Old Wives Tales, Are They True?

"Mum always knows best", "Listen to what your Grandma says", and "These sayings all have a meaning". These are statement we heard when we were growing up. Let's take a look at some of them and see if there is any substance to their foundation;

Stop worrying or you will get ulcers - when you worry, chemicals are released into your stomach to burn up the food for energy to fight or flee. However, there is often no single cause of ulcers and, while worry certainly isn't the main contributor, it won't help.

It is always darkest before the dawn - often we are at our darkest point where nothing seems to be going right and then one thing happens to make us change our thoughts, the epiphany moment.

There's only one way to go when you reach the bottom - perhaps not the case, you could stay at the bottom. But you certainly can't go any lower so you might as well start looking for positives and moving forward.

Stop frowning or your face will stay like that if the wind changes - smiling has proven benefits for your wellbeing so tun that frown upside down.

An apple a day keeps the doctor away - A 2013 study found that if all people aged over 50 in the UK ate just one apple per day, they would actually prevent or delay 8500 heart attacks and strokes every year.

Weird things happen on a full moon - ask any emergency responder, they will tell you it is true. Unfortunately research doesn't support this assertion however one study in found that we find it more difficult to sleep around the time of a full moon. (So where did the word lunatic come from?) 

Count sheep if you can't get to sleep - this won't work, however visualisation or mental imagery can distract you from thinking stressful or anxious thoughts about not being able to get to sleep.

If you are sick, eat chicken soup - Scientists have discovered that chicken soup can actually reduce inflammation by slowing down the white blood cell activity responsible for causing the inflammation when we have a cold or flu.

Feed a cold, starve a fever - You need to keep your strength up when you are unwell so keep eating regardless of whether it is a cold or flu.

Eat fish if you want to be brainy - A recent Harvard study found that the more fish that mothers ate during their second trimester of pregnancy, the better their babies did on tests when they were six months old. Watch out for fish containing heavy mercury content.

The 'hair of the dog' for hangovers - research has shown that consuming small doses of alcohol can actually relieve alcohol withdrawal symptoms. Rather than that, have a large glass of water before bedtime to re-hydrate.

Don't eat cheese before bed - the bacterial and fungal elements of cheese contain psychoactive ingredients, which have the potential to affect your dreams. A piece of protein at bedtime stops up to 90% of people from waking at 3am. Not all cheese-induced dreams will be scary, some are just weird so enjoy them.

So, maybe our mums and grandmothers didn't know best after all, but they were on the right track nonetheless.

What Do Dreams Actually Mean?

Have you ever had a bad dream about something or about someone and been angry about it when you woke in the morning? Or maybe you had a bad dream and tried to figure out what it meant - was it an omen? Maybe you keep having a recurring dream.

Here's what science says about dreams;

• You are more likely to recollect your dreams if you wake up immediately after the REM cycle. You go through three to five REM cycles per night, each lasting around 100 minutes, the last stage being Rapid Eye Movement is when you dream.
• Dreams help us to process our emotions from the previous day’s events, particularly the negative emotions, which is important as it decreases our anxiety and worry. We might still wake up worried about the dream but we won't be as worried about the actual event, if that makes sense. 
• Reasons for common dreams relate to our anxieties, insecurities, too much on our plate, or some other conscious or subconscious thought.
• Men dream more about natural disasters and war while women have dreams around interpersonal conflicts.
• Recurring dreams relate to something that has not been corrected or is troubling you such as a fear you might have – conscious or otherwise.
• Bad dreams aren’t just about fear. Sadness, guilt, confusion, and disgust are some of the other emotions involved in bad dreams.  
• Night terrors occur in the first hour of sleep, in the non-REM phase.  

While further research is confirming the above facts, here are some things that we actually know for certain;

·        If you get too hot while asleep you will have bad dreams – take a blanket off.

·        You ‘watch’ your dreams in a similar way that you watch things when you are awake.

·        The area of the brain that is responsible for logic and linear thinking becomes dormant and the area that controls our emotion becomes active when we dream – therefore we are more creative.

·        Diet, medication, substance use and environmental factors all play a role in dreaming and the type of dream we have.

Research is continuing into dreams and, with the advent of new technology, we are learning more and more about why we dream and what our dreams might mean. Know that most of our dreams are just thoughts around our emotions.

The worse thing that you can do for your wellbeing is to believe that your dream is reality, it isn’t.

