Why Do Nightmares Happen?

We have all had them, those dreams in the middle of the night filled with terrifying images that haunt us and flood us with feelings of fear, anxiety, or sadness. Usually entailing some sort of dangerous situation such as falling or drowning, a frightening object or animal such as snakes or haunted houses, or even people that we know or demonic versions of them. Sometimes the nightmares can be mild and simple such as falling, that wake us up quickly. Other times, nightmares seem to be so vivid and real that they literally scare us even after we wake up. We learned long ago as children that these bad dreams were not really caused by the monsters in our closet, but exactly why do nightmares happen?

There are a variety of physical as well as psychological reason that nightmares occur. For example, having a high fever can cause a variety of nightmares. Sleeping in a place such as very tight quarters or low bunk beds, or in a position where are you facing a wall or laying into your pillow can often lead to dreams with a smothering or drowning theme as your respond to your environment subconsciously. Eating just before you go to sleep stimulates brain activity which can also cause a person to suffer from nightmares.

Stress is another major factor in nightmares. Just as stress can manifest itself in physical ways, your dreams, too, are affected by the levels of stress in your life, often leading to nightmares. Particularly nightmares that have a sense of failure, of being pursued by an enemy, of being captured, or unjustly persecuted can be a result of stress. All of these things, some believe, are manifestations of the anxieties that the stress you encounter is placing upon you psychologically.

Other reasons why nightmares happen can be due to psychological issues such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or the stress of a recent disturbing experience in which the person keeps relieving the traumatic events in their sleep. Sometimes, nightmares appear in people who have blocked traumatic events from their conscious memory, but because events of your past are always present in your subconscious they at times can manifest themselves in nightmares.

Whatever may be the underlying reason why nightmares happen, there are a few things that you can do to help minimize the occurrence of these negative dreams. Being calm and sleeping in a relaxing atmosphere can help ease anxiety or stress that you may be experience throughout the day to help keep that stress from entering into your sleep. Taking a relaxing bath before bed, spraying your sheets with aromatherapy mist to sooth you as you sleep, and using natural sounds, such as calming waves, to help drown out street noise can all help you to create a peaceful place for you to sleep.

If you have nightmares that are frequent and reoccurring that interfere with your quality of sleep or prevent you from getting an adequate amount of sleep, then speak with a health care provider to discuss other options.

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Can't Sleep? 5 Simple Ways to Help You Beat Insomnia

Are you like thousands of people who can't sleep? Or do you seem to have trouble get a full night of restful sleep and you keep waking up in the middle of the night? Here are some simple tips and tricks to help you beat insomnia and get the sleep you have been missing.

Insomnia Buster # 1: Creating the Right Atmosphere

Being comfortable and free of distractions is one of the first steps in securing a good night's sleep. Keeping your sleeping area cool, dark, and as free from noise as possible will create an environment conducive to sleep. Do not fall asleep with the television or radio on either as it will only distract you and will likely wake you during the night.

Insomnia Buster # 2: Avoid Stimulates Before Bed

Many people know that drinking coffee before bed is a big no no; however, they over look the caffeine that can be found in other sources such as soda, some teas, and chocolate. Often these items are not only loaded with caffeine but contain tons of sugar as well. Avoid these items and instead substitute decaffeinated and low sugar alternatives.

Insomnia Buster # 3: Drink Your Tea

Some herbal teas, such as chamomile, can be a great addition to your night time routine. Chamomile is a natural way to help settle your nerves and to relax so that you can peacefully drift off to sleep. And if tea is not quite your thing, do not worry; they make great supplements that you can take to get the effects of chamomile for people who can't sleep but do not like tea.

Insomnia Buster # 4: Aromatherapy

Aromatherapy is a great, natural way to help you beat those insomnia blues. Aromatherapy utilizes the scents of natural oils to help you achieve a desired effect. In this case, essential oils such as Lavender can help to relax and prepare you for sleep. And there are so many great ways to enjoy aromatherapy from bath oils in a nice soothing bath, or wonderful sleeping mist sprays that you can spray you sheets with before you go to bed that surround you with the calming scent to soothe you off to sleep. So if you can't sleep, try one of these great aromatherapy products.

Insomnia Buster # 5: Eat a Balanced Diet

It might surprise you, but what you eat might be one reason as to why you can't sleep. A poor diet can lead to heart burn, indigestion, and a ton of other health problems that can be getting a good night's sleep difficult. Easting a healthy, well balanced diet will improve your over all health which can help to eliminate some of the pesky problems that keep you awake at night.

