Got sleep?

We all know that sleep is important for our health and fitness. And we don’t get enough of the right kind of sleep. We have trouble falling asleep. We have trouble staying asleep. And then we have trouble getting back to sleep. Lack of sleep affects our health. We’re sluggish, don’t move as much, eat more. Our productivity is diminished.

About sleep

There are three phases of sleep: light, deep and REM (rapid eye movement). We usually start with light sleep and move to deep sleep. Then it’s back to light sleep and REM, when we dream.

The cycle

Deep sleep happens most during the first part of the night usually, and is very hard to wake from.  You’ll spend about a quarter of your night in deep sleep and a quarter in REM, which is easy to emerge from.

Deep sleep helps you feel rested

You can survive on just light sleep and REM, but deep sleep is the phase that helps you feel most rested. It’s what we crave from spa treatments and pills

Pills won’t do it!

But we can’t rely on pills to take us into deep sleep. Too often when we wake from a medicated sleep we feel foggy.

Try a cave!

If you want real deep sleep, turn off all your lights. Make your bedroom a cave.

Meditation works too! If you’re new to meditation and have heard of its benefits, try guided meditation – send me a message and I’ll email you one of the short guided meditations I’ve created in mp3 format. They’re restful and soothing (and free). Just the thing to help you sleep!

A Cautionary Tale

FranI went to the dentist the other day – nothing earth-shattering there. I do it every 6 months. (All those pearly whites are my own!) I really like my dentist. She’s a cool lady and she talks about stuff I’m usually interested in – books, dogs, music, card games (well, not that interested, but OK) and roller coasters (definitely not interested in going on them myself, but I have a horrified fascination in others who enjoy coasters).

But this time I learned that she doesn’t have any dogs at the moment and probably will not be getting one in the foreseeable future. The good doctor rescued senior Labrador Retrievers and cared for them for their remaining lives. What a good thing! But she told me that at about the same time that her last one passed away, her husband had a bad fall and broke his hip and his wrist. He’s out of rehab now, but will probably need a walker for the rest of his life, sadly.

Too close to home

This is getting too close to home! I recently wrote about my conversation with Kathleen Cameron, Senior Director of the National Council on Aging regarding the seriousness of falls and how they can be prevented.  https://fitness-over-50.com/2017/07/prevent-falls-my-interview-with-kathleen-cameron/

I asked my dentist what she does to maintain or strengthen her balance, and she said, “Well, just keep up my strength, I guess…” Not good enough. You can prevent falls by improving your balance!

Our bodies change as we age

As we age, our bodies change and lose the ability to balance. Even if you work out regularly, even if you eat right, your balance will diminish unless you specifically do something about it!

Can you commit?

Practicing Yoga is good. Tai Chi is also good. But these practices must be continual. You have to really commit to them in order for your balance to show improvement.

Maybe not, but you’ve got 2 minutes a day!

But you can improve your balance in as little as two minutes a day. Exercise your balance. Do specific balance exercises. Join the “Balance for Fitness, Balance for Life” community on Facebook which gives you an exercise a day to perform. Like standing on one leg while brushing your teeth. This is an older picture – Booker is bored with my routine now and doesn’t feel the need to supervise.

I know it’s helped me! I recently fell – stepped on a rock the wrong way at night in a parking lot. It was extremely painful, and I thought my knee would be injured badly. But the only damage was a scrape on my shin that was gone in a couple of weeks. (I do have a scar as a memento now because I never keep scrapes covered for as long as you’re supposed to…)

So, the moral of this tale is, don’t fall and need a cane or walker forever! Practice your balance!

 

Don’t let them squash your joy!

Fran holding Booker with the judge
Booker and the Judge (and me)

I’ve talked about the ups, and downs, and more downs, and frustrations of dog training here. It’s part of my life, so I talk about it. I train my Boston Terrier, Booker in Obedience. I’m holding him in the picture to the left. To our right is the judge at the Obedience Trial where we earned Booker’s Novice Obedience title.

Doing Obedience with a Boston takes a great deal of patience and consistency. You don’t see many at Obedience trials. You see lots of Golden Retrievers and Border Collies.

Bostons are goofballs. It takes about 3 years for their brains to start to settle in. All they want to do is play, eat, play, sleep, and play some more. To earn an obedience title on a Boston takes a whole lot of persistence.

And now that we’ve earned the first regular title in AKC (American Kennel Club – the organization in which Booker is registered), I aim to continue and progress to the next level. Which will take even more training and practice and persistence and patience and consistency.

Back to the main theme…

Booker and I earned that title in 3 days this Spring. Since we earned the title all in one year, we’re qualified to enter the AKC Obedience Classic. Every dog that earned a title all in one year is eligible to enter the Classic.

As any user of Facebook does, I was scrolling through my groups and newsfeeds today. And there is a long discussion that the Classic is nothing more than a money-maker for the AKC.

That may certainly be one reason to hold the trial, but I’m not looking at it like that.

The Obedience Classic is a venue to show how proud the competitors are of the work they put in. Proud of their dogs and their training. It’s a chance for all of that training to be recognized in a venue where people may observe that might be inspired to train their own dogs.

The Classic is held at the place where the Agility Invitational and the National Dog Show is held. But people who may get tired of the noise could stop in to watch some of the best teams in the country compete. Watch the bond these teams have – person and dog – nothing better!

So, for those who say that anyone can get in to the Obedience Classic, and that it’s nothing more than a regular show, I don’t buy it. It demonstrates the love and passion a person has for their dog!