John Aaron Wellness

When you have back pain, sleeping can be hard. Not only can pain make for a miserable bedtime, but not getting enough sleep can actually make chronic pain hurt more the next day. It can be a vicious cycle. Aside from a good therapeutic massage, finding a proper sleep position can also help reduce back pain. So if you are a side sleeper, try placing a pillow between your knees to keep your spine in a neutral position and relieve strain on your back. If you need to sleep on your back, sliding a pillow under your knees should help, too. And always be sure to sleep on a comfortably firm mattress. If pain persists and is still making it hard to sleep after a few days, be sure to talk to your doctor. Oh, and getting into good bedtime habits -- including keeping a regular bedtime and wake time schedule -- can help too.

“Snoring Sid snored so loud he kept the town awake.  Everyone would run and hide when the ground began to shake.  He tried to make himself quit snoring but nothing helped to stop the loud roaring.  SNNNNOOOORREEE rattle rattle  SNNNNOOOORRRREEE:”  ~ Excerpt from; Snoring Sid; Funny Children's Short Story, by Kimberly Vargas I got a kick out of reading this short story, mostly because my 4 year old daughter finds snoring to be quite funny. However, snoring can indicate the symptoms of something far more sinister. If you’re overweight and you snore, your size may have something to do with it. And if you’re snoring, your sleep — and overall health — may be suffering. Snoring is a symptom of sleep apnea — a condition in which a person stops breathing for short periods during the night. A person with sleep apnea may suffer from: • Daytime sleepiness • Difficulty concentrating • Heart-related issues The risk for sleep apnea is higher for peopl...

I have got to say that my sleep is always best when I’ve got a cool pillow to rest my head on. Nothing starts your day off better than getting a good night's sleep. And, since getting a full night’s sleep is essential to overall health, finding the right pillow can help. "Pillows can not only impact the quality of our sleep, but also how healthfully we rest and recharge," says sleep expert Michael Breus, PhD, a clinical psychologist and author of ‘Beauty Sleep: Look Younger, Lose Weight, and Feel Great Through Better Sleep.’ Just as a good pillow can help your health, using the wrong one can make you miserable.  A bad pillow won't be the cause of any of these problems, but using the incorrect pillow can worsen headaches, neck pain, shoulder and arm numbness, discomfort, and induce sneezing, and wheezing. All of which can keep you from getting a good night's rest. Don’t forget that if your pillow is old, it is more than likely overflowing with dead skin cel...

It’s true. It’s Edison’s fault. While technology has advanced our species it has also impacted eons of evolutionary progress. Few people understand the connection or how the process of invention can have a negative effect on our health, but I can’t help but sense their related connection. For example, “circadian rhythm” is a term used to describe the internal clock regulating the activities all living creatures perform throughout a 24-hour day. While this internal clock may differ, some animals are nocturnal while others are active during the daylight hours, the circadian rhythm reigns supreme over everything within the body like temperature, appetite and energy level. It’s the reason why some people can regularly wake up at a specific time without the use of an alarm clock. Before Edison’s miraculous invention came about, our human circadian rhythms were closely matched with the 24 hour cycle found in nature. We got up with the Sun and slept when it went down. By nature, and ext...

So, since we’ve already gone over some of the benefits of actively getting enough sleep, I’m sure you are eager to secure better sleep help with your weight loss efforts. Yet, you may be wondering how do I get better sleep? The first step is to prepare for bed time. Choose a bed time and stick with it. You need to be sure you have enough time to sleep. Many studies suggest that while you may be able to function on four or five hours of sleep each night, most people require more. On average, you should be getting about eight hours of sleep each night, give or take an hour. I know for some of you this may mean you will be giving up your late night dancing, movies or television. It may even mean you delay your morning workout, but getting your body's hormones regulated will pay off. Sometimes I find clients that spend plenty of time in bed at night wake up feeling un-rested in the morning. If you have the same issues, you may be living with a sleep disorder and may need a professio...

That's right: it’s all hormones! If you’ve read any of my articles regarding sleep and weight loss, then you know the medical fact that spending an ample amount of time getting shuteye is essential to helping your body get rid of those unwanted pounds. But have you ever wondering how it works? Read on as I try to make sense of this amazing process. Our bodies are filled with all kinds of hormones that are responsible for doing any number of things. Two hormones; leptin and ghrelin, are predominantly responsible for influences on your appetite. In other words, these two hormones make you feel either hungry or satiated. Ghrelin is responsible for making you to feel hungry and leptin alerts your brain to the sensation that you are “full” and have had enough to eat. Here’s where the problem with sleep deprivation begins. A lack of sleep can result in your leptin levels to plummet and your ghrelin levels to rise. The result being that you feel hungry more often than you ought to and, ...

I love the morning. It’s my favorite time of the day. So, naturally, it’s also my favorite time to exercise. Likewise, when clients ask me what is the “best” time for them to exercise, I recommend “first thing in the morning.” Actually, exercising during any time of the day is proven to help you obtain and maintain a healthy weight. But, recent research seems to back-up my theory that exercising in the morning gives you an “edge” to your pursuits, a little more “bang” for your effort. Anyway, I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, “You’re full of it, John. You’re just trying to trick me into leaving the warm comfort of my bed for the cold steel of a weight room!” While that may not be far from the truth, hear me out because I think an early morning workout can improve your life in several ways all at once. First, you’ll notice that working out during the first few hours of the day helps you sleep better at night. Typically, working out in the evening can increase adrenaline, and...