There are five very simple tricks that can help you sleep better. However if you can't sleep for prolonged periods of time or have other symptoms accompanying your restlessness, be sure to speak with your health care provider as these could be signs of a health problem or serious condition. And if you are on medication or are pregnant, be sure to consult your doctor before trying any herbal remedy as some, such as chamomile, may not be recommended.

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Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and How It Can Effect Sleep

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a type of anxiety disorder that is induced in an individual after they have suffered from an experience that is psychologically traumatizing. Often associated with soldiers and returning vets and thought of as “shell shock” in the past, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is not isolated to just participants or victims of war. The types of events that can trigger the onset of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder can include physical, life threatening injuries, witnessing loss of life particularly that of a friend of loved one, near death experiences, threats to your own life or to the life or well being of another, or extreme emotionally terrifying or traumatizing episodes such as becoming a hostage, being abused or tortured, etc., and traumatic episodes such as a near fatal car crash or explosion. Unfortunately, these types of events are not isolated only to war zones which means that anyone may suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, even in the civilian population.

Like most anxiety and stress related disorders, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder interferes with a patient's sleep habits. In fact, the inability to fall asleep, difficulty sleeping through the night and reoccurring nightmares are some of the bench mark symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The physical problems that are associated with the disorder including pain that can be light or severe and chronic, trouble with the stomach and digestive system, and headaches can also make sleeping difficult. Flashbacks and reoccurring thoughts can also make it difficult for you to switch your mind off of the memories of the traumatic event and make it difficult to shut your brain down so that you can fall asleep. Hearing things can also interfere with a full nights sleep since patients with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder are often hyper alert to their surroundings making any background noise, such as a tv or radio, a distraction making it hard for you to fall asleep or can wake you up in the middle of the night.

For some patients, they are able to deal with this through therapy and using meditation and other stress relieving techniques, natural herbal aids such as chamomile tea, and aromatherapy used as essential oils or in sleep aiding sprays that you apply to your bed linens before bed to help them relax and get a good night's sleep. For other patients, more intense treatments are required which may involve intense psychotherapy or even medication. So if you or a loved one is suffering from the effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, speak to your care giver right away to explore the best options for you.

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$300 to $500 Corporate Gifts - Is A Bigger Incentive The Key?

How many people do you know that were born with a silver spoon in their mouth?  If I had to guess, I would say not many.  Sure, there are some rich folk that decide to go to work out of sheer boredom, but as for the rest of us we go to work out of necessity.  We have to pay for such things as a mortgage or rent, food, utilities and kid’s activities.  As a result, every Monday morning we have a strong desire to call in sick because we are in fact “sick” of our jobs.

This is where the idea of corporate incentive gifts comes in.

Remember in school when the teacher would bust out candy and suddenly the whole class would be trying to get the right answer? This is the same idea. Even a small gift incentive can bring a new feel to the workplace and reignite people's motivation.

One advantage of having an ongoing gift incentive program is that you can adjust it to the company's current needs. For example, if the worker's seem to be slacking in one area one month, you can reward people for improving in that specific area. The next month, since the previous problem is fixed, focus on a new area. This specific approach can help motivate people more than just general pay for general work.

It's also good because you can reward little things that wouldn't necessarily merit a raise or bonus. Remember, the bigger the reward the harder they will work. Giving out little things like pens and mugs won't do much, but when the gift is in the $300 to $500 range, people become more motivated.

So now the question is of what the incentive should be. There are two different ways to approach this. The first way is to offer the same incentive to everyone. When using this method, it is best not to offer one incentive for the men and another for the women. Even though this will most likely cater more to the employees' tastes, some may see it as discriminatory. This can be more difficult when offering more expensive gifts, because general gifts tend to be cheaper.

One way to solve this is to use approach number two. With this approach, a point system is needed. Fortunately, there are websites created exactly for this purpose. Each employee will have a profile in which they can keep track of the points they earn. Depending on the number of points they have, they can choose from a variety of gifts on the website. This way, you can include more specific gifts while still making everything available to everyone.

On top of having a gift incentive program, remember to always take care of your employees. Take steps to ensure they are eating right and sleeping well, so that they will be healthy and able to perform at their best.

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