The Art of Living: Sleep

PHOTOCREDIT

Last week, or so, in Psychology, we've been talking about sleep. As I thought about it, I figured it would be a perfect "art" to master. The way sleep works, it has various stages and forms a rhythm that your body needs. Not to get technical, there are 4 stages, re-occurring about 5 times in eight hours of sleep. Each of these cycles of the stages are very important to the body, thus taking hours from sleep, you deprive your body of cycles it needs.
So some say they function better on less sleep. WRONG. Some say they can catch up on weekends. WRONG. The older one gets, the less sleep they need, but it isn't until middle age, or later, that a person needs less than eight hours. As for catching up on sleep, sleep is not money. You can't spend a ton and pay it back later. It simply won't work. Now I'll admit I'm a night owl, but science has shown that getting sleep when it is DARK outside is Vital! Your body naturally wants to sleep at night. Granted, those who work night shifts, don't have this option. You say their body gets used to it? Only after MANY years of the same schedule. This is, obviously, all scientific. Later, I will do a lesson focusing on dreaming and interpretations. But back to science and actual sleep.
I suffer from insomnia. It is the most common sleep disorder, and the only one I will talk about. Insomnia is difficulty getting to sleep, to put it simply. There are medications, sleep aides, to help, but these alter your mind and could possibly cause sleep cycles (the earlier mentioned 4 stages) to become altered. Other then medications and chemicals there are various ways to help an insomniac go to sleep. Here are a few:

• Tense each of the muscles in your body, one at a time, then relax them.
• Don't worry in bed. If you absolutely have to, get up and write all your worries down to relieve your mind of them.
• Make a regular routine. Maybe you get home, homework, dinner, shower, reading, and sleep. Or maybe get in bed with a book and a cup of tea. A routine becomes a signal to your mind that "Hey, anytime these things happen this way, it's time to shut down."
• Consentrate on pleasant things to relax and sleep.
• Don't try to force yourself to sleep, it will only back fire.
• Remove things such as TVs and Computers when you're sleeping. Better yet, TURN OFF THE PHONE! Don't respond to texts or answer phone calls, they'll only cause you to stay awake LONGER by waking your mind back up.
• Focus on breathing.
• Watch out for intrusive lights. Any bright lights, blue lights, red lights, these discract the mind and bother the eyes.

These are only a few things to do. Most importantly, get good sleep, at least 8 hours, during the dark time of day. Like wise, don't nap. It will disrupt the sleep cycle as a whole. If you have to nap, make it no longer then 30 - 45 min, this short time shouldn't disrupt your sleeping at bed time.
Does anyone else have any ideas? Comments?
*kisses*
Princess Raelynn

Behind the Fashion: Victoria Suzanne

The magnificent Victoria Suzanne of Lolita Charm has agreed to participate in this series. She is the author of one of my favorite blogs to read and I am eternally grateful to her for doing this.



What inspired you to wear Lolita?
I started researching and wearing lolita after I saw the movie Kamikaze Girls, which features a lolita main character. After seeing her style and then finding out about the fashion, I was hooked and started doing my own research.

What do you like to wear when not in Lolita?
When I’m not in lolita, I still wear very feminine clothes that mix the styles of morigirl, otome, or gyaru – basically bows, lilac shorts, anything with rhinestones, and still plenty of curls. My favorite non-lolita brands are Pink by Victoria’s Secret and Juicy Couture.

Are you in school? If so what is your major/grade?
I’m a junior in college, and majoring in marketing with an aim to work in fashion merchandising.

What would you say are your “non-lolita” hobbies?
I’m not sure I’d say there are lolita hobbies versus non-lolita hobbies, but these are some of my more unusual ones – bellydancing and hoop dancing. They’re both great workouts that keep me in shape and include a lot of grace and artistry.

What kind of music do you enjoy?
Mostly I listen to anything that strikes my fancy or reminds me of something or someone. I’m really sentimental about music in that way – I really listen to the lyrics as opposed to just the sound. But my two ‘genres’ are Lady Gaga (in a class by herself!) and country music. The latter might sound surprising, but I’m from the boondocks and have a lot of family in the south, so it reminds me of home and especially my dad, who plays country on his accoustic guitar.

Books?
Books are like music – they have to strike my fancy. A few of my favorites are fairytales by Francesca Lia Block, anything by Diana Wynne Jones (who wrote the original Howl’s Moving Castle), and of course the classics like Alice in Wonderland and a Little Princess. Anything in that old-school ‘books for girls’ style is cute, too – like this little secondhand book I have called Adopted Jane. They make pink lemonade the old-fashioned way and all the girls wear white party dresses to church sociables – very Anne of Green Gables kind of flavor.

What do you think is the least Lolita about you?
Least lolita about me? That’s like asking me what is least American about me – I’m American all over! I wouldn’t say I have lolita and non-lolita parts of my life. I am a lolita, I live my life, and therefore everything in it makes up my lolita lifestyle. So I don’t feel like I have non-lolita parts that I should hide or seperate.