Sweet dreams!

How To Stop Thinking Negatively.

Often when something bad happens to us we keep thinking about it, particularly at night while trying to get to sleep. Or worse still, in the early hours of the morning. And if we do this the negative thoughts seem to increase the more we think about the situation.

For a lot of us, our brain is wired negatively to protect us from harm. When we are afraid, confused, angered, feel aggrieved, or any of the other myriad of negative responses that happen to us, our brain reaches into the right side where our creative (defensive) part sits waiting to solve the situation. The same occurs when we worry about something.

The longer we think about an issue that we have, the more negative the emotion seems to get. What your brain is doing is trying to find a solution for you and if one isn't found quickly the more negative your thoughts become. In fact, it will exaggerate the issue and may even give you some more negative things to think about.

You actually need this response, this reaction is also where your great ideas come from, this is how you develop, this is how you stay alive in times of danger. Yet for a few of us, we seem to have trouble viewing the reality of the situation. Your view of a situation determines your thoughts about it, it’s that simple yet often hard to achieve.

If you are someone who finds yourself dwelling on the negative, here is a few things that you can do to minimise this thought process;

·       Make a joke about it – when we laugh about something it reframes the issue and your brain won’t view it as something negative.

·       Find a positive reason for the situation occurring – there is often a positive aspect of a negative situation, if there isn’t you can make one up and focus on that.

·       Stop negative thinking – negative thinking is both hereditary and a pattern of behaviour, a habit. You can’t change your genes but you can change a habit. One way to do this is to wear a rubber band around your wrist and flick it every time you find yourself thinking negatively. The sting stops your thoughts. 60 to 80 days to change a habit, not 21 days so keep going with it.

·       Distract your brain – find positive things to keep your brain occupied with, bury the negative thoughts with positive ones.

·       Smile – this changes your mood and relieves stress.

·       Change your words – replace negative words with positive words, it isn’t a problem it is a challenge.

·       Stop exaggerating your thoughts – write the situation down. When we write something down we use our logic brain which is on the opposite side of negativity. Then list the positives of what occurred to reinforce them.

Possibly the simplest thing to do is to keep reminding yourself that your negative thought is just that, a thought. A thought has no actual power over you unless you allow it to. Yet for some of us, our thoughts become our reality.

Here’s how it works – recall the last time that were in a boring meeting listening to something you have no interest in and you thought ‘Get me out of here’. And then you thought, ‘When this meeting does finish I get to have lunch, take a break, go for a walk’, you think about something positive and you immediately perk up and your mind is back in the room. What changed – your thoughts, nothing else. You are still in the meeting listening to the same boring stuff.

You control your thoughts, no one else does or can. You decide if you want to dwell on the negative of if you want to focus on the positive. Remember, if you keep looking back while moving forward you will surely hit something.

Sleep Tips For Shift Workers

Having worked shift work for many years, I can tell you that it is no fun trying to get to sleep during the day. Worse still, trying to sleep on the weekends when others are at home making noise and the neighbours are doing their gardening. I naively thought that it would be 'fun' to go to be when others were at work! No, only on cold wet days.

There are two types of shift workers; those who work permanent night shifts and those who work rotating shifts. Of those who I have spoken with, people who work permanent night shift find it a little easier to manage their sleep patterns because they have a routine however I am yet to meet one of them who gets a good sleep every night (day). In fact, most will often sleep at night time on their days off to catch up on lost sleep across the week.

This article will focus on those who work rotating shifts; police, nurses, firefighters, and the like. We can thank science for giving us the progressive shift - where you rotate forward through the shifts from day to evening to night rosters. Previously, we worked a hellish random roster to suit the employer.

Most sleep experts will say it is important to try and stick as close as possible to the normal sleep cycle - 11pm to 7am pattern. Very difficult to do when you work across an entire night. So, should you sleep as soon as you get home or stay up and sleep in the afternoon?

The answer is 'yes', either or depending on YOU. Get to sleep as soon as you get home and then sleep again immediately prior to work. That works for a lot of my former colleagues. However, because we are not all the same, (physiologically, psychologically, and sociologically) what works for me may not work for you.

The answer is trial and error then adhering to a consistent pattern. And patience, plenty of patience. I can't stress (poor word choice) enough the importance of getting into a pattern of behaviour even if it is a 3-week pattern.

