying on top of it. I drag the entire contraption on airplanes with me; anywhere I go, it goes. Guess it’s a little work for a good night’s sleep.

So a 90-minute light therapy session – before bed – wouldn’t be all that bad.

But who knew we had something called “nocturnal melatonin?”

They didn’t tell me that after my sleep studies.

Anyway, if you’re older or have a sedentary lifestyle and don’t get enough exposure to this kind of light, who knows. A personal blue light stimulus device could help with sleep.

Photo Credit: Quique López

There’s an empathizing article in the May/June issue of Spirituality & Health about why we sleep. Written by Jill Neimark, a writer who contributes the Open Mind, Open Heart column to the magazine, the article documents her first-ever bout with insomnia and what she learned while dealing with it.

One of the things she says: “If you can’t sleep, you look for someone or something to blame.” Jill targeted her boyfriend and her bed, of all things. She devotes an entire page to the anatomy of her bed.

This fascinates me.

She ends up with a wool-filled futon covered by an organic cotton cover by Surround Ewe Sleep Systems. She added a wool felt from Shepherd’s Dream.

Her new bed definitely helps her resume her normal good night’s rest. But after her seven-month ordeal with sleeplessness, her revelations about what we need to know about sleep are perceptive and profound.

Spirituality & Health just recently upgraded its website, so I hope this article is available online soon. If not, consider subscribing to it, or at least to their new newsletter (upper right-hand corner of the home page).

I look forward to reading every issue, whether I’m sleepless or not.

Janet Muniz

Photo Credit: jayceh

If you’re a light sensitive sleeper, one of our readers suggests this no-drug “assistant” for restful sleep: Blackout curtains.

This solution is great for those who live in areas of the world where the spring and summer days a long, like in the northwestern part of the United States. Not to mention photographers.

For instance, my husband keeps a very early work schedule, rising at 4:00 A.M. He needs to get to bed about 8:00 P.M. and the spring and summer sun is still shining then in Idaho (he’s a photographer, too).

For those who travel check out portable blackout curtains.

Not only can blackout curtains help with sleep schedules, they have that environmentally-friendly cache many consumers are looking for these days. They can help you save on your heating and cooling bills.

I think they call that multi-tasking.

Janet Muniz

Photo Credit: Anderson Mancini

Mother Earth has a transition thing going on right now, and it may be affecting your good sleep.

Yep, it’s springtime. Re-birth. Day after day of weather extremes. Night after night of heat-on, heat-off, windows left open then closed tight, covers on, covers off. Perhaps the pajamas need to come off when laying your head to rest, only to need them in the wee hours of the morning when the outside temperature dips 30 degrees.

Not only that, you are probably enjoying spring’s days, too—getting out there, riding bikes, doing yard work, dusting the cobwebs off your fishing pole or hiking gear. Working up a sweat? For the first time since last fall?

It’s all about temperature, folks. And it’s a good time to pay attention to what your ideal temperature for a good night’s rest is, since Mother Nature is giving you so many options.

Janet Muniz

Photo Credit: kudumomo

Do you sleep alone or with a partner? Remember—this includes pets, and pillows!

I sleep with three other beings: my husband and my two cats. Yes, four of us share a king-sized bed with three pillows.

Please, somebody make a bed bigger than a king!

Sleeping alone lets a person move and position the body at will. There’s always room to toss, turn or stay still.

Sleeping with bedtime partners usually means you’re sharing space. Believe me, space is premium with kitties: the space right next to you, the space between humans; under the covers, on top of you—I experience it all. My human partner pretty much keeps to his own space—he is a very light sleeper. Even the sound of the cats purring can bother him. He’s prone to insomnia, too. He’s the one who uses the extra pillow—when our boy-cat isn’t already using it.

With his own sleep issues, it’s no wonder that is it my husband who alerted me to my sleep apnea. Totally freaked him out that I stop breathing during sleep.

I’m just lucky the sound of the CPAP machine doesn’t keep him awake. The kitties—they’re O.K. with it, too.

How do these circumstances affect the quality of my sleep? I need to be forceful sometimes with the cats. Their little bodies can constrict my space so much that I have trouble moving freely.

At first, I didn’t want to disturb them, so I’d contort in all these crazy ways to avoid it. Now, I make the kitties move out of the way of my restful sleep.

That’s working out pretty well, actually.

Janet Muniz

Photo Credit: soundfromwayout