This New Natural Testosterone Booster Has Men Everywhere Raving

This New Natural Testosterone Booster Has Men Everywhere Raving 

Wow ... I'm getting old.

It's a disturbing thought, one that usually hits after an unexpected physical challenge. Maybe you've been unable to maintain your usual workout levels, or recovery is taking a lot longer than it used to. Perhaps fixes to the house are just a bit more difficult, or you can't perform in the bedroom the way you used to.

What's most startling about this realization is that you don't normally "feel old" but, nevertheless, you know you don't look or feel like the man you used to be.

And the issue? You might not have enough free testosterone

A person's bloodstream contains two types of testosterone: bonded testosterone and free testosterone. Bonded testosterone attaches to molecules in the body and is mostly ineffective. However, free testosterone can enter your cells easily and plays a vital role in libido, strength, stamina, and vitality-all of which are important to men

Over the last few years the market has been flooded with questionable options for increasing a man's free testosterone levels: useless pills, questionable supplements, and dangerous or illegal medical treatments. But now a group of researchers in Boston, Massachusetts have developed a dietary supplement that triggers the body to increase its levels of free testosterone naturally and safely.

Called Nugenix, the supplement primarily relies on an ingredient called Testofen ®, which comes from the rare Fenugreek plant. Testofen ® has been shown in clinical trials to boost free testosterone levels, increase sex drive, and improve libido. Adding to Nugenix's potency are additional key ingredients like zinc and vitamins B12 and B6, which have been shown to improve physical performance and strength, increase drive, and aid in recovery.

Nugenix has no harmful side effects, is manufactured in the United States under FDA Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), and has been shown to deliver improvements in strength and endurance in as little as a week.
This isn't product hype delivered by a know-it-all enthusiast from the gym. According to studies held in both Irvine, California and Queensland, Australia, the results from Nugenix are nothing short of spectacular. From greater muscle definition and quicker recovery times, to increased sex drive and feelings of alertness, these users are reporting virtual transformations as a result of safely boosting their free testosterone with Nugenix.
Nugenix is ​​the top selling men's vitality product in GNC, outselling every other brand-many of which don't contain the clinically substantiated amounts of Testofen ® needed to see actual results.
Best of all, right now the company that manufacturers Nugenix is ​​giving away samples of the products to qualifying customers who request them online.

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Simple Steps to Get You Back to Sleep Fast

Insomnia: relax ... and stop worrying about lack of sleep 

What is the solution to the torture of insomnia? Drugs? Therapy? Or are different sleep patterns natural? A new book investigates

Every night, about a third of adults have problems falling or staying asleep that aren't related to a persistent sleep disorder. As they lie in bed, many are caught in the classic paradox of insomnia: wanting sleep so badly that they can't get it. "The condition of sleep is profoundly contradictory," notes Emily Martin, a professor at New York University who has studied insomnia. "It is a precious good ... but it is a good like none other, because to obtain it one must seemingly give up the imperative to have it