Based on all of my readings and my own trial and error, here are some sleep tips for those who work on rotating shifts. Use all, some, or one of these and see how they work for you;

• Do not drink caffeinated drinks after the start of your shift. One cup at the beginning of work is enough to get you through. Also avoid large meals or food high in sugar. When you eat affects your sleep patterns so no food at least four hours before going to sleep. Drink plenty of water for the first half of the shift, if you drink too much across the entire shift you will need to get up to the toilet when you do eventually go to bed.
• Before finishing work, ensure all that you need to do is done so that you won't worry about it later when trying to sleep. Also, make a list of what you have to do the next shift so that you can relax knowing that you have your list.
• If you can, have a shower at work before leaving. Water is a cleanser, as you shower think about how the water is washing away the 'dirt' from the shift. Do this regardless of the shift you worked – early, late, or night time.
• Wear sunglasses when driving home to minimise the production of melatonin from sunlight. Also, do not use smart phones or tablets whatsoever as this also produces melatonin. It takes about four hours from the time melatonin is produced in your brain until it starts to work and make you sleepy.
• When to sleep - sit and relax for half an hour when you get home. A glass of warm milk is beneficial as dairy products are rich in the amino acid tryptophan, which helps in the production of the sleep inducing brain chemicals, serotonin and melatonin. Eating a small piece of solid protein will aid in keeping you asleep, for me it’s a piece of cheese.
• The cave (room) where you sleep must be cold (15 to 18 degrees C), must be dark (blinds AND curtains) and quiet (double glazing or wear ear plugs). No phones, no clocks, no TVs. Reading something light can assist in the relaxation process as can listening to soft music.
• Focus your mind on nothing if you can or on one thing if you can't. Your mind will wander, keep bringing it back to that one thing. What that one ‘thing' is should be something that makes you happy, your happy place.
• If you wake, stay in bed. If you get up to go to the toilet you will be hit by daylight which will wake your brain. Lay in bed for as long as you can until you start to get anxious, then get up. If you haven't had enough sleep, then try to get another few hours immediately before you head off to work. If you must eat, eat small. Your biggest meal should be at the beginning of your shift.
• There are plenty of other tips for invoking sleep such as sensory triggers (lavender), relaxation exercises (yoga), drinks (camomile tea) and relaxation exercises (meditation) that can help. Read, research, and experiment yourself to see what works for you. You will probably fall asleep reading some of them!

Stick to the pattern you settle into for at least three full shift rotations and then change something small in your pattern. Your brain doesn’t like big changes when it comes to sleep. If you want a few more tips on sleep, send me a message and I will provide you with additional information.

Good night (day), sleep well.

Should I Get Up At 5am?

I have read many books espousing the benefits of getting up early in the morning to get things done. The military do it, high achievers do it, top athletes do it, and most successful business people do it - they all wake up early in the morning to get a head start on the day.

I used to get up at 5am, drive to work to beat the traffic, go to the gym for an hour, and still be at work before everyone else. In a quiet office you get a lot of work done before the masses arrive. The down side of course is that by 3pm the engine is starting to run out of fuel and I got tired, so tired in fact that I was unable to adequately function and simply went through the motions.

So is getting up early really that good for you? Here's what research tells us;

1. Numerous studies show that students who wake up early have higher grades than those who don't.
2. From 3am onwards, your brain is in its creative period where ideas flow and problems are solved much easier.
3. Early risers generally have better sleep routines therefore sleep more soundly as a consequence.
4. Waking up earlier eliminates the need to rush around in the morning hence reducing the accompanying stress. Plus, you won't be stressing about being late or stuck in traffic.
5. You are less likely to skip breakfast if you get up early. If you skip breakfast, you are more likely to overeat and crave unhealthy foods.

So, research indicates that getting up early is good for us and the benefits of doing so are many. How do you become an early riser, the answer is ‘slowly’. Your brain doesn’t like to be surprised too often. Set your alarm clock 15 minutes earlier each week and go to bed 15 minutes earlier each night.

Then it is about a pattern of behaviour – go to the gym, meditate, produce a blog, eat breakfast, have a shower, etc. Do the same things each morning to get yourself into a pattern of behaviour.

While some say it is better to adhere to that same pattern in the weekends, I do not. Weekends are for relaxing, doing what you want to do, and catching with any lost sleep you might need. You might want to still wake at 5am but you might also want to have an afternoon nap.