ANCSLEEP BLOG

Have you ever been lying there, or lying next to someone, and there was a sudden jerk or twitch? And they seem to happen all through the night without anyone waking up or experiencing some sort of crazy dream? 

These are called hypnic jerks, or sleep starts. They are involuntary muscle contractions that you may experience during the night, sort of like a muscle twitch. Hypnic jerks are referred to as a type of myoclonus, and is the equivalent of a hiccup, or rapid, involuntary muscle movements. Hypnic is short for hypnagogic, which means the transition from wakefulness to sleep which is when these twitches occur.  

Back pain is a common issue that many people struggle with on a daily basis. The back is an intricate part of the body that consists of many muscles, fibers, and bones. When these get out of whack, that can cause back pain. 

The lower back back is extremely load bearing, meaning it holds a majority of our weight all day. Having weaker back muscles and poor posture can increase the risk for developing back pain, especially with poor posture. 

Back pain can interrupt a majority of the day, making activities like walking, playing and sleeping much more challenging. Exercise and stretching are the best methods for attending to back pain, yet back pain can make doing all of these activities nearly impossible. 

Sleep is another aspect of life that back pain negatively impacts. Pain disrupts sleep, and poor sleep can make pain worse. Also, sleeping in a position that doesn't support the back, or on a mattress with poor support can worsen lower back pain.  

If you understand the relationship between sleep and back pain, then you may be able to better address both sleep and back pain issues at once. Continue reading to learn more about this complex relationship. 

Sleep is a crucial aspect of our overall well-being. However, many people struggle with insomnia and sleep troubles, which can significantly impact their quality of life. While there are various medications available to treat sleep disorders, natural remedies can offer a gentle and effective alternative. In this blog post, we will explore some natural remedies for insomnia and sleep troubles that you can try to promote better sleep and overall health.

Flying can be one of the biggest disruptions to your sleep. It's hard to get adjusted to a new time zone before you arrive, especially after long flights. The seats are narrow, the engines are loud, there is no leg room, and your passengers don't care about your need to sleep when they have to go to the bathroom or want to keep the reading light on. 

So, are you just doomed to have bad sleep every time you take a long flight and be exhausted when you arrive to your destination? Not necessarily. Continue reading to learn how actually sleep on a plane.

Teaching children to share is vital at a young age. However, a new study is finding that having children share bedrooms could actually be cause them to miss out on sleep. How much sleep exactly? 28 minutes. Although that doesn't seem like a significant amount, the extra time could actually be worth it. Continue reading to learn more about the benefit of children sleeping in their own bedrooms. 

When you aren't sleeping well, many aspects of your life seem to not go well. You can't concentrate, you aren't motivated, and you start to see an increase in conflict in your interpersonal relationships. 

Improving sleep can be done in a stepwise fashion through addressing the root of the issue. Sometimes it's a sleep disorder, which you can identify through a polysomnography. Those are more straightforward than causes such as a mental health disorder, or worse, then unknown. If you are struggling with sleep, and can't seem to be able to change it on your own, then you may need some help. 

Sleep therapy may offer you the support and direction you need to establish why you are not sleeping well. Getting adequate sleep is important, as sleep deprivation can wreak havoc on your life. Continue reading to learn more about what sleep therapy can do for you!

Do you ever go to bed with these grandiose ideas of what you're morning will look like? But then the morning comes and you're so groggy, you can't get out of bed? It can be really frustrating to just sleep-walk through your morning and not achieve the amount of reading, planning, and preparing that you would like to do. 

Well, a study from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine found that 21% of men and 32% of women rarely or never feel refreshed when they wake up. So, to counter this, a study was done by University of California, Berkeley, that looked at how to wake people up feeling sharp instead of feeling so tired. 

What they found was that getting up early is not about genetics, or just having the grit and discipline to do it. But, it's more so about adjustable lifestyle habits you can do that can help you wake up. These include what you eat for breakfast, your activity throughout the day, and the amount of sleep that you get at night. Continue reading to learn more about these three factors. 

People with panic disorder and other anxiety-related disorders may struggle with obtaining a full night of restful sleep. Specific sleep comorbidities may include insomnia and panic attacks. There is a relationship between sleep problems and these anxiety disorders, where an exacerbation of one can lead to issues with the other. Continue reading to find out why panic disorder and anxiety cause sleep issues, and what you can do to mitigate your sleep disturbances. 

Rapid Eye Movement, REM, sleep is the fourth and final stage of each sleep cycle. This stage is the closest to being awake that you can be, partly due to the amount of eye movement that happens. Your heart beats faster and you breathe faster because this is the stage where dreams happen. 

It's important to understand sleep cycles. A good night of sleep has anywhere from four to six sleep cycles that last 90-110 minutes. There are four stages of sleep, the first three known as non-REM; NREM1, NREM2, NREM3. Then REM is the final part before we begin the cycle all over again. 

Sleep is important for a variety of reasons, but getting good sleep is not as easy as it seems. For some, sleep may actually seem impossible. For others, they may think they are getting good sleep, and think that it's normal to feel tired during the day. Although that midday slump hits, it is not normal to be excessively tired throughout the day. This is an indication of poor sleep. Although sleep disorders may be the cause of poor sleep, more often than not, poor sleep hygiene is. Unlearn some of those poor habits and begin sleeping well!