For doctors, insomnia presents a chicken or egg problem. Is sleeplessness a result of another condition such as depression, or is the insomnia the root of the other problem? One report by the US National Institute of Mental Health found that depression rates were 40 times higher for patients with insomnia than those without sleep problems. Mental health experts increasingly view depression or anxiety as an effect, rather than a cause, of insomnia. Taking care of insomnia may therefore calm other aspects of a patient's life.And yet insomnia is a unique and difficult condition to treat because it is self-inflicted. The cause is often the brain's refusal to give up its unequalled ability to think about itself, a metaphenomenon that Harvard professor Daniel M Wegner has called "the ironic process of mental control". To illustrate this concept, imagine someone telling you that you will be judged on how quickly you can relax. Your initial reaction most likely is to tighten up. After he posed that challenge to research subjects, Wegner found that the average person becomes anxious as his or her mind constantly monitors its progress toward its goal, caught up in the second-by-second process of self-assessment.In the same way, sleep becomes more elusive as a person's sleep needs become more urgent. This problem compounds itself each night, leading to a state of chronic insomnia.Treating insomnia isn't easy. Part of the reason is that science, as a whole, has a fuzzy definition of what constitutes the disorder. One night of bad sleep because of a blaring car alarm or an upcoming stressful day at work doesn't classify as insomnia. Instead, it is generally thought of as a string of otherwise peaceful nights during which a patient can't fall asleep when he or she wants to. The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) identifies the condition as "difficulty getting or staying asleep, or having non-refreshing sleep for at least one month". The classic form has no known cause, yet is widespread. About one in 10 people in the US suffer from it during their lifetime.There is no medical test that proves whether someone is suffering from a temporary bout of sleepless nights or a more serious disorder. Some patients go to sleep labs and undergo tests to rule out conditions such as sleep apnea, but knowing what they don't have offers little help in treating what they do.Instead, doctors rely on self-reports from patients, which can be maddeningly vague, a result of the difficulty that we have with accurately noting how many hours we truly spent sleeping on any given night. Patients who have spent a night in a sleep lab, for instance, often complain that it took them more than an hour to fall asleep when a chart of their brain waves shows they were asleep within 10 minutes. Problems of self-reporting aren't limited to judging how long it took to get to sleep. Some patients wake up in labs claiming that they didn't sleep at all during the night, despite hours of video and brain wave evidence to the contrary.It is a part of the paradox that sleep presents to a conscious mind. We can't easily judge the time that we are asleep because that time feels like an absence, a break from the demands of thought and awareness. The times that we do remember are those that we wish we couldn't: staring at the clock in the middle of the night, turning the pillow over desperately hoping that the other side is cooler, kicking the covers off or pulling them up close. Those experiences, even if they last only three minutes, often become exaggerated in our minds and overshadow the hours that we spent sleeping peacefully, simply because we remember them.When insomnia starts to interfere with the routines of normal life, many people turn to pharmaceuticals.Medicines that help someone fall asleep, stay asleep, or be comfortable in between accounted for $ 30bn (£ 18.5bn) in 2010 in the US alone, which is more than what people around the world spend each year going to the movies.The sleeping pill market changed in 1993 when a French company now known as Sanofi introduced a drug called Ambien, also known by its generic name zolpidem. Ambien appeared safe enough for many doctors to break their long-standing refusal to prescribe a medication for run-of-the-mill insomnia. It quickly dominated the sleeping-pill market and rang up more than $ 1bn in sales a year. At one time, Ambien accounted for eight out of every 10 sleeping aids prescribed in the US, a near monopoly enjoyed by few other drugs in history.But here's the twist. A number of studies have shown that Ambien and other shorter-acting benzodiazepines, sometimes known as Z-drugs, such as Zimovane offer no significant improvement in the quality of sleep that a person gets. They give only a tiny bit more in the quantity department, too. In one study financed by the NIH, patients taking popular prescription sleeping pills fell asleep just 12 minutes faster than those given a sugar pill, and slept for a grand total of only 11 minutes longer throughout the night.If popular sleeping pills don't offer a major boost in sleep time or quality, then why do so many people take them? Part of the answer is the well-known placebo effect. Taking any pill, even one filled with sugar, can give some measure of comfort.But sleeping pills do something more than that. Drugs like Ambien have the curious effect of causing what is known as anterograde amnesia. The drug makes it temporarily harder for the brain to form new short-term memories. This explains why those who take a pill may toss and turn in the middle of the night but say the next day that they slept soundly. Their brains simply weren't recording all those fleeting minutes of wakefulness, allowing them to face each morning with a clean slate, unaware of anything that happened over the last six or seven hours. Some sleep doctors argue that this isn't such a bad thing. "If you forget how long you lay in bed tossing and turning, in some ways that's just as good as sleeping," one physician who worked with pharmaceutical companies told the New York Times, voicing what is a widely held opinion among the sleep doctors I spoke with.Serious problems can arise, however, when people taking a drug like Ambien don't actually stay in bed. Some have complained of waking up the next day and finding sweet wrappers in their beds, lit stoves in their kitchens, and bite marks on the pizzas in their freezers. Others have discovered broken wrists that came from falling while sleepwalking, or picked up their cell phones and seen a list of calls that they have no memory of making.Not long after a member of the Kennedy family blamed a car accident on the effects of Ambien, the US Food and Drug Administration issued new rules requiring pharmacists to explain the risk that taking certain sleeping pills could lead to things like sleep-eating, sleep- walking, or sleep-driving.Those warnings have done little to dent the popularity of sleeping pills, especially since the most popular one is cheaper than ever. Ambien went off-patent a few months before the FDA issued its new requirements. The number of patients filling a prescription for them remained steady. Many people who take sleeping pills find that their sleep quality reverts to its previous, poor state the night they decide to go without medication, a vicious cycle that increases their dependency on