Green Options

The health benefits of honey are many and well-known.  From skin cleanser to antibiotic, cough suppressant, allergy relief to just plain old sweetener, honey can do it all.  But can it help you sleep?  Some studies are suggesting that it can.

I have to credit my sister-in-law for this one.  She’s a recent convert to “all things natural” and is [...]

Most of us have experienced a sleepless night, spent tossing and turning, begging sleep to come. A night or two of lost sleep, though not ideal, shouldn’t have any major affect on your health. When one sleepless night turns into several in a row, you may be facing a sleep problem. Several nights of missed sleep can affect your emotional and physical wellbeing. Insomnia can affect everything from your productivity to your relationships. If you have difficulties falling asleep or staying asleep, without a medical condition causing this, there are many natural ways to begin to alleviate this problem without prescription medication.

Editor’s Note: This is a contribution from one our content partners, Divine Caroline.

By Ransom Riggs of Mental Floss for DivineCaroline.com

Birds do it, bees do it (we think), even educated monkeys do it. So let’s do it, people. Let’s fall asleep. We’ve talked about the whys of taking naps before—they improve mood, creativity, memory function, heart health, and so much else—but never, to my knowledge, have we discussed how to take a nap. In fact, whenever we write about naps, we always get a few comments from people claiming they’re unable to nap during the day; they just can’t fall asleep, or when they do nap, they wake up groggy and unable to work. In that case, read on, my sleepy friends.

1. The first thing you should know is, feeling sleepy in the afternoon is normal.

It doesn’t mean you had a big lunch, or that you’re depressed, or you’re not getting enough exercise. That’s just how animals’ cycles work—every 24 hours, we have two periods of intense sleepiness. One is typically in the wee hours of the night, from about 2 a.m. to 4 a.m., and the other is around 10 hours later, between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. If you’re a night owl and wake up later in the morning, that afternoon sleepiness may come later; if you’re an early bird, it may come earlier. But it happens to everyone; we’re physiologically hardwired to nap.

Did you know that you can go green even while you sleep?

According to Furniture Today, the Specialty Sleep Association wants to set guidelines for how manufacturers market “green” mattresses and other natural sleep products.

The SSA said its ultimate goal is to create a certification program based on “existing legitimate standards” and programs as well as sleep industry-specific terms and standards for mattresses and bedding. Among other challenges, the

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Tired of being tired?  It tends to go with the season.  Everyone is still catching up from the holidays and getting ready for spring.  With work, school and social lives who has time for sleep?

With a little help, you can still look your best even if you are running on less than a full night.

We are doing our best to recycle or donate anything that is not coming with us on moving day. There is one thing we’ve been holding onto that not even our animal shelter will take: old pillows.

I am not a pillow expert. All I knew about pillows before today is that you’re supposed to change them regularly because of dust mites. (Yuck I saw that Oprah show.) During my research on how to recycle old pillows (make dog beds) I discovered that there are many eco-friendly pillows to choose from. The cool thing about eco-friendly pillows is that they are made from renewable resources and last much longer than cotton, polyester, and down filled ones (the kind I’m sending to the dump because there seems no alternative-sewing machine is packed). The uncool thing is the price. The investment for a full family will be substantial. Even the kiddy pillows are pricey. This brings me to the question of the day:

Is your child ready for an eco-friendly pillow?

Share the love! Give this affordable gift basket with everything needed for truly organic sex to some newlyweds!

Editor’s note: Today, we’re pleased to launch a new content partnership with daily email tip provider Vital Juice Daily, "your entertaining, uplifting, convenient (oh, did we mention free?), go-to-source for all things healthy and wellthy." Every Tuesday, we’ll publish a tip from VJD, and tomorrow, we’ll start featuring "Ask VJD," their health and wellth advice column. Today’s tip was originally published on August 31, 2007.

Considering we spend 1/3 of our lives

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