Sleep & Exercise: Equal Partners in Getting Good Health

So, you’re trying to change your lifestyle to improve your health and lessen the risks of getting serious diseases as you age. You’ve found an excellent hobby that also provides a great workout while letting you spend time with your loved ones. You’re choosing healthier meals rather than fast food and getting a good load of nutrients to ensure you get the proper nourishment you need. However, something still feels a bit off. You still don’t feel like you’re at your best and may even be a bit sluggish all the time. What could possibly be wrong?

In most cases, the problem can be traced back to the amount of shuteye they get on a daily basis. Adults need at least seven to nine hours of sleep regularly, but most of us do not get as much. This is why we run around like zombies – sluggish and groggy – and rely heavily on caffeine to function properly in the morning.

The thing with trying to live healthy is that there’s no shortcut for it. You can’t just pick out the things you want to do and expect to get in top shape by doing just that. The right formula includes a healthy diet, exercise, and the right amount of sleep.

Yes, sleep. Whether you like it or not, quality sleep is an important ingredient in the whole healthy body cocktail. During sleep, your body heals and rejuvenates itself, readying you to face the next day. It also gives you the energy for your workout scheduled the next day. If you’re also doing some serious workouts, it is best to sleep more so your body can get enough rest, rebuild muscle, and replenish nutrients. These are all important so you can build endurance, be more accurate, and improve your speed. Take it from the pros, if you want to do well in your sport, sleep is just as vital as spending hours in training.

Sleep and exercise go hand in hand, really. With ample sleep, you get to have the power that you can use to sweat it out at the gym and with the right amount of exercise, you get to have better quality slumber.

So the next time you think about cutting down on sleep so you can spend an extra hour on your workout, stop for a while and maybe take a nap. Experts say that if you’re gonna miss sleep for exercise, chances are, you won’t even have enough energy anyway to do your routines properly. It’s best to ensure that you’re in the right shape before doing some heavy exercises, so you can get the most out of your workout and avoid getting injuries.

Why Napping is So Important for Little Children’s Growth

When we were little kids, afternoon naps felt like punishments for wrongdoings we didn’t even commit. Sleeping for an hour or so in the middle of the day felt so wrong because it shortens our playtime and forces us to stay still when there’s so much to explore, discover, and energy to burn. What we didn’t know back then is how important naps are to little children.

Aside from giving parents some time to do some chores in peace and quiet or doze off a little themselves, naps offer so much more to both children and parents. If you’re not convinced that naps are great for your little one, here are some reasons why you should reconsider:

Growth hormones are typically released during sleep.

Ever heard the old wives’ tale that you get taller if you sleep more? This is a common thing adults tell children so they will nap, and while it seemed like a made up thing back then, it is actually true! During sleep, the body releases what is known as the human growth hormone which contributes to children’s growth, including the increase of their height.

Naps help consolidate short term memories for little kids.

Young children absorbs a lot of information on a daily basis. Because they have no prior info about a wide array of things, they tend to need to process a great amount of short term memories on a daily basis. Naps help out in this need, as memory consolidation takes place during sleep. By taking a nap in the middle of the day, kids get to unload the information they’ve received in the morning, allowing them to receive more once they wake up.

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More short term memories processed means better learning in children.

As memories get to be stored during sleep, the things kids learn are also processed during this time. Naps also help protect little ones’ memories, allowing them to keep the things they’ve learned and store it as knowledge.

What parents need to know about their kids’ naps is that it should be done in the right amounts. Prolonged naps can actually have negative effects on nighttime sleep, so a little bit of sleep training can also help.

Make your little one’s sleep even better by ensuring that they doze off in a comfortable mattress. Salem Beds offer a wide range of products that are perfect for growing children, so you can be sure that your child will be in great hands even while you sleep.

A Bedtime Book that Guarantees to Help Put Your Child to Sleep

Bedtime stories are some of the most traditional ways in putting your child to sleep. As it involves some quite time with your little ones, it has been an effective strategy in relaxing children at night and easing them into falling asleep. However, there are also those times when reading a book or three isn’t enough to knock them out for the day. In cases like this, bedtime can get a little tricky.

This is why the book, The Rabbit Who Wants to Fall Asleep is gaining so much attention as of late. Touted to help children fall asleep in minutes, this bedtime title has topped the Amazon best sellers list.

