Dream Pillows as Natural Sleeping Aids

One of the most interesting new sleep natural aids are the dream pillows that are now on the market. They can really help you get to sleep if you are tossing and turning at night. In essence, these sleep natural aids are simply like little bean bags filled with herbs and flax seeds. You can warm them in the oven or in the microwave and place them on our neck to help you fall asleep. The herbs stuffed inside also give a bedroom a lovely pleasant aroma.

 

It is pretty easy to make your own sachet. Simply create a four-sided pillow that is about nine but four inches wide and stuff it with herbs. Simply sew three sides of two layers of fabric together and then make seams by folding it a half of inch under on each side.   Muslin is a good fabric to use but you can use any nice cotton fabric that you want.  Don’t use Lycra, nylons or polyester fabrics or they will melt in the oven in microwave. Then you put the ingredients that you want into the pillow and sew it up.

 

Herbal Knockout Dream Pillow

To make a dream pillow that is a heavy hitter when it comes to putting you to sleep you will need a handful each of crushed catnip, valerian buds, peppermint, lemon balm seeds, rose petals and enough flax seed to gently round out the bag. You can then perfume it with ten drops of lavender essential oil for good measure.  Put this sachet under your pillow and be ready to visit the sandman.

 

Lavender Dream Pillow

One of the simplest of sleep natural aids that makes a great gift is the lavender dream pillow. You make this the same way as you would any pillow only instead of flax seed you stuff the entire pillow square with dried lavender buds. Then for good measure you throw in some lavender and maybe some rose petals to make it a bit softer. To make sure the lavender smell lingers you then also drop two or three drops of fragrance oil on the buds as well. You then sew the bag up.  This is a great gift for dreaming purists who like the old fashioned smell of lavender.

 

Eucalyptus Dream Pillow

If illness is preventing you from getting the sleep you need consider stuffing a dream pillow with eucalyptus leaves, juniper berries, mint leaves, catnip, pine needles and rose petals. If the pillow seems limp or sharp in places you can plump it up with flax seeds.

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Perfecting the Layer Next to Your Skin

In colder weather it is best to layer your clothing. That way you can put on or take off what you need as the temperature rises or falls.  However, more importantly this layer of clothing, called the Core or Foundation layer must be able to wick away sweat quickly so you feel dry no matter how hard you exert yourself in cold weather. Look for underlayers that have that breathability factor. This is especially important if you are working out, downhill skiing or taking a long hike in cold weather. If you intend to get sweaty then make sure that the clothing can help keep the moisture out of your clothes.

 

Some modern day core layers are absolutely amazing, not only in their construction and fabric that makes them feel like a second skin but in the way they are now treated to so sweat does not build up and make them smell. This is especially important if you do not have a change of clothes and you have a natural tendency to sweat a lot.

 

Core layers usually include a long-sleeved top and modern long johns although you can buy cleverly constructed one-piece foundation layer garments to keep you warm.

 

These undergarments mostly come in Lycra or Cotton blends but the height of fashion are those made out of Merino or a fabric called Smart Wool.  Smart wool is a type of soft Merino that has the natural ability to keep the moisture away from the skin and the fabric also naturally inhibits odor.  Flatlock seams help these slenderizing garments fit nicely under your insulating and top layers of clothing. However this core garments made out of these materials tend to be a lot more expensive than cotton or Lycra styles running mostly at over $100 or more per top or bottom.

 

Yet another feature of these clothes is a treatment of the fabric with “clothing sunblock.”  This UPF 50 protection blocks the sun, which is good if you are mountain climbing or skiing in an extremely sunny place.

 

Insulated base layer pants and tops are very sexy and many women wear these as part of their every daywear or work out wear.  Companies that make these gorgeous garments include Mountain Hard Wear, The North Face, Ice breaker, Patagonia and Spyde.

 

Click here to shop for clothes.

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Is Your T-Shirt Made From Toxic Polyester?

Is your T-Shirt going to give you cancer?  Believe it or not your T-Shirt could be made out of toxic materials. In fact, the cheaper the T-shirt is the more likely it is to cause problems with your health.  If it is made out of polyester it might be quite toxic.  If it is from an Asian country you might also definitely be in risk of getting poisoned slowly by the garment.  That s because your T-shirt is actually made out of a very toxic oil product.

 

Polyester is made of carcinogens. If you wear a cheap one you risk poisoning as it leaches into your skin.  To protect yourself try buying shirts that are a little more high end and stay away from bins of T-shirts that look like they are heavily or cheaply dyed.

 

How on earth did we end up selling these toxic polyester t-shrits in the first place?

 

First off making them out of polyester is cheap in every way. However the manufacturing of polyester is expensive for our environment. The material is made from refined petroleum that is flash heated at 800 degrees Celcius.  A heavy metal such as antimony is added so that the resulting ethylene turns into a goo that in the end is cooled and becomes fabric. This is what we are wearing against our skin when we wear polyester. It is a creation of heavy metals and petroleum.

 

The scary thing about this is that if you sweat you might be leaching out these chemicals into your skin. You might want to think twice before you consider working out in a T-shirt because a Danish study found that as much as ten percent of the chemicals found in a polyester t-shirt might possibly end up on your skin.

Printed T-shirts are equally toxic. Discharged print ink can also degrade and be absorbed by the skin over time. That is why it is not a good idea to sleep in a polyester or printed ink T-shirt if you can help it.

 

So how do you protect yourself from this sort of subtle and creeping toxic overload.  Try buying all natural all of the time.  Natural organic cotton T-shirts are much better choices both for day and night wear.  Avoid clothing with poisonous dyes and if you see a T-shirt bleeding dyes and colors or if it actually discolors your skin – don’t wear it and throw it out!

 

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Believe You Can Quit Smoking and You Will

The first step to quitting those cigarettes that are making your teeth yellow and breaht smell bad is to tell yourself you can.  You have the power over you. Not the ciggie!

 

 

If you can’t believe that you are capable of quitting smoking and that the cigarettes will always take over your free will every time then chances are that you simply will not be able to quit at all. Research on smokers shows that the smokers who truly believe that they are capable of mastering the bad habit are the ones that succeed.

 

 

Often those who can’t quit believe that they can’t be happy unless they know they can have a cigarette whenever they want. Resolving that you will be happy with or without a cigarette is key to eliminating its power over you.  You need to believe, truly and with all of your heart, that you can quit and not face a future where you feel deprived.

 

The reason that this proactive and positive belief that you will be able to quit is essential is incredibly important as it will guide everything you do in the future. If you don’t believe you can quit then you may seek the company of people who also are negative about quitting or seek out a method of quitting smoking that is known to have a high failure rate so you can blame the method, rather than yourself.

 

 

If there is one thing that people who can’t quit smoking have in common it is the belief that they are terminally unique. They might believe that withdrawal symptoms are too painful to endure or that they are special somehow physically or spiritually and be spared from smoking’s consequence.

 

 

Here is a tip to get started when it comes to combating that inner voice that tells you “What’s one little cigarette going to matter?” or “You just can’t get through this.” On recipe cards write out several positive statements about quitting and post them in places that you will see them, such as the mirror in our bathroom. Make them affirmative and in the present such as “ I am a non smoker.” “It is easy to quit smoking and “I control my life, not cigarettes.”

 

Realize that your old belief that you can’t quit is old fashioned and misinformed and that your new belief is based on new information and your newfound desire to quit smoking now.

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