Have you ever just wished there was a switch that you could flick to turn off your brain at night? There has been countless nights where I lay in bed, and just wish that all the thoughts that are running through my mind will just stop.  

So why do we have all these running through our mind right as we are trying to go to sleep?  When you lay down to go to sleep, there is nothing else there to distract you and nothing see you have to think about besides the thoughts that are occurring. Barry Gordon, professor at  John Hopkins University School of Medicine, explains why this is happening.  He states that:

 “We are aware of a tiny fraction of the thinking that goes on in our minds, and we can control only a tiny part of our conscious thoughts. The vast majority of our thinking efforts goes on subconsciously. Only one or two of these thoughts are likely to breach into consciousness at a time. Slips of the tongue and accidental actions offer glimpses of our unfiltered subconscious mental life… Although thoughts appear to “pop” into awareness before bedtime, their cognitive precursors have probably been simmering for a while. Once those preconscious thoughts gather sufficient strength, the full spotlight of consciousness beams down on them. The mind’s freewheeling friskiness is only partly under our control, so shutting our mind off before we sleep is not possible.” (Johns Hopkins)

Therefore all those thoughts that we have been thinking all day in the back of our mind, find their way to the front of your mind… conveniently while you’re trying to go to sleep. What can be done in order to try and fall asleep without all these thoughts?

Authors Rachel Manber and Colleen E. Carney wrote a book, entitled “Goodnight Mind: Turn Off Your Noisy Thoughts & Get a Good Night’s Sleep” which explains everything that causes one to have all these thoughts before bed. One thing that the authors mention in their book is that “One reason your mind keeps you up is because you’ve unwittingly trained it to be alert, according to the authors. For instance, they note that if you spend many nights in bed tossing and turning or being upset that you can’t sleep, your bed has become a cue for tossing and turning and being upset.” (sleep) 

The first step to calming your brain before going to bed is to try and avoid napping.  The authors mention that “…you need to associate sleep with only one location (your bed) and one time (your sleep window).”  I’m a big napper so maybe this is something that can help me fall asleep better at night.  The main tip for napping that they wrote in their book is to make sure to plan a nap.  What I learned is to not nap anytime close to when you’re going to bed. 

The next step Is to go to bed only when you’re tired.  For example if you don’t think that you are going to sleep through the night, or are going to bed early make sure you know you are tired enough.  When you are really tired you’ll fall right to sleep.  

Another huge factor that will keep you up at night is worrying.  Rachel and Colleen state that “If you give yourself time earlier in the day to deal with unfinished business, your worries will be less likely to follow you to bed,”  The authors mention that is important to try and think of something other than your worries.  Like try to think of a story that won’t keep you up either.  

So now tonight while you are trying to go to sleep, try out some of these and relax and maybe you will get a good nights sleep!

 

Cites:

http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2013/04/22/how-to-quiet-your-mind-get-more-shuteye/

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=can-we-control-our-thoughts

Photo:http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=2n69aw4&s=5#.UqEUwqVgwy4

It’s that time of the year again when you walk into lecture and the sounds of coughing and sneezing from about 85% of the class over power the voice of the professor.  This is the time of the year when I go to class and just pray that the kid sitting next to me doesn’t have either of these symptoms.  

Grab you glasses and pour yourself a nice glass of wine (only if you’re 21 of course), it’s time to learn about wine making!  The inspiration for the post came to me today while I was thinking back on my time Italy this summer.  This summer I had the amazing opportunity of studying abroad in Florence, Italy.  Not only did I have the chance to meet some amazing people, but I also got to travel to some beautiful places in Europe.  

Have you ever wondered what makes someone attractive?  What is it about one person that makes them more attractive than someone else?  My friends and I talk about this all the time so I decided to look into it.  

Some people may be petrified of the ocean.  Which is understandable, but what if they came to realize that there is so much more to the ocean than the parts we swim in.  We only see a small portion of the ocean.  The parts that we swim in at the jersey shore, or even just the waters that you sail over on a boat.  But have you ever thought about what is underneath of you when you’re in that boat?  Thousands of feet of just pure, darkness and scary creatures, most of which we’ve probably never seen before.  

1. The Japanese Spider Crab: This is an arachnophobes biggest nightmare.  The Japanese spider crab is a sea creature that usually lives off the coast of Japan (right around the Mariana Trench).  According to the Encyclopedia of Life this creature can weigh from about 35 pounds to 45 pounds and can be about 10 feet long. So if you don’t like spiders… or crabs, this definitely isn’t something you’d want to come across! 

  

Before reading this entire post, I just want to warn you guys that these photos are actually quite traumatizing, so if you are easily disturbed, don’t look at these pictures. 

Lets just all admit it.  There is always that one friday or saturday (or both, in my case) after a long night of drinking that you and the roommates come home claiming you’re “starving”.  You stumble home covered in frat juice and regrets, and as soon as you walk in the door that canyon menu is staring you right in the face.  So naturally the first thing to do is call one of the late night food chains that State College has to offer.  Whether it is Gumbys, College Pizza or Canyon you always wake up the next morning with the box on your kitchen table regretting every bite of pizza you ate the night before. Some of you may argue, that drunk eating is not considered “science.”  Well here is my argument to why drunk eating is, in fact science. 

Growing up I would never understand how my dad would come home from work with one navy sock on and one black sock on.  It never made sense to me.

Have you ever met anyone who constantly thinks that there is something wrong with them? A single sneeze turns into diabetes and a cut on their finger is automatically infected.  I have.  In fact, as I am writing this post my roommate who is a major hypochondriac, is diagnosing herself with Irrital Bowl Syndrome (IBS).  Every day, there is something new that is wrong with her.  The most recent diagnosis’ have been celiacs disease, IBS, and diabetes.  We all laugh when something new comes up but to some people this is a real disease, and a real problem.  

To some people though this is not a joking matter.  They really take their diagnosis serious and could lead to severe anxiety or even hospital visits.  Like my roommate my grandmother is also a  hypochondriac, except her conditions are a lot more intense.  She has visited the hospital multiple times in fear of a heart attack even though it was just her arthritis acting up.