26 pages long, the book is about a young rabbit who is traveling with Roger, the young rabbit who wants to fall asleep, to see Uncle Yawn, “the world’s kindest wizard, who lived just on the other side of the meadow,” best known in making children fall asleep using his magic powder. It is written and self-published by Carl-Johan Forssen Ehrlin, a Swedish behavioral psychologist and linguist who has also penned books about leadership and personal development in the past.

What makes The Rabbit Who Wants to Fall Asleep so effective is its use of various widely researched psychological reinforcement techniques in calming a person and making them feel sleepy. It asks parents to read the book slowly and yawn frequently, which can be a contagious action in itself. Of course, it also makes use of the natural rhythm of carefully stringed together words, as well as some emboldened phrases that should be emphasized by the reader. It also involves the child in the adventure, alongside little Roger, by providing space (“insert name here”) for parents to mention their child’s name in the narration.

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The Rabbit Who Wants to Fall Asleep has received great feedback and promises a safe way to put your little ones to sleep. With reviews that tell of their kids drifting off in as fast as 2 minutes into the book, this title is totally something worth looking into, especially for parents who constantly face an exhausting battle during bedtime.

Succulents in the Bedroom: Turning Your Bedroom into a Trendy Space

Succulents are among the trendiest home decor pieces this season. Thousands of blog posts dedicated to these charming greens will tell you hundreds of ways how to style and use them in beautifying your home. With their cuteness and relative ease of care, they have already made their way to the chicest bedrooms all over the world. So, if you’re interested in introducing a pot or two in your own boudoir, here are some inspiring shots that will surely pique your interest and excite you.

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Modern Bedroom by San Francisco Interior Designers & Decorators Susan Diana Harris Interior Design

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Contemporary Bedroom by Los Angeles General Contractors SoCal Contractor

Eclectic Bedroom by Millbrae Interior Designers & Decorators Lindy Donnelly

Add some life in your bedroom by introducing these hardy succulents into your private space. With proper care, you can enjoy having these charming companions around for a long time, just make sure to do your research in how to maintain them. Don’t worry, though, as they’re very resilient and don’t require too much to live, so even those without green thumbs can surely grow these plants without too much fuss.

Small Spaces, Big Beds and 6 Ways How to Make It Work

A lot of people fear small spaces. Designing it can also be a big challenge. Having limited space almost always equates to having a few options to work with. If you’re faced with this challenge, especially for your bedroom-fret not. There are tons of ways how you can make a fully equipped bedroom despite a limited floor area.

To fully demonstrate how you can work it out, here are some examples of how many small homes have worked out their small space.

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Keeping it bare and minimal works for this bedroom. It managed to squeeze in a good sized bed without blocking the door and even alloted some space for a bed side furniture. The ceiling grazing window helped in making the room look bigger as well.

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For extremely narrow spaces, getting a bed that is measured to fit the space would be the best way to maximize limited floor area for your bedroom, make the room feel cozier, and prevent it from feeling too small. To keep things within reach, take after the photo above and use a stool or other home furniture as a night stand to hold random stuff you don’t want in your bed.

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Let the bed take center stage. For small bedrooms, it is highly important to prioritize as there’s just so much space available for use. By having the bed take most of the floor area in your bedroom, you’re less likely to accumulate unnecessary junk.

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If you’re still building the bedroom, plan it well. Planning ahead can help you get more from your space, so make sure to be more creative when it comes to creating a small home.

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Positioning is key to having a maneuverable tiny bedroom. Even if your bed is full sized, as long as you can open and close the door without a fuss, you can be sure to find a way to make it work.

Work out your storage. Of course, having a small room does not necessarily mean that you can live minimally. If this is the case, you should seriously find effective and clever ways to keep your stuff out of sight and your bedroom spic and span.

These are just some of the many ways how you can make a small bedroom work despite the want for full sized bed. Just remember to keep it cozy, and make sure to let your Salem Bed take the center stage in your bedroom.

4 Compelling Reasons to Make Your Bed

Making the bed is one of the most popular chores for little kids. Most of us have experienced not being allowed to go out, use the phone or computer, or even watch TV without making our beds.

Despite it’s simplicity, making the bed was undeniably a chore that many do not want to do. This can be the very reason why many adults now refuse to make their own beds today. A lot of us think that it is a task that can be avoided, especially since you’re just gonna use it again in the evening.

But did you know that making the bed has its own benefits? No matter how much you hate tidying your bed up in the morning, there are actually a number of reasons why you should consider making it a part of your wake up routine.

So, why should you make your bed every morning? Here are some compelling reasons to convince you:

Making the bed will force you to actually get up.

