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It’s probably true that getting enough sleep does help you think better and your brain probably thinks for you while you are sleeping. Here’s an interesting article about sleep and how your brain is still working while you are dozing off.

Dozens of intriguing studies over the past several years show clearly
that your brain is active—very active—during sleep. (Reference 1-7) It’s busy doing something miraculous, something that we can’t even come close to explaining.

Basically, your brain goes on automatic pilot. Without your being aware of it, something inside your head comes alive and starts mulling over all the things you learned that day. It sorts through them, organizes them, considers them, calculates them, decides what’s important and what’s not.

via smart-kit

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• Sleep before 12:00AM.

• When you get up, go walk, jog, or do some kind of exercise for just 10 minutes. When you do this, you will have a much more productive day as you warm up your body to get ready for the day.

• Get up at a regular time whether that be 5AM or 7AM even on weekends. By having a consistent wake up time, your body and mind will be more balanced and ready for anything.
• Try to sleep 5-6 hours for a month. This might be hard to at first, but once you get the hang of it, it will be piece of cake
• Think about early bird gets the fish…

And other helpful stuff for how to become an early riser:

• How to become an early riser via stevepavlina
• How to become an early riser via econsultant
• Comments from Become an early rise on 43 Things via 43things
• How to become an early riser via boingboing

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Yes, this might just be the cure for your sleeplessness, the Salmon Shaped Pillow!

For those who still look strange at this pillow I can confirm that this is a pillow and not a fish.I don’t know how many people would buy a pillow like this, but I a fish pillow like this would be very funny in a pillow fight I think.You can purchase it for $21 from here.

via freshome

Also check out:

• Smart Pillow that helps you sleep better
• Snoozer Body Pillows
• Better Sleep Pillow products

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• How to Sleep better via Boing Boing
• 10 Tips for Better Sleep via Bettersleep
• How to Sleep better via BBC
• Dr. Orman’s Guide to Better Sleep via stresscure
• Tips for sleeping faster and better via to-done

And make sure to check out how well these animals sleep together.

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Here’s a picture proving you need to wear something going to sleep just in case of fires…

via ugoto

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Here’s an interesting site that tell you which animal you are after answering 6 pages of questions.

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A lot of mis-happenings in the world could have been avoided if it wasn’t for lack of sleep…

People in many high stress professions—such as medicine, law enforcement, or the military—often have to make quick decisions when they’re not well rested. New research confirms what common sense has long held: People don’t do their best thinking when they’re sleep-deprived.

via epochtimes

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Home after a long day? Turn on the Tranquil Moments from Brookstone! With three different categories, each with four unique sounds to help you wind down, this just what you need after a rough day at work.

Sleep soundly with our amazing sleep sound machine!
Based on more than 23 years of scientific research, our Tranquil Moments Sound Therapy white noise machine is a natural sleep aid that will help you achieve deeper states of sleep, relaxation and renewal. This innovative sleep sound machine uses five nature soundscapes and seven engineered sounds developed by the Center of Neuroacoustic Research.

A Brookstone exclusive, our white noise machine works like a dream!
A great natural sleep aid, Tranquil Moments plays sounds based on Delta, Alpha, or Theta brainwaves—coaxing your brain to “match” these frequencies and enter healthier states of repose. Choose a range of relaxing sounds, from a summer chorus of crickets to authentic NASA recordings.

This little unit is dream come true for anyone that wants to be lulled to sleep! It’s got 30, 60, and even 90 minute timers so you don’t have to get up to shut it off. And to appease your bedmate, there is even a headphone jack so that you can listen without affecting them! BAM!

I especially like the quality of the recordings. Among the 12, “White Noise” and “Thunder Storm” are my favorites. For the campers out there, “White Noise” will make you feel like you just laid down in your sleeping bag after a great day of hiking and BBQ’s! The “Thunder Storm” gives you that wonderful feel of the distant rolling thunder….not the crashing thunder above your head, of course. Anyways, enjoy!

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Here’s an interesting site that has various sex positions illustrated using figures. Hilarious! (Not intended for anyone under 18 years of age!)

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Check out this REM graph for referencing how REM sleep works.

