To live a well balanced, rewarding life of our dreams by day and sleep restfully at night.
Want to sleep like a pro? Drink more H2O!
Published May 5, 2013 | 
Photo Credit: Spokesindoorcycling.com
I will confess right now, there are times when I am not always good about keeping myself hydrated. I get on a very go-go pace with my daily life activities, I drink my coffee, teas, and wine at night… then my body gets to feeling sluggish, run down, I’m not sleeping as well… Hmm… what’s the problem? I am dehydrated, that’s what!
I know when I am good about drinking plenty of water, I feel like a million bucks! I have more energy, confidence, I look better, and I sleep better at night (much better)!
Our bodies are made up of 70% water. It is essential that we keep ourselves hydrated for our vitality and well-being.
Here are a few ideas to help us get the water we need:
1. When we get up in the morning, drink a big glass of water first thing (before that first cup of coffee). A little lemon or splash of raw apple cider vinegar in the water is a nice way to cleanse our bodies in the morning
2. I will never be one to tell you not to drink your coffee or wine or beer or whatever you enjoy… but perhaps we can make it a habit to drink plenty of water before and after we enjoy our favorite beverages.
3. Have a bottle of water in your car.
4. Have a bottle of water with you whenever you are active: biking, gym, yoga, hiking, etc.
5. If you watch tv, get in the habit of drinking water during commercial breaks.
Little changes in our habits and just becoming more conscious of the importance of drinking more water will reap us tremendous health benefits.
How much water should we drink? A good goal would be to drink 1/2 of our body weight in ounces daily. For example, if you weigh 140 pounds, your goal would be to drink 70 ounces.
For more information on the importance of staying hydrated, I recommend:
Dr. Batmanghelidj’s site www.WaterCure.com (I learned about this when I attended Tony Robbins Unleash The Power Within event in Orlando, Florida in October of 2008).
To our health and staying hydrated.
Cheers!
Photo Credit: Allwomenstalk.com
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If a good night sleep remains elusive to you, do these six things tonight!
Published April 18, 2013 | 
If a good night sleep remains elusive for you, try:
1. skipping your afternoon cola, coffee, or tea
2. not watching television at night
3. don’t exercise after 6:00pm
4. An hour before bedtime sip on that herbal sleepytime tea or glass of warm milk
5. Do some light stretching and breathing exercises.
6. Clear your mind of things that you are either upset about or excited about. A hot bath and getting lost in a good book before sleep is a good way to relax the mind.
Sweet Dreams!
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You know you really need some sleep when (yawn)….
Published April 7, 2013 | 
You know you really need some sleep when:
1. after pouring yourself a cup of coffee, you put the carafe in the refrigerator rather than the coffee maker.
2. everything makes you cry or
3. everything makes you laugh hysterically.
4. you barely recognize the reflection staring back at you in the mirror.
5. people take one look at you and they know they don’t want to mess with you.
6. you don’t care about what your hair looks like
7. you don’t want to deal with wearing contacts (your eyes are too bleary and irritated).
8. you look forever for the keys that are in your pocket and the glasses that are on top of your head.
9. you forget to feed your cat (the horror)!
Yep, you’re a wreck for sure. If this remotely sounds like you, it is time to:
1. brew up some sleepy time tea,
2. eat a light supper,
3. close up the computer,
4. turn the smartphone off,
5. take a hot lavender bath,
6. light a candle,
7. get in your comfortable pjs,
8. tell your family goodnight,
9. feed the cat so it won’t disturb you,
10. slip into bed and read a book. A book? yes, a book! (I caught you…put that phone away)!
11. Soon you will be ready to turn off the lights and sleep.
Tonight, you will sleep. The cares of the world do not pertain to you tonight.
This is your time to simply check out
and sleep.
Good night and sweet dreams.
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Be a guest blogger here at The Warm Milk Journal!
Published April 1, 2013 | 
I would like to offer you an opportunity to submit a guest post for The Warm Milk Journal. Our readership continues to grow and is now getting over 11,000 visitors from around the world a month. We have hundreds of followers on our Facebook page and at this writing, 16,461 people following us on Twitter.
I will share and market your post as much as I would my own. If your post is published here, I expect you to do the same.