a drug approved only for short-term use. Facing a night of sleep without backup produces the same form of stress that originally caused the insomnia cycle to begin.Yet there is a way to treat insomnia without setting patients up for a letdown as soon as the prescription runs out. Charles Morin is a professor of psychology at Université Laval in Quebec. For more than 10 years, he has conducted studies into whether modifying behaviour can be as effective at treating insomnia as taking medication. His research focuses on cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), a treatment that psychologists often use when working with patients suffering from depression, anxiety disorders or phobias. The therapy has two parts. Patients are taught to identify and challenge worrying thoughts when they come up. At the same time, they are asked to record all of their daily actions so that they can visualise the outcome of their choices.When used as a treatment for insomnia, this form of therapy often focuses on helping patients let go of the fear that getting inadequate sleep will make them useless the next day. It works to counter another irony of insomnia: Morin found that people who can't sleep often expect more out of it than people who can.Patients with insomnia tend to think that one night of poor sleep leads to health problems or has a severe impact on their mood the next day, a mental pressure-cooker that leaves them fretting that every second they are awake in the middle of the night is another grain of salt in the wound. In the inverted logic of the condition, sleep is extremely important to someone with insomnia. Therefore, the person with insomnia can't get sleep.In a study in 1999, Morin recruited 78 test subjects who were over the age of 55 and had dealt with chronic insomnia for at least 15 years. He separated his subjects into four groups. One group was given a sleeping pill called Restoril (temazepam), a benzodiazepine sedative often prescribed for short-term insomnia. Another group was treated with CBT techniques that focused on improving their expectations and habits when it came to sleep. The members of this group were prompted to keep a sleep diary and talk to a counsellor, as well as carry out other actions. The third group was given a placebo, and the fourth was treated with a combination of Restoril and the therapy techniques.The experiment lasted for eight weeks. Morin then interviewed all of the subjects about their new sleeping habits and the quality of their sleep each night. Patients who had taken the pill reported the most dramatic improvements in the first days of the study, sleeping through the night without spending any of the lonely hours awake they had come to expect. Subjects who were treated with CBT began to report similar results in sleep quality a few days later. Over the short term, sleeping pills had a slight edge in smoothing down the rough edges of insomnia.Then after two years, he contacted all his subjects and asked them about their sleeping habits again. It was a novel approach to investigating a disorder that often appears solved as soon as a patient sleeps normally for a few nights.Morin wanted to determine whether sleeping pills or therapy would do a better job of reshaping the underlying causes of persistent insomnia. Subjects who had taken the sleeping pills during the study told him that their insomnia returned as soon as the drugs ran out. But most of those who went through therapy maintained the improvements they had reported in the initial study. Lowering patients' expectations of sleep and helping them recognise what contributed to their insomnia combined to be more powerful over the long term than medication. "In the short run, medication is helpful," Morin told the New York Times. "But in the long run, people need to change their actual sleep habits - that's what CBT helps them do."Therapy is also helpful at breaking a person's reliance, either real or imagined, on sleeping pills. In a 2004 study, Morin found that nine of every 10 subjects who combined a gradual reduction in their medication with CBT were drug-free after seven weeks. Only half of those who tried to stop using the pills by reducing dosage alone were as successful. Further tests revealed that subjects who relied on therapy experienced better sleep quality as well, with longer amounts of time in deep sleep and REM sleep. A separate study the same year found that one out of two subjects who began a cognitive behavioural treatment plan no longer felt the need to take sleeping pills. The results from these and other CBT studies have been compelling enough for organisations ranging from the National Institutes of Health to the NHS to recommend therapy as a technique for treating insomnia.Yet some people with insomnia may never respond to therapy like this, simply because their sleeplessness isn't a reflection of the mind putting pressure on itself. Instead, it may be due to nothing more than age. As we get older, the structure of our sleep undergoes subtle changes. The amount of time that adults spend each night in REM sleep begins to decline at around the age of 40. At that age, the brain begins a process of readjusting its sleep pattern and devoting more time to the lighter stages of sleep. Soon the barking dog that someone was able to sleep through at the age of 25 is a nuisance that makes sleep impossible. These changes, a decade in the making, often become more apparent once someone turns 50. By the time a person reaches 65, he or she often settles into a pattern marked by falling asleep around nine o'clock at night and waking up at three or four in the morning.What many older adults call insomnia may in fact be an ancient survival mechanism. Carol Worthman, an anthropologist at Emory University in Atlanta, has argued that the modern comforts of silence, deep foam mattresses, and climate control have given us the expectation that sleep should always come easily. The wiring of our brains hasn't caught up with the comforts of our bedrooms, however. Early humans were at their most defenceless when they laid down on the ground for several hours in the middle of the night.Sleeping patterns that change as we age show that our brains expect us to be living and sleeping in a group, Worthman says. To illustrate this idea, she noted that the three basic stages of adulthood - teenage, middle age, old age - have drastically different sleep structures. Teenagers going through puberty find it impossible to fall asleep early and would naturally sleep past 10 in the morning if given the choice. Their grandparents often fall asleep early in the night, but then find that they can't stay that way for more than three or four hours at a time.Middle-aged adults typically fall between these two extremes, content to fall asleep early when circumstances allow it, yet able to pull an all-nighter when a work project calls for it. These overlapping shifts could be a way to ensure that someone in the family is always awake and keeping watch, or at least close to it. In this ancient system, it makes sense that older adults who are unable to move as fast as the rest of the family are naturally jumpy, never staying in deep sleep for long, simply because they were the most vulnerable to the unknown. Those survival instincts are of little help when life takes place in a bungalow in the suburbs

