When you’ve had a bad night’s sleep, you wake up tired. You feel cranky the next day. You can’t focus. Your brain doesn’t function well.

We all know that from getting an occasional bad night’s sleep.

Did you know that there are also serious health consequences of ongoing poor sleep? If you think a bad night’s sleep is something to simply get over, think again.

#1. Poor sleep elevates blood pressure.
Adults with poor sleep have a higher risk of developing hypertension. For people with high blood pressure, a single night of poor sleep elevates your blood pressure for the whole day.

#2. Disruption in sleep increases the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Higher disruption of sleep is associated with higher cholesterol and higher body mass index. It increases the risk of stroke, cardiovascular disease, and coronary disease. Your risk for developing cardiovascular disease is increased by 48% when you sleep poorly.

#3. Inadequate sleep increases the risk of cancer.
Sleep deprivation accelerates tumor formation and increases the risk of cancer. According to one study, you are 36% more likely to develop colorectal cancer when sleep deprived. Men with severe sleeping disorders are twice as likely to develop prostate cancer compared to those without. Poor sleep also increases the risk of other types of cancer, such as breast cancer.

#4. Sleep deprivation increases the risks of memory loss, dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease.
During sleep, your brain does important housekeeping and memory consolidation functions. When you don’t sleep well, you chance of memory loss, dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease increases by 33%. Those housekeeping functions happen during deep sleep. Sleeping pills do not help in this case, as they don’t induce deep sleep where those functions take place.

#5. Poor sleep increases the risk of type II diabetes.
The body processes glucose more slowly when you sleep poorly. It also increases insulin production. As a result, poor sleep increases type II diabetics. You are three times more likely to develop type II diabetes when you sleep poorly.

#6. Lack of sleep makes you gain weight and contributes to obesity.
According to a study done in 2004, people who sleep less than 6 hours a day are 30% more likely to become obese. Poor sleep changes hormone production in the body. It increases the hunger hormone, ghrelin, and decreases the satiety hormone, leptin. It creates a perfect scenario to make you eat more, especially high-fat, high-carbohydrate food.

#7. Poor sleep contributes to depression and anxiety.
According to a study done in 2007, people with insomnia are five times more likely to develop depression. On the other hand, people with depression are more likely to sleep less than 6 hours a night. As a matter of fact, insomnia is one of the first symptoms of depression.

What else does poor sleep do? 

In addition to the 7 unexpected consequences above, there is research that shows that sleep also leads to lower sex drive, weaker immune system, impaired judgment, poor decision-making, and increased risk for accidents, among other things.

What can you do about it?

Now that you’ve learned the gravity of the consequences of poor sleep, here’s your opportunity to learn how to sleep better. I’m offering a 2.5-hour workshop in which you’ll learn 3 simple exercises you can do right away to get a better night’s sleep. It’s coming up in 1 week – don’t miss it!

Check out the details of Get a Good Night’s Sleep here!

Happy Holidays!

With much going on during the holiday season, you’ll want to take even better care of yourself. Here’s a simple video to help you center yourself AND get energized. Enjoy!

Do leave me a comment below if you find this video helpful, or if you have any question or a special request.

Do you work in front of computers? Do you have neck tension? Do you have headaches or migraines?

Sitting in front of computers for an extended period of time will cause shoulder and neck tension. The neck tension can lead to headaches and migraines.

Here are 3 energy exercise to help you relieve your neck tension. It takes 5 minutes. Let know what else I can do to be of help.

A couple of weeks ago, I was sitting on the plane next to an insurance auditor; let’s call him Ed. Ed was on his way home after visiting clients from the trucking industry in South Florida.

When asked what he liked most about his job, he shared how he loves helping his clients improve their business and cut down on the cost of insurance. He sees many clients in the course of his job. He understands the industry trends. He sees what successful companies are doing. With his experience, he can easily spot an issue in a business.

Then I asked if his clients were afraid of him, as his visit determines their insurance premium. He replied: “Yes, and they shouldn’t be.” He tells them upfront: “How you manage your business determines your insurance premium. You control the price. I don’t.”

A lightbulb went off in my head after hearing that. From my observation of my clients and friends, something similar could be said about health. How you manage your life and health plays an important role in why you get sick, how severely an illness affects you, and how fast you recover from a health challenge.