This is just a simple graph of the typical sleep cycle.I know this data is readily available, but it’s really nice to have it in a large, clean, graph format. Having this information really helps you know specifically when you should wake up, based on how long it takes to fall asleep. It should be noted however, that this chart is based on subjects that were not under the effects of any sleep altering substances, like alcohol.

via dailydeluge

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Here’s an interesting article that might help you sleep less and have more energy!

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Here’s a cool gadget that helps you relax and sleep better by letting you go to a virtual world spa. It creates special frequencies so your brain relaxes.

The MindSpa promises to help you deal with life’s daily stress relaxing you and helping you sleep better. Employing precise frequencies of oscillation light and calming tones, the portable gadget is supposed to guide the wearer toward inner peace. It has eight relaxation programs to choose from, and once I’m done chilling out, I could pick one of the four performance-enhancement programs to be more productive. With that thought in mind, I plugged in the “visual simulation” glasses and put on the headphones.

[via] blog.scifi.com

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Here’s a Smart Pillow being developed in Japan to analyze your sleep and make you sleep better.

It is a well known fact that whatever may be our busy work schedules and social commitments, we must get a good night’s sleep to keep us physically and mentally refreshed, as well to protect us from serious diseases. Keeping this in mind Lofty Japan in assistance with assistance from Professor Hideki Tanaka of the Hiroshima International University psychological department has launched an electronic pillow “Don’t you think?” which analyzes the sleep pattern and helps you to have a sound, healthy sleep.

[via] crave.cnet.com

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There are a lot of baby monitoring devices out there today.
Here’s one cool baby monitor to watch and hear your baby sleep from anywhere within your house.

Techwall Electronics manufactures this enhanced baby monitor equipped with a audio and video monitoring that allows the parents to watch/hear their kid. I love the colorful design and the camera is well integrated in the device, giving it a fun cartoon character look. Most baby monitors do not have a camera and the one with it have a boring design in general. It is already distributed in Europe and Techwall Electronics is looking for a distributor for the US. Denis, you have to get this!

via ubergizmo

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Here’s a comic strip by Rimfrost that reminds me of my sleepless nights during college days.

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Check out this site if you are really sleepless. Just count how many sheeps there are…
It might help if you are in bed right now…

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Here’s a cool Sleep O-meter for all you late night stumblers. Sleep and come back to Sleepzine tomorrow!

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Okay, this alarm clock robot will actually be a good addition for your bedroom for a nice little modern look and it can hold pictures of your loved ones. (No, the robot will not pinch you, that was just a joke… )

Bend him, twist him, twirl him, or just strike a pose. Bhender, as we would like to call him, is a flexible robot clock perfect as a desk companion. His arms and legs can be bent to any position and his hands are mini alligator clips to hold up notes, photos or messages. His head is a mini analogue alarm clock to remind you when it’s time for lunch!

via gizmodo

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Check out this site with some great ways of sleeping at work!

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Sleeping on the job is always a big no-no! Here’s a little of what would happen if a policeman goes to sleep during work…

If that’s not enough, check out senator McCain falling asleep during State of the Union.

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Watch this funny cat who looks almost dead and come alive at the end of the video and starts biting the owner.

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What is polyphasic sleep? Well, according to Wikipedia,

Polyphasic sleep is a sleep pattern intended to reduce sleep time to 2–5 hours daily. This is achieved by spreading out sleep into short naps of around 20–45 minutes throughout the day.

Facinating, isn’t it? Here’s a guy who’s trying it right now:

I’m starting this polyphasic sleep schedule today, so last night was my last night of “normal” sleep for a while. I still got up at 5am this morning, and then I’ll begin doing the naps every 4 hours starting this afternoon. I’ll use a countdown timer alarm set for 30 minutes, so I won’t oversleep. I’ve decided that my sleep times will be 1am, 5am, 9am, 1pm, 5pm, and 9pm. I aim to continue at least until Halloween… or death, whichever comes first. If it seems to be going well and I retain basic functionality, then I’ll decide whether I want to continue with it.

Remember, if you have an irregular schedule or work on and off, this polyphasic sleep might just do the trick for your sleeping.

Check out Uberman’s sleep schedule also, which seems to be a type of polyphasic sleep.