Can't Sleep?

Do you struggle to get to sleep no matter how tired you are? Or do you wake up in the middle of the night and lie awake for hours, anxiously watching the clock? Insomnia is a common problem that takes a toll on your energy, mood, health, and ability to function during the day. Chronic insomnia can even contribute to serious health problems. Simple changes to your lifestyle and daily habits can put a stop to sleepless nights.

Can't sleep? Understanding insomnia and its symptoms

 Insomnia is the inability to get the amount of sleep you need to wake up feeling rested and refreshed. Because different people need different amounts of sleep, insomnia is defined by the quality of your sleep and how you feel after sleeping-not the number of hours you sleep or how quickly you doze off. Even if you're spending eight hours a night in bed, if you feel drowsy and fatigued during the day, you may be experiencing insomnia.Although insomnia is the most common sleep complaint, it is not a single sleep disorder. It's more accurate to think of insomnia as a symptom of another problem, which differs from person to person. It could be something as simple as drinking too much caffeine during the day or a more complex issue like an underlying medical condition or feeling overloaded with responsibilities.The good news is that most cases of insomnia can be cured with changes you can make on your own-without relying on sleep specialists or turning to prescription or over-the-counter sleeping pills.

Causes of insomnia: Figuring out why you can't sleep

In order to properly treat and cure your insomnia, you need to become a sleep detective. Emotional issues such as stress, anxiety, and depression cause half of all insomnia cases. But your daytime habits, sleep routine, and physical health may also play a role. Try to identify all possible causes of your insomnia. Once you figure out the root cause, you can tailor treatment accordingly.

     Are you under a lot of stress?
     Are you depressed or feel emotionally flat or hopeless?
     Do you struggle with chronic feelings of anxiety or worry?
     Have you recently gone through a traumatic experience?
     Are you taking any medications that might be affecting your sleep?
     Do you have any health problems that may be interfering with sleep?
     Is your sleep environment quiet and comfortable?
     Are you spending enough time in sunlight during the day and in darkness at night?
     Do you try to go to bed and get up around the same time every day

 Sometimes, insomnia only lasts a few days and goes away on its own, especially when the insomnia is tied to an obvious temporary cause, such as stress over an upcoming presentation, a painful breakup, or jet lag. Other times, insomnia is stubbornly persistent. Chronic insomnia is usually tied to an underlying mental or physical issue.

     Psychological problems that can cause insomnia: depression, anxiety, chronic stress, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder.
     Medications that can cause insomnia: antidepressants; cold and flu medications that contain alcohol; pain relievers that contain caffeine (Midol, Excedrin); diuretics, corticosteroids, thyroid hormone, high blood pressure medications.
     Medical problems that can cause insomnia: asthma, allergies, Parkinson's disease, hyperthyroidism, acid reflux, kidney disease, cancer, chronic pain.
     Sleep disorders that can cause insomnia: sleep apnea, narcolepsy, restless legs syndrome.