A few guidelines:
1. Familiarize yourself with our site first. Our content is a bit eclectic. We welcome anything that supports living a well balanced life by day and sleeping restfully at night. Most posts are pretty short in length.
2. Sample topics may include anything to do with: insomnia, anxiety, health and wellness, journal writing, what makes us happy, how to relax and overcome stress, spirituality, meditation, poetry, travel, bedroom design and decor, etc.
3. People I would like to hear from: any person who is challenged and has solutions for above topics, people from the health and wellness industry, medical providers such as: doctors, nurses, counselors, yoga instructors, massage therapists, chiropractors, etc., hospitality industry (hotel managers or B&B owners), travel industry, mattress companies, sleep aid products, feng shui experts, etc.
4. Note, it is fine that you have a product or service but please offer content of value to our readership. I will not publish anything that is strictly a marketing piece.
5. Your submission needs to be an original post (not published on your own site or anywhere else).
6. Interested? Please email me: Debratech@msn.com. Attach your article via an editable Word document. You may include a brief bio, link to your site, and a photo you would like me to use.
This blogging journey has been a tremendously rewarding one. There is nothing like feeling passionate about something and sharing it with others. I feel very blessed to be sharing this experience with you. I am excited to see what comes of this. We are never alone and we can always learn from each other. I think it will be wonderful for you to be able to share here at The Warm Milk Journal and for our readership to enjoy new content from different voices.
Happy Writing!
In Peace,
Debra 
Let’s share this adventure together! I look forward to hearing from you. Cheers!
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Posted in adventures, anxiety, Bedroom ideas, Blogging, creative writing, Getting a good night sleep, Guest blogging, guest blogging, insomnia, Products for a good night sleep, Products for Journal Writing, Self-empowerment, The Warm Milk Journal, Ways to relax, worry | 
guest blogging, guest posting, insomnia, products for a good night sleep | 
2 CommentsFive “Therapies” for a Good Night Sleep
Published March 21, 2013 | 
Tonight, I offer you these five therapies to get a good night sleep (and they won’t cost you a penny)!
1. Walking. There is nothing like a great walk outside in the fresh air. I always sleep better if I have taken at least one walk during the day or night.
2. Meditation: It can be sitting still or part of the walking therapy (see above). A still, centered mind is what we need to sleep restfully.
3. Writing: in all forms! Journal writing, poetry, free writing, writing down our worries, writing down our questions, affirmations, etc. Just write!
4. Love: spend quality time with loved ones (including pets).
5. Cooking: I just love to pour my glass of red wine, crank up the jazz music on Pandora, and cook away. Very healing and creative and spiritual (the cooking part), Good food in belly (the eating part), sleep (the result)…
These five therapies are a good start. To be continued…
Sweet Dreams!
Debra
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Four States of Mind Conducive to a Good Night Sleep
Published March 17, 2013 | 
I find being in these four states of mind are most conducive to a restful night of sleep:
1. Being confident: If you are confident in yourself you will be immune to sleep-robbing anxiety
2. Faith: knowing that God loves you and that you are on the right path… God, the universe, and life support you and are working with you. With faith, there is no mountain you can not move (including getting a good night sleep).
3. Feeling grounded and centered. Meditation and spending time outdoors will really help you get in this wonderful peaceful, neutral place where life events and circumstances can not uproot you.
4. Being love and loved. Love is really all there is. If were are not in a state of love, we are in a state of fear and we will not sleep as well. Simple, right?
In Peace,
Debra
I would like to dedicate this post to my sweet husband and life partner, John. John, you make the fourth state of mind, being loved and loving easy. I so appreciate your friendship, companionship, encouraging me to always be my best, and your just being there. I love you!
P.S. Thank you Fawn Weaver over at HappyWivesClub.com. I just love the idea of celebrating love and honoring our husbands and marriage. Love is truly the greatest gift there is.
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Three things to do to prevent middle of the night insomnia
Published March 15, 2013 | 
I usually fall asleep pretty easily initially. I can, however, count on getting woken up at least once in the middle of the night due to my bladder, husband, cat, or a dream…
I find three things usually work to get me back to sleep as quick as possible.