Picture via interactingarts

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Here’s a simple explanation for dark circles which are caused by lack of sleep.

The collagen in the skin under the eyes actually breakdown when we lack of sleep which makes the blood vessels more visible.

via mydarkcirclesblog

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Imagine waking up to these pranks!

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Do you ever wonder what women don’t want in bed?

Here’s a good list of what women don’t want in bed:

#1 My Man Won’t Discuss Sex With Me

#2 My Man Takes Everything I Say About Our Sex Lives As Criticism

#3 My Man Doesn’t Have Good Hygiene

#4 My Man Doesn’t Talk Enough During Sex

#5 My Man Doesn’t Make Enough Noise When He Finishes (Climaxes)

via associatedcontent

photo via istockphoto

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Yes, this is great for anyone who want to filter out background noise and listen to some wave sounds or birds but through my personal experience, it might be better to record some relaxing music on your MP3 or iPOD and listen to that instead. Probably will save you money too.

Having trouble getting a good night’s sleep because of all the noise in or outside your home? Noise no more with this little dynamo, the sleep sound generator from the fine folks at the Sharper Image.

Knock out those annoying pets, trains, or buses as you enjoy the soothing sounds of the sleep sound generator. Also a great deal for traveler’s who need to mask hotel sounds and get a great night’s sleep.

via wiredhome-weblog

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Cool video of “Talking in your sleep” from 1984.

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Check out this guy taking a video of his wife sleep talking…Hilarious.

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Cute Kitty going to sleep…

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Here’s Dane Cook comedian on sleep talking.

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Check out this funny video of some guys lip-syncing animes…

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Check out this video of dogs and cats sleeping, hilarious!

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Here’s Top 10 List of most annoying alarm clocks in the world. The one pictured above can be activated by pulling out the grenade pin and throwing it in the sleeper’s room. Although it doens’t actually blow up, the grenade alarm clock will make loud noises that forces your enemy (target sleeper) to wake up and turn off the alarm clock.

via uberreview

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Here’s an interesting article on bedtime body language.

A man’s favorite sleep position — which reflects the type of partner he’ll be — is generally the one he assumes right before he nods off. “That’s the strongest indicator because it’s the one he innately feels most comfortable in,” says Samuel Dunkell, M.D., director of Insomnia Medical Services in New York City, who studies the link between sleep positions and personality.

via ivillage

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The monkey sleeping here looks so human…

via kaax

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Here’s an alarm clock that might work for some of you Matrix-generation folks.

Light Sleeper is an illuminating, personalised alarm integrated into bedding that gently wakes in the most natural way. Ever since the beginning of time light has controlled our body clock telling us when to sleep and when to wake. As lifestyles are rapidly changing with increased travel and demands on our time, people’s natural body clocks are out of sync. This pillow and duvet simulates a natural dawn that eases you into your day. LightSleeper Bedding uses electroluminescent technology allowing traditional textile surfaces to become a reactive light source.

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via flickr

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Check out the many ways of sleeping including the one above. (which seems like just drunken sleep…)

 via bookofsleep

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Wow, cool… cat’s sleeping now, don’t bother him…

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Check out this list of 40 facts about sleep after the jump:

-The record for the longest period without sleep is 18 days, 21 hours, 40 minutes during a rocking chair marathon. The record holder reported hallucinations, paranoia, blurred vision, slurred speech and memory and concentration lapses.

- It’s impossible to tell if someone is really awake without close medical supervision. People can take cat naps with their eyes open without even being aware of it.

- Anything less than five minutes to fall asleep at night means you’re sleep deprived. The ideal is between 10 and 15 minutes, meaning you’re still tired enough to sleep deeply, but not so exhausted you feel sleepy by day.

- A new baby typically results in 400-750 hours lost sleep for parents in the first year

- One of the best predictors of insomnia later in life is the development of bad habits from having sleep disturbed by young children.

- The continuous brain recordings that led to the discovery of REM (rapid eye-movement) sleep were not done until 1953, partly because the scientists involved were concerned about wasting paper.

- REM sleep occurs in bursts totalling about 2 hours a night, usually beginning about 90 minutes after falling asleep.

