To live a well balanced, rewarding life of our dreams by day and sleep restfully at night.
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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The Mew Way: Not being bothered by much
Published April 14, 2013 | 
The Mew Way is all about not being bothered by much.
Aside from an empty food dish and dirty litter box, what is there in life to worry about?
When you are hungry, eat.
When you are sleepy, take a nap.
When you want attention, meow for it.
When you are lonely, seek out a warm comfy lap.
If your tail gets stepped on, squawk, and then get over it quickly.
Anything unpleasant gets forgiven and forgotten.
Pleasant purrfectly things are savored and appreciated.
Living this kind of life, The Mew Way, will guarantee you will not miss much sleep at night.
Right Mew?
Sweet Dreams!
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Five ways to treat others for a good night sleep
Published March 12, 2013 | 
How we treat others during our day will affect how well we sleep at night.
Are we spending the time with the people we love complaining much of the time?
Are we criticizing?
Are we working too many hours and neglecting our spouse and children?
Are we on the road impatiently speeding, passing, beeping our horn, or distractedly (and putting others in danger) by being on our phones texting when we should have our eyes on the road?
photo credit: Meshbesher.com
This list, unfortunately can go on…
This morning, I am setting an intention to:
1. Treat others with patience
2. treat others with dignity
3. Treat others with my full attention when I am with them
4. Treat others with an open mind
5. Treat others with a compassionate heart.
I will keep it simple. If I do these five things today I am certain I will sleep well tonight.
Oh, and I will remember to apply these five intentions to myself as well.
Have a blessed day and restful night!
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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Follow these twelve Mew Way principles and you will never be sleep deprived again!
Published January 17, 2013 | 
When is the best time to sleep? I posed this question to my sweetest muse, Mew… and he pondered the question at great length.
This is what he came up with (if we truly want to live life The Mew Way we had better pay attention now…)
The best times in the world to sleep are:
1. When the family is watching a movie after dinner. The living room is dark (except for a soothing glow from the television). There is a comfy couch and many more comfy laps to sink into…
2. After breakfast.
3. After lunch.
4. After dinner.
5. After a late night snack.
6. After doing the look out the window at back patio critter meditation.
7. During mommy’s blogging time.
8. During mommy’s coffee and newspaper time.
9. After a good stretch.
10. After a stressful event (such as when a door is slammed too loud or strange people come into the house).
11. At night, after living a full and rich Mew Way life (plenty of naps, eating, observing human life indoors and nature outdoors…)
12. If feeling sleep deprived after applying these eleven rules, then apply the final twelfth rule:
sleeping anytime is the perfect time to sleep!
Thank you, Mew!
This is Mew’s brother Patches, demonstrating the perfectly timed nap.
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Six ways to Stay Still to Get a Better Night Sleep
Published January 13, 2013 | 
A worrying, fidgety mind and restless body are not going to set us up for the best night of sleep. When we are lying there in the dark and find that we can not sleep, our impulse is to toss and turn, sigh heavily, get up repeatedly, etc. This course of action is going to give us a miserable night of insomnia (and probably our partners as well).
Instead of this stressful scenario when we find ourselves awake when we’d rather be sleeping, why not do these six things instead?
1. Cultivate an attitude of not caring so much whether we sleep or not… if we loosen up our expectations about how well we are going to sleep we just may become relaxed enough to sleep!
2. If we find ourselves awake at night, resist the urge to move and fidget. Be still! I have found doing this one thing alone has really helped me go to sleep.
3. Do what we can during the day to set us up for being more still (physically and mentally) at night. Exercise, write down our worries before bedtime in a journal, do something soulful such as meaningful work or helping somebody…
4. This is worth repeating:
do not care or stress about whether you are going to sleep or not.
I think the more we stress, focus, and identify with something we may unintentionally manifest what we don’t want. So, don’t give your insomnia any attention at all. Relax. If you don’t sleep well tonight it is okay. It won’t kill you. Just relax and be as still as possible. Breathe. Think about something that is going well in your life. Breathe…
5. Realize that you may be sleeping more than you think. Even if you are just lying there awake your body is still getting rest (and your mind too if you are not stressing about being awake).
6. Consider starting a meditation practice to train your body and mind to be still and at peace. This is really worth doing!
In Peace,
Debra
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Five ways blogging can help you get a good night sleep!
Published January 11, 2013 | 
How can blogging give us a good night sleep?