Think about it, if you have to make your bed every morning, you don’t have time to hit that snooze button on your alarm repeatedly. The thought of an early morning chore can really help you get up and start your day already instead of going back to sleep.

It can keep your bed clean and make your bedroom look neater.

If you make your bed by laying your blanket flatly on top of your bed and tucking the sides underneath the mattress, it can protect your bedsheet from collecting dust that could take place during the day. This, of course, means that you don’t have to lie on a dusty bed, preventing sleep disturbances caused by sneezing and other possible reactions to dust.

Making your bed can also help make your bedroom look neat. Without rumpled blankets and bed sheets on top of your bed, your bed won’t look messy, which, in turn, can make your bedroom look a bit more in order.

It can jump start your day’s productivity.

As experts say, starting your morning productively can create a positive chain effect all throughout the day. By completing a task as soon as you wake up, you can get a good rhythm running and ensure a day’s worth of productivity.

A made bed can show off your beautiful beddings.

If you’re a fan of nice beddings, making your bed can easily show it off. Sure, not a lot of people gets to see your bed, but you can still get to enjoy it’s beauty even if it’s you’re the only ones who can see it, right?

While we understand that making the bed can feel like a tedious task, the benefits have their own merits worth considering. Why not give it a try and see for yourself whether making your bed can create a difference in your routine and productivity? You’ll never know, it might just be the thing you need to kick start your morning.

 

How to Find Out if a Mattress is Right for You

Being in the home furnishing industry for nearly half a decade already, we know just how challenging it is to find the right mattress. While there are tons of options available, it doesn’t necessarily make the choosing process easier and can even be a bit confusing at times.

This is why when asked, we always say that personal comfort should be the very thing you look for when shopping for a mattress. Aside from your budget, your personal comfort should be the deciding factor in making the call in which mattress you should get. Why? It’s pretty simple: if you’re not comfortable enough in your bed, you will find it difficult to fall asleep, rendering the mattress useful in the end.

As mattresses are not exactly cheap, your comfort should really be taken into great consideration when purchasing one. Since you’re already spending a good amount of hard earned money to provide you some comfort at the end of the day, wouldn’t it be just ideal for you to find an actually comfortable mattress to put your cash in?

To make sure that you’ll find the right mattress for you, here are some some tips:

• Actually lie down on the mattress to get it’s feel for at least 10 minutes. This way, your body can get a good idea in how the mattress feels for longer periods of time.
• Make sure to lie down in your common sleeping position. This can give you a good heads up whether you’ll feel strain on your pressure points or not.
• Try as many mattresses as you can. Salem Beds, especially, offer a wide range of features and designs, so trying out just a few may cause you to miss out on other options available.
• Never hesitate to ask your Salem Bed promodiser questions.

Extra tip, especially if you plan to purchase a Salem bed through our website: try our mattresses in one of our dealers or outlets first. It may seem counter-intuitive, but, then again, since you’re spending a good amount of cash in a mattress, it’s best if you are familiar with the item you’re going to purchase online. Besides, there are also a number of perks from purchasing through the website, like free delivery for orders P5k and up (for Metro Manila only), so you can still opt to test out a product in store and purchase online.

How to find out if a mattress is right for you? You’ll feel it once you’ve tried it. If you’ve found yourself getting cozy on top of the bed and ready to fall asleep despite the harsh lights of the furniture store, then take that model home.

Sky & Sea: Kiddie Beds for Shared Rooms

As your family grow, it is just common to find yourself needing to sleep train your children. Moving them to a big kid bed is an essential part of teaching them how to do things on their own and giving them a taste of individuality. This also gives parents the chance to bond with each other once again, after having their little one the be all of their lives.

If your family ever find itself in such a situation, investing on a bed that your little one can grow up in would be a practical move. Instead of buying a new kid bed every year or so to accommodate their growth spurt, opting for a regular bed is a more ideal option. With a quality regular sized bed, you don’t have to worry about your kid’s feet dangling at the end of their beds at night for at least up to 7 years.

For your little one, you can choose anything from the wide range of Salem Beds’ products. However, a mattress alone will still leave you fretting for a base and additional accessories, so an all in one bed is always our top suggestion for little kids’ bedrooms. In this case, we often recommend the Sky and Sea beds.

Sky Bed

Sky Bed

Mixing comfort and functionality, the Sky Bed is a great choice for growing kids. Not only is its plush surface ideal for sleeping, but it also comes with a built in bed frame with storage. These drawers are ideal for storing clothes and toys, making them the best options for your little one’s bedroom.