Granted, there are differences in everybody’s constitution and life circumstances. However, you have more control over your health and illness than you might think.  That’s why adult siblings don’t all get sick at the same rate.

There are 7 specific lessons that I learned from Ed that can help you take charge of your health, so you stay healthy more often and bounce back more quickly from illness.

1. Know that you have control over your health.

This is the point that I’ve been emphasizing above.

2. Create policies and procedures like all successful businesses do.

You’ll need to figure out what works for you and create a plan to better your health accordingly. For instance, I love Taichi and detest gyms. My exercise plan includes Taichi and walking. My diet consists of vegan and mostly organic food.

What’s in your plan?

3. Follow your own guidelines and policies. Some companies have nice guidelines but don’t actually follow them. Don’t be one of those people.

Once you have a plan on what you’re going to do to cope with illness and improve your health, stick to it. Simply having it on paper does nothing for you. Implement it. Take action. Do it.

How often do you stay on track? How often do you stray from it?

4. Learn the best practices. Successful companies are open to learning new strategies and ways to improve all the time.

Healthy people learn better ways to improve their health. You’re off to a great start by reading my blog.

I send you articles and videos on how to sleep better, increase energy, and relieve pain. Other healers write blogs anywhere from exercise to nutrition to weight loss. Find a few you like and read them regularly..

5. Adapt to the changes of technology. When new generations of trucks came onto the scene, the requirements for drivers changed. Savvy businesses adapted.

The same is true for your health. With GMO food, blue light emissions from electronic devices, and Electromagnetic Field released from your cell phones and tablets, you need to be aware of the research of their impact on your health. Only then can you make an informed decision on what to do with them.

6. Pay attention to transition. When a trucking business is passed down from father to son, the commitment to safety may change.

When you’re going through a transition like a job change or divorce, are you maintaining the same level of commitment to your health? Or are you allowing it to slide? Many people fall into severe illness after stressful transition. This is the time to hold tight to your health policies and procedures.

7. Be consistent when creating and implementing policies and procedures. In the trucking industry, business owners have new hires take driving tests. But they don’t always require a driving test for a contractor who owns a truck.

Are you careful about your diet but not exercise? Are you keen on having clean, organic food but have a toxic relationship with a girlfriend? Which area in your life might you be slacking on?

These 7 lessons create a solid, foundational support for your health, much like a tripod structure does for plants in your garden. Such a structure provides you with health, resilience, and core strength. With such a strong foundation, you’ll be able to weather the storm with minimal setback.

You’ll enjoy radiant health more often than not, regardless of what may come your way.

Now, it’s your turn. Among the 7 lessons above, what do you already have in place? Which ones do you need to pay the most attention to?  Leave me a comment below.

A client of mine has had a racing heart lately. She hasn’t been able to sleep much because of it.

A few friends of mine have also had heart-related discomfort. Have you felt it in your heart?

According to Chinese medicine, that’s normal for the spring season. You’ve probably heard that Spring is a great time to detox, because it’s the season for wood and for growth in the wilderness.

According to Chinese medicine, the liver and gallbladder belong to the wood element. As such, they tend to be more active in the spring. Hyperactivity of the gallbladder can rob the heart meridian of energy.

When that happens, the proper function of the heart can be compromised too.

The reason that the gallbladder meridian can rob the heart meridian of energy is because of its proximity to the other.

Picture this: All of the meridians sit on a wheel, and the gallbladder and heart meridians sit right across from each other. Because of that, the heart meridian is the first place the gallbladder meridian goes when it needs some extra energy.

So, helping your gallbladder meridian stay balanced goes a long way to help your heart meridian, and the organ itself.

Here’s an exercise that can help your gallbladder meridian:

Place your thumbs on the outside corner of your eyes. Place the rest of your fingers over your forehead one inch apart.

Now, relax your shoulders. Relax your elbows. Relax your fingers.

If you are sitting in front of a desk, you can lean forward and place your elbows on the desk in front of you. Hold that position for two minutes – or longer – as long as is comfortable for you.

Do this exercise once or twice a day if you are prone to heart issues, challenges with your gallbladder, or simply frustration. Add this to your self-care routine. Mark it on your calendar so you’ll actually do it.

Let me know how this exercise helps you. Leave me a comment below.