Here are five ways:
1. Blogging is a terrific creative outlet. However you want to express yourself, you can do it by blogging. There is something very relaxing and satisfying about creating something. I feel so fulfilled and at peace after I have posted (especially when I know it is a really good one)!
2. Blogging helps you be heard! We all have voices that need to be heard. When you put something you believe in that is a part of you out there to the world and the world responds back in a positive way- that is enormously affirming! Feeling affirmed and valued will definitely help you sleep at night.
3. Blogging is good for connecting with like minded and supportive people. We are social beings. When you become a part of a community and you feel like you are contributing to it… that is a very satisfying feeling to drift off to sleep with.
4. Blogging is writing and writing is healing….
5. If your day job is not fulfilling you, blogging can keep you feeling motivated and your spirits high.
Whether you feel like you are a writer or not, I encourage you to give blogging a try. Whatever your interests may be, there are certainly people out there who share your enthusiasms or experiences too. Blogging does not have to cost you a thing! There are many free blogging platforms such as WordPress.com, Blogger, and Tumblr just to name a few.
Here’s to expressing ourselves, being affirmed and validated, and contributing to and being supported by our community!
The bottom line is we all have the need to be significant and have purpose.
Blogging about something you care about can give you that.
Guess what? If you feel significant and feel as if your life has purpose, you will not have much issues with anxiety or getting to sleep at night…
In peace,
Debra
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Cruising your way to a Good Night Sleep
Published December 26, 2012 | 
This past week I had the good fortune to take a holiday Carnival cruise from my hometown of Jacksonville, Florida. We had delightful stops in Key West, Florida and Nassau. It was a great time with my family.
While cruising, I learned a few things (this was my first cruise). I also was reminded that when it comes to getting a good night sleep, universal rules apply whether you are on land or sea.
Today, I offer you seven ways to get you cruising towards a good night sleep tonight and every night:
1. Before you go to bed, write your worries, to do lists, and goals in a journal. That way you get this busy mental activity out on paper rather than having it swimming around in your mind as you lay there in the dark wanting to sleep.
2. Be sure you drink plenty of water and get enough exercise during the day (especially important during the holidays or on a cruise with so much yummy food to eat). Our cruise ship had a wonderful fitness center on the top deck. I was blissed doing the Life Cycle while staring out at the wide open ocean view.
3. Make sure you have one thing to look forward to for the next day. Anticipation is a spirit lifter. Drift off to sleep happily…
Fun is about as good a habit as there is. ~Jimmy Buffet
4. Cultivate an attitude of gratitude. Get in the habit of thanking others and God for all of the good in your life. I found the staff and my fellow cruise passengers to be so gracious. I could not help but to feel blessed!
5. Praise your partner/spouse. What comes out of our lips makes a big difference in the quality of our most important relationship. I know I don’t sleep well at all if I have said something unkind to my husband. Even thinking unkind thoughts will affect my peace of mind.
6. When things get rocky, go with the flow. Once in a while I would feel the ship move. Instead of letting it make me feel uncomfortable, I consciously relaxed into the movement. No Dramamine even required.
7. Don’t try to do everything. While cruising, there is always so much one can do. If you don’t watch yourself, you will end up coming home exhausted. It helps to schedule unstructured “do nothing” time into each day.
We all need empty hours in our lives or we will have no time to create or dream. ~Robert Coles
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All I Want For Christmas is a Good Night Sleep
Published December 25, 2012 | All I Want For Christmas is a Good Night Sleep (Sung to the tune of All I Want
for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth)
Photo credit: ehow.com
Everybody stops and stares at me
Those two baggy eyes as you can see
I don’t know just who to blame for this catastrophe!
But my one wish on Christmas is as plain as it can be!
All I want for Christmas
Is a good night sleep,
A good night sleep,
Yes, a good night sleep!
Gee, if I could only
Get a good night sleep,
Then I could cheerily wish you
“Merry Christmas”!
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Six things we can do to give ourselves the gift of a good night sleep.
Published December 3, 2012 | 
We can give ourselves the gift of a good night sleep this holiday season if we remember to:
1. stay hydrated during the day.
2. don’t commit to too many things.
3. be easy on ourselves and others.
4. wear socks on our feet at night
5. invest in the best mattress, linens, and pillows that money can buy
6. incorporate laughter and fun into each day!
In Peace,
Debra
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