Sea Bed

Sea Bed

If you want to up the ante and ensure a complete bed set for your little one, the Sea Bed is an excellent Salem Bed option. This model ups the Sky Bed’s offerings, as it comes with a matching headboard. A no-fuzz solution for busy growing homes, the Sky Bed can definitely solve your little one’s bedding challenges in a jiffy.

For growing families, being practical is a priority alongside the children’s wellness and safety. Comfort, however, shouldn’t be sacrificed, so why opt for anything less than a high quality Salem Bed? With our years of experience, you can definitely rely on us for your little ones’ good night sleep.

Why You’re Extra Sleepy on Mondays

There’s no doubt that Mondays are difficult. After two days of getting to do what you want, you are once again subjected to getting back on your routine and facing the dreaded rush hour traffic twice per day. Add to this the fact that you have to start the week feeling like a zombie and there’s just no way to fall in love with Mondays.

A lot of people ask, how come Mondays make you feel extra tired and sleepy? Come to think of it, Mondays do feel extra awful because you’re most likely groggy and sluggish. Aside from the overall dislike to go back to work or school, what could be the cause for your seemingly horrible misery on Mondays?

The simple answer here would be your sleep. Most likely, you’ve stayed up late and slept in during the day over the weekend. A lot of us have this bad habit of staying up too late on weekend evenings and preferring to catch up on some sleep the next morning by snoozing for an extra hour or three the following day.

Simply put, missing out on sleep on the weekend disrupts your Circadian Rhythm. Referred to as the “social jet lag“, it has the same effect to your body as when you travel as it makes your body feel like you’re putting it in a different time zone every time you stay up. This, of course, whacks your body’s inner clock, affecting your wakefulness and energy levels. In turn, it can leave you feeling sluggish come Monday, when your body still hasn’t recovered from the damage you have caused from changing your sleeping pattern.

So the whole time we’ve all been blaming Monday for making us feel horrible and out of sync, it’s really us who are at fault for staying up way too late during the weekend. It’s not really the fact that it’s Monday that’s bringing you down: it’s the fact that you have incurred some sleep debt during your days off.

Bedroom Wanderlust: Travel the World through Spaces with Local Touches

“We travel, some of us forever, to seek other places, other lives, other souls.” – Anais Nin

Traveling is a great way to explore, not only the world but also yourself. However, due to commitments and other things, not everyone can go on trips as much as they want to. Wanderlust may be a constant feeling, but not always pursued.

If you’ve been feeling the need to travel lately but can’t get out of the city, fret not. These bedrooms, inspired by various locales from all over the world will surely ease your wanderlust.

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What can be more American than a headboard with the American flag? The perfect mix of prints in this bedroom also makes us swoon.

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Moroccan inspired interiors are getting a lot of praises lately, what with its attractive elements and lush designs.

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Want to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city? A countryside cottage may just be perfect for you!

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If you prefer serene views of the mountains, we also got you covered.

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But if you want to be surrounded by lush greenery, a tropical forest bedroom could be your best fix.

Shabby Chic Bedroom

Parisian inspired interiors are ideal for romantics.

Asian Bedroom by Charlotte Real Estate Agents Dickens-Mitchener & Associates

Midcentury Bedroom by Corona Del Mar Architects & Building Designers Laidlaw Schultz architects

Asian flavors come in a wide range of shapes, colors, and sizes.

Mediterranean Bedroom Shabby Chic Bedroom

We just adore Mediterranean interior elements as they offer a lot of visual interest.

Eclectic Bedroom by Other Metro Architects & Building Designers Metroarea Architetti

Arabic elements are elaborate and just generally luxurious – perfect for homes that strive for detailed beauty.

Southwestern Bedroom by Dallas Interior Designers & Decorators Astleford Interiors, Inc.

Vibrant and full of colors, this bedroom inspired by Mexican traditions easily transport us to the warmth and beauty of the Southern American country.

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Elegant Spanish elements are just to die for!

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Korea’s traditional interior design may seem to crisp and clean, but we assure you that they have a lot to offer.

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We’re already feeling the warm sun (and smiles) with this traditional Filipino bedroom design by Dedon.

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This Greek Island bedroom can almost make us smell the sea!

We know we’re supposed to help you get cozy at home and not give you the urge to book flights, but these bedrooms are just simply inspiring. Hope you enjoyed browsing through them as much as we did!