Care For Your Sleep

Archive for June, 2009

It is possible to talk for hours about why we like sleeping and what is a good sleep like. Below, there are a number of interesting facts and information about our sleep.

• Statistics says that the Spaniards usually sleep 40 minutes less than other European nations do, and the French sleep the longer: up to 9 hours a day.
• An average person spends up to 26 years of his/her life sleeping.
• The older we become, the less time we need for restful sleeping.
• All people without exception see dreams while they sleep. Some people just can not remember their dreams sometimes.
• Not every person can see colorful dreams. The experts say that only 80% of people can see colorful dreams, and the rest 20% see the dreams in black and white.
• Blind people also can see dreams.
• Dreams can sometimes help to foresee coming diseases. For example, if a person sees in his/her dream that his/her throat is damaged or injured, it can be understood as a sign of a coming flu or cold.
• While we snore we do not see dreams.
• 20% of traffic accidents happen due to sleep deprivation or related problems.
• There is a type of phobia called somniphobia, when people are afraid of falling asleep.
• According to a recent study, those who sleep 6-7 hours a day have lower risks of premature death than those who sleep more than 8 hours a day.
• According to the Guinness World Record book, the longest period without sleep was 18 days, 21 hours and 40 minutes.

Recently, Dr. Christiaan Geldenhuys, an American specialist made a series of experiments to find the links between our sleep and the color of our bedroom walls.  The expert is convinced that choosing the right color paint for your bedroom is the most important decision to make when decorating the house. At that, if you made the wrong choice, it can seriously affect the quality of your and especially your children’s sleep. The findings of the research were published in Celdenhuys‘ new book, Sleep Smart.

Geldenhuys argues that we can perceive colors even when we are asleep. He has found out that cold blue color should be considered the best for a good night sleep. The experiments showed that the people can relax and fall asleep much faster in a blue color bedroom.  Geldenhuys underlines that the tints of blue color can create a sensation of space and symbolize peace, tranquility, slow motion and inspiration. In addition, blue colors are cold, so they may have some cooling effects and can even help to lower our body temperature. That is why it is recommended to consider painting your bedroom walls in blue.

Also, it is possible to opt for a combination of red and blue colors for a bedroom of two adult people. The expert says that soft red colors are associated with romantic environment, and light blue colors favor good sleep. Therefore, such combination can be ideal for a couple sharing the same bed. However, if you have difficulties with waking up in the morning, Geldenhuys recommends you to choose yellow color paint for your bedroom. Yellow color symbolizes morning sunlight and boosts our feeling of happiness.

Choosing the paint color for children’s bedroom requires quite a complex approach. For infants and young children it is best of all to opt for the tranquil and masculine blue for the boys and earthly pink for the girls. A teenager’s bedroom should have deeper and more chromatic coloration. At the same time, if you child has learning problems, Geldenhuys advices to use deep green and blue colors for the bedroom since these colors can help to calm down the child’s mind and better focus on the studies.