Caturday: How Much Do You Sleep?

How much sleep do you need to stay healthy? Six, seven or eight hours?

I hear catnaps are good for you as long as they don’t interfere with a full night sleep.

There are all kinds of opinions and scientific research done on volunteers to delve into what goes on in the brain during sleep.


Red is waking from his catnap on the china cabinet. He seems to need a lot of sleep and his catnaps don’t keep him awake at night.





Cats have their own sleep patterns but what about yours?

There’s all kinds of sleep disorders such as sleep apnea but for the average Joe who just can’t seem to fall asleep here are some tips I have used:

• Relax before going to bed. Keep away from activities that can cause stress, excitement or anxiety before turning off the lights. I know, easier said than done!

• Try to keep to a sleep schedule. This would help regulate your body’s clock.

• No exercise before bedtime. Exercise is good but do it in the morning or during the day.

• Your bed is important. Make sure it is comfortable and your pillow free from allergens. I always shake my pillows off each day when making the bed.

• A cool temperature in the bedroom is ideal for sleeping. Also make sure it is as dark as possible. Use black-out blinds if a streetlight shines in your window.

• Check for anything in the bedroom causing sleep disturbances. I mention this because I would wake up in the night and not be able to go back to sleep. I could smell a fragrance. Finally I realized it was coming from a candle I had in the room. Once I got rid of the candle, my sleep was much better. In fact, I pitched the candle into the garbage.

• I recommend take all candles out of your bedroom. Regular scented candles are a huge source of indoor air pollution and they give off chemicals that are considered just as dangerous as second-hand smoke

• Do try to sleep at least 7 hours a night. Surveys I read said this was an ideal sleeptime but everyone is different. Don’t jeapodize your health by trying to get by on less sleep. Sleep repairs the body.

• Don’t eat anything after 8 P.M. I don’t recommend alcohol but an oz or so of sherry has been a good tonic, taken a 1/2 hour before bedtime, for two of my aunts who lived healthy lifestyles into their 90s.

I posted this for #caturday and hope these sleep tips help anyone who is not sleeping as peacefully as a cat.

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#thealliance