1. Be as still as possible. Once I start fidgeting and tossing and turning it’s all over… (and I am awake)!
2. If I was in the middle of a dream before I woke up, I try to immerse myself back in the dream (providing the dream was not too scary or disturbing). This dream remembrance technique gets us back into that dreamy sleep state fast.
3. The third thing I like to do is a conscious breathing technique. It is very simple. When I inhale I think of a one syllable word and when I exhale I think of a one syllable word or sound.
For example:
inhale: “so”, exhale “hum”
inhale: “God’s”, exhale “love”
inhale: “peace”, exhale “peace”.
This keeps my mind focused on something neutral and prevents it from beginning to wander and churn about events of the day, my to do list, work, financial worries, etc.
I wish you a peaceful and restful night (all the way through the night)!
Debra
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Posted in Breathing exercise, Getting a good night sleep, insomnia, Meditations, Tips to help insomnia | being still in bed, breathing, dream remembrance, getting back to sleep, getting woken up in the middle of night, insomnia, meditating in bed, middle of the night insomnia, simple breathing, so hum | Leave a commentEleven things to think of when the lights go out (to get to sleep quickly)
Published March 1, 2013 | Ideally, we have sufficiently exercised during the day,
not had too much caffeine or eaten too close to bedtime,
and not have subjected ourselves to violent or overly stimulating movies, news broadcasts, or video games after 6:00 pm…
When it is bedtime we want to think of things that calm us.
It helps to take a hot bath, then slip on something very comfortable.
I love my sleepwear! I have satiny pjs and night gowns, flannel pjs for the cooler nights, and my beloved plush green fleece bathrobe…
When the lights go out, I have several things that I like to think of (depending on my mood).
In no particular order, I like to focus on:
1. The color blue. It is my favorite color and it is very soothing…blue ocean waves, blue flowers, blue sky….
2. My husband John and how much I love him
3. God. When I focus on God I feel safe, loved, and very secure.
4. Focus on my breath and the comfort of my bed, blankets, pillow, and sweet husband next to me.
5. A favorite memory
6. a wonderful smell (such as apples, cinnamon, and spice or lavender). There are pillow mists available out there that are nice. I love the ones from Bath and Body works or you can make your own…
7. The colors of the rainbow
8. A favorite view from nature (from on top of a a mountain, ocean, in the forest..)
9. This sounds silly but sometimes I drift off to sleep very quickly if I think of something technical such as how to change something on a website.
10. My many blessings
11. A trip or vacation that I am looking forward to.
I like to drift off to sleep with a smile on my face and in my heart knowing that I am loved, safe, and have a great life!
In Peace,
Debra
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For the cause of a good night sleep, I will do these five things…
Published February 23, 2013 | 
To get a good night sleep I am now promising myself to:
1. get plenty of exercise during the day.
2. not let the stress of my work day follow me home,
3. to focus on my blessings
4. cultivate peace in myself
5. bless and release things that are not under my control.
In Peace,
Debra
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Keeping a Healthy Perspective on our Social Media Use
Published February 20, 2013 | 
Social media can be a wonderful place when you are challenged with anxiety and insomnia. On sites like Facebook and Twitter, you can find:
1. a positive community ready to support you
2. Lot’s of good information
3. a way to relax
I am a huge fan of Social Media. I love it for the above three reasons, it has helped me build a readership for The Warm Milk Journal, and I just think it is a lot of fun.
That said, a healthy perspective is necessary. Moderation and self-regulation is important to prevent social media use from creating more harm than good.
If we find ourselves on it too much, that is not a good thing for our well-being and sleep. The addictive quality (especially when one has a smartphone), the need for validation,etc. can get us caught up too much in it. The result will be anxiety, an ill, weird feeling that we are wasting our lives, and our relationships may suffer too.
We don’t want that do we?
To keep a healthy perspective in regards to our social media use,
I recommend:
1. Not bringing your phone everywhere
2. Don’t let virtual relationships with people you meet online replace flesh and blood relationships
3. Take a social media sabbatical once in a while. You won’t believe how much you will recharge if you take a week or at least a couple of days entirely off.
4. If you use it late at night, be sure it is only relaxing activities that you do (nothing too work related).
In Peace,
Debra
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