- Dreams, once thought to occur only during REM sleep, also occur (but to a lesser extent) in non-REM sleep phases. It’s possible there may not be a single moment of our sleep when we are actually dreamless.

- REM dreams are characterised by bizarre plots, but non-REM dreams are repetitive and thought-like, with little imagery – obsessively returning to a suspicion you left your mobile phone somewhere, for example.

- Certain types of eye movements during REM sleep correspond to specific movements in dreams, suggesting at least part of the dreaming process is analagous to watching a film

- No-one knows for sure if other species dream but some do have sleep cycles similar to humans.

- Elephants sleep standing up during non-REM sleep, but lie down for REM sleep.

- Some scientists believe we dream to fix experiences in long-term memory, that is, we dream about things worth remembering. Others reckon we dream about things worth forgetting – to eliminate overlapping memories that would otherwise clog up our brains.

- Dreams may not serve any purpose at all but be merely a meaningless byproduct of two evolutionary adaptations – sleep and consciousness.

- REM sleep may help developing brains mature. Premature babies have 75 per cent REM sleep, 10 per cent more than full-term bubs. Similarly, a newborn kitten puppy rat or hampster experiences only REM sleep, while a newborn guinea pig (which is much more developed at birth) has almost no REM sleep at all.

- Scientists have not been able to explain a 1998 study showing a bright light shone on the backs of human knees can reset the brain’s sleep-wake clock.

- British Ministry of Defence researchers have been able to reset soldiers’ body clocks so they can go without sleep for up to 36 hrs. Tiny optical fibres embedded in special spectacles project a ring of bright white light (with a spectrum identical to a sunrise) around the edge of soldiers’ retinas, fooling them into thinking they have just woken up. The system was first used on US pilots during the bombing of Kosovo.

- Seventeen hours of sustained wakefulness leads to a decrease in performance equivalent to a blood alcohol-level of 0.05%.

- The 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill off Alaska, the Challenger space shuttle disaster and the Chernobyl nuclear accident have all been attributed to human errors in which sleep-deprivation played a role.

- The NRMA estimates fatigue is involved in one in 6 fatal road accidents.

- Exposure to noise at night can suppress immune function even if the sleeper doesn’t wake. Unfamiliar noise, and noise during the first and last two hours of sleep, has the greatest disruptive effect on the sleep cycle.

- The “natural alarm clock” which enables some people to wake up more or less when they want to is caused by a burst of the stress hormone adrenocorticotropin. Researchers say this reflects an unconscious anticipation of the stress of waking up.

- Some sleeping tablets, such as barbiturates suppress REM sleep, which can be harmful over a long period.

- In insomnia following bereavement, sleeping pills can disrupt grieving.

- Tiny luminous rays from a digital alarm clock can be enough to disrupt the sleep cycle even if you do not fully wake. The light turns off a “neural switch” in the brain, causing levels of a key sleep chemical to decline within minutes.

- To drop off we must cool off; body temperature and the brain’s sleep-wake cycle are closely linked. That’s why hot summer nights can cause a restless sleep. The blood flow mechanism that transfers core body heat to the skin works best between 18 and 30 degrees. But later in life, the comfort zone shrinks to between 23 and 25 degrees – one reason why older people have more sleep disorders.

- A night on the grog will help you get to sleep but it will be a light slumber and you won’t dream much.

- After five nights of partial sleep deprivation, three drinks will have the same effect on your body as six would when you’ve slept enough.

- Humans sleep on average around three hours less than other primates like chimps, rhesus monkeys, squirrel monkeys and baboons, all of whom sleep for 10 hours.

- Ducks at risk of attack by predators are able to balance the need for sleep and survival, keeping one half of the brain awake while the other slips into sleep mode.

- Ten per cent of snorers have sleep apnoea, a disorder which causes sufferers to stop breathing up to 300 times a night and significantly increases the risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke.

- Snoring occurs only in non-REM sleep

- Teenagers need as much sleep as small children (about 10 hrs) while those over 65 need the least of all (about six hours). For the average adult aged 25-55, eight hours is considered optimal

- Some studies suggest women need up to an hour’s extra sleep a night compared to men, and not getting it may be one reason women are much more susceptible to depression than men.

