insomnia – Wellness Focus

The Worst Sleeping Positions

The average human spends around 1/3 of his or her life sleeping. Sleep is the time when our body regenerates, and in the case of your muscles and bones, realign and rest in preparation for the new day.

That’s where things go wrong. Because of habit, environment, or other physical factors, many of us choose sleeping positions that actually contribute to stress and strain on our muscles, particularly in the upper body.

“Eighty percent of the population will have back problems at some point in [their] lives oftentimes caused or aggravated by the way they sleep,” Dr. Hooman Melamed, an orthopedic spine surgeon at the DISC Sports & Spine Center in Los Angeles, Calif.,

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Take Control of Joint and Muscle Pain

For many people, joint pain and muscle stiffness are a daily nuisance. Joints in the hands, wrists and feet get stiff and sometimes painful to move. Sometimes it’s hard to get up out of a chair or button a shirt. Or you might have a nagging lower back ache, or that shoulder that just won’t relax. The good news is that relief may come from something you may have never considered–massage.

What’s the cause?

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The Parenthood Challenge

It’s not as easy as everyone thinks to be SUPERMOM or AWESOMEDAD. You carry all the weight of your family–and that can take it’s toll over time.

Nobody has to tell you that parenthood is both the best job in the world, and the hardest. If you are a parent, you know it’s a roller-coaster ride of priceless moments countered by emotional challenges too intense even for today’s reality shows. But somehow, you do it.

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Wellness Check Up

It’s good to stop and take a look at yourself now and then. In addition to the good things in life, we all get a few challenges. Sometimes you get injured. Sometimes you become ill. Sometimes your work, your family and your relationships cause you stress. Sometimes your muscles ache. And sometimes, you are just tired and need a break from your insane schedule. There’s a growing base of research that suggests that regular massage can have a profound positive effect on most of the challenges you face.

Take a look at this list of common wellness issues and check any and all that apply to you, then check the list below to see how you can more toward more wellness:

___ I am under stress from a relationship, from work, or just life in general.

___ I am very active and sometimes experience aches and pains

___ I am not as active as I should be and sometimes experience stiffness and soreness

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Massage for Insomnia

Disrupted sleep patterns happen to everyone at one time or another because of temporary factors, like a snoring partner or medication. Unfortunately, there are other factors, like stress, that can cause sleep patterns to disrupt, sometimes over a long time.

The typical adult needs slightly more than 8 hours of sleep every day, but fewer than 35% of American adults get this level of rest. Actual insomnia is defined as difficulty initiating, or maintaining sleep 3 or more nights in a week, in addition to sleep related daytime impairment. Typically, someone with insomnia feels unrefreshed when they wake, can’t get to sleep despite being really tired, has daytime drowsiness or fatigue, sometimes has difficulty concentrating, sometimes gets headaches.

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Lavender Helps You Sleep

Lavender is a flowering plant that grows natively in the Mediterranean, but can now be found in the US, Australia and most of Europe. It’s a shub with a woody stalk and small light blue or purple flowers.

The fragrance is found in air fresheners, lotions, body washes, potpourris, perfumes and just about everything that’s scented. The essential oils in lavender are great for many things, from reducing stress and anxiety, to curbing post-op pain.

It can also help you sleep. When essential oils are inhaled, the compounds will relax you and promote calmness, which helps you sleep more easily. While it’s not a cure for insomnia, lavender can certainly help. SVMTG sells 100% pure essential oils like lavender and special aromatherapy diffusers to make sure the essence stays where you want it. Try it and rest!

Can Massage Help You Sleep Better?

Insomnia isn’t an illness but a symptom. To find the best way to fix your sleep problems, you have to look for the underlying causes. If your insomnia is chronic, you should start with a trip to your physician to eliminate any actual medical conditions. If there’s no pathology that’s keeping you awake, you can try natural methods like herbs, vitamins and minerals, aromatherapy, regular planned exercise and stress management courses. But the best option yet may be massage.

For many, sleeplessness comes from physical issues like muscle pain, arm or hand numbness, neck or back pain, spasms and cramps and restless leg syndrome. For others, it’s difficult to quiet the mind and release the day’s stress. That’s where massage comes in – helping both physical issues and relaxing and de-stressing you to the point where sleep comes easier. Hundreds of our clients have reported better sleep resulting from their time with us.

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