- Feeling tired can feel normal after a short time. Those deliberately deprived of sleep for research initially noticed greatly the effects on their alertness, mood and physical performance, but the awareness dropped off after the first few days.

- Diaries from the pre-electric-light-globe Victorian era show adults slept nine to 10 hours a night with periods of rest changing with the seasons in line with sunrise and sunsets.

- Most of what we know about sleep we’ve learned in the past 25 years.

- As a group, 18 to 24 year-olds deprived of sleep suffer more from impaired performance than older adults.

- Experts say one of the most alluring sleep distractions is the 24-hour accessibility of the internet.

- The extra-hour of sleep received when clocks are put back at the start of daylight in Canada has been found to coincide with a fall in the number of road accidents.

via abc.net

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Lucid dreaming is when you know you are dreaming inside a dream. I am sure many of you have had that experience before. There are ways to increase your chances of having a Lucid dream. Wikipedia has a good list of induction methods for lucid dreaming including these:

• Fall asleep while focused on your intention to remember that you’re dreaming.
• Let yourself genuinely believe that you’ll become lucid—without intending to become lucid—so that you really will.
• Keep your consciousness while falling asleep and go straight into a dream.
• Wake after some sleep and then return to bed.
• By repetitive visualisation, incubate a dream in which you do a reality check.

I’ve personally have been successful by watching my hand and telling myself, “Am I dreaming?”, to associate my hand with that sentence.  Since hand is used often, I can remind myself once I start dreaming.

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Although this(Bush) goes against our website views and what not, it has some interesting articles on how to maximize use of your time and become an early riser.

Check out:

• How to Become an Early Riser
• How to Become an Early Riser II

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They look so happy together…and peaceful.

via padrebergamaschi

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Well, I guess the twitch that people do (including myself) right after falling asleep is perfectly normal according to some researchers.

This strange falling sensation and muscle twitch is known as a hypnagogic myoclonic twitch or “Hypnic jerk” If this has happened to you on more than one occasion, don’t worry, you are not alone. Close to 70 percent of all people experience this phenomenon just after nodding off, according to a recent study at the Mayo Clinic.

Most experts agree that this is a natural part of the sleeping process, much like slower breathing and a reduced heartbeat. The occurance is well known and has been well documented. However, experts are still not completely sure why the body does this.

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Sleepwalking, why do people do it? Personally, I have sleepwalked in the past. I had just flown once around the world and my body was so tired that it must have decided to go on its own. At least that is better than this Chef who sleepwalks and “cooks”, that is scary.

Here’s some interesting facts:

Rab Wood, from Glenrothes in Fife, is worried that he could burn his house down during his sleepwalking sessions.

The 55-year-old, who has been sleepwalking since he was 14 years old, said it is making his life a misery.

His wife Eleanor said she is constantly alert at night with worry about what her husband is going to do next.

It has been estimated that between two and 4% of adults in the UK sleepwalk. Experts at the Edinburgh Sleep Centre have said that if both parents sleepwalk then their children have a 60% chance of inheriting the disorder.

Children with one parent who sleepwalks have a 45% chance of it running in their genes while there is a 22% chance if neither parent sleepwalks.

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Bed Jumping can help you to be healthier and get to bed better. By exercising you limbs jumping up and down your mattress, you will raise your heart-beat a little and be able to go to sleep easier too.

Check out these funny pictures of bed jumpers. I am sure you have one too. Send it to us at bed@bedzine.com if you’d like to be featured on Bedzine.com.

via bedzine

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Wikipedia has a nice description of sleep paralysis:

a condition characterized by temporary paralysis of the body shortly after waking up (known as hypnopompic paralysis) or, less often, shortly before falling asleep (known as hypnagogic paralysis)

Stanford University has a nice definition of sleep paralysis too.

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Here’s an interesting article about how sleep can make your children more healthier and slimmer.

They found that children who get more sleep tend to have a lower body mass index (BMI, a ratio of weight to height) and are less likely to be overweight five years later, than kids who get less sleep.

Sleeping an extra hour a night reduced the chance of being overweight from 36 percent to 30 percent in young children, and from 34 percent to 30 percent in older children.

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Here’s a shirt you can get if you love sleeping…

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