Insomnia cures and treatments: Changing habits that disrupt sleep

Some of the things you're doing to cope with insomnia may actually be making the problem worse. For example, if you're using sleeping pills or alcohol to fall asleep, this will disrupt your sleep even more over the long-term. Or if you drink excessive amounts of coffee during the day, it will be more difficult to fall asleep later. Often, changing the habits that are reinforcing sleeplessness is enough to overcome insomnia altogether. It may take a few days for your body to get used to the change, but once you do, you will sleep better

 

Some habits are so ingrained that you may overlook them as a possible contributor to your insomnia. Maybe your daily Starbucks habit affects your sleep more than you realize. Or maybe you've never made the connection between your late-night TV viewing or Internet surfing and your sleep difficulties. Keeping a sleep diary is a helpful way to pinpoint habits and behaviors contributing to your insomnia.

All you have to do is jot down daily details about your daytime habits, sleep routine, and insomnia symptoms. For example, you can keep track of when you go to sleep and when you wake up, where you fall asleep, what you eat and drink, and any stressful events that occur during the day

Adopting new habits to help you sleep

Make sure your bedroom is quiet, dark, and cool. Noise, light, and heat can interfere with sleep. Try using a sound machine or earplugs to hide outside noise, an open window or fan to keep the room cool, and blackout curtains or a sleep mask to block out light.Stick to a regular sleep schedule. Support your biological clock by going to bed and getting up at the same time every day, including weekends, even if you're tired. This will help you get back in a regular sleep rhythm.Avoid naps. Napping during the day can make it more difficult to sleep at night. If you feel like you have to take a nap, limit it to 30 minutes before 3 pmAvoid stimulating activity and stressful situations before bedtime. This includes vigorous exercise; big discussions or arguments; and TV, computer, or video game use. Instead, focus on quiet, soothing activities, such as reading, knitting, or listening to soft music, while keeping lights low.Don't read from a backlit device (such as an iPad). If you use an eReader, opt for one that is not backlit, ie one that requires an additional light source.Limit caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine. Stop drinking caffeinated beverages at least eight hours before bed. Avoid drinking alcohol in the evening; while alcohol can make you feel sleepy, it interferes with the quality of your sleep. Quit smoking or avoid it at night, as nicotine is a stimulant

Preparing your brain for sleep

Your brain produces the hormone melatonin to help regulate your sleep-wake cycle. As melatonin is controlled by light exposure, not enough natural light during the day can make your brain feel sleepy, while too much artificial light at night can suppress production of melatonin and make it harder to sleep. To help naturally regulate your sleep-wake cycle and prepare your brain for sleep:

     Increase light exposure during the day. Take breaks outside in sunlight, remove sunglasses when it's safe to do so, and open blinds and curtains during the day.
     Limit artificial light at night. To boost melatonin production, use low-wattage bulbs, cover windows and electrical displays in your bedroom, avoid bright light and turn off television, smartphone, and computer screens at least one hour before bed. If you can't make your bedroom dark enough, try using a sleep mask

Insomnia cures and treatments: Neutralizing anxiety when you can't sleep   

Insomnia cures and treatments: Neutralizing anxiety when you can't sleep

The more trouble you have with sleep, the more it starts to invade your thoughts. You may dread going to sleep because you just know that you're going to toss and turn for hours or be up at 2 am again. Or maybe you're worried because you have a big day tomorrow, and if you don't get a solid eight hours, you're sure you'll blow your presentation. But agonizing and expecting sleep difficulties only makes insomnia worse; worrying floods your body with adrenaline, and before you know it, you're wide-awake

Learning to associate your bed with sleeping, not sleeplessness

If sleep worries are getting in the way of your ability to unwind at night, the following strategies may help. The goal is to train your body to associate the bed with sleep, sex, and nothing else-especially not frustration and anxiety.

    Use the bedroom only for sleeping and sex. Don't work, watch TV, or use your computer or smartphone. The goal is to associate the bedroom with sleep and sex, so that when you get in bed your brain and body get a strong signal that it's time to nod off or be romantic.
    Get out of bed when you can't sleep. Don't try to force yourself to sleep. Tossing and turning only amps up the anxiety. Get up, leave the bedroom, and do something relaxing, such as reading, drinking a warm cup of caffeine-free tea, taking a bath, or listening to soothing music. When you're sleepy, go back to bed.
    Move bedroom clocks out of view. Anxiously watching the minutes tick by when you can't sleep-knowing that you're going to be exhausted when the alarm goes off-is a surefire recipe for insomnia. You can use an alarm, but make sure you can't see the time when you're in bed.

Insomnia cures and treatments: Harnessing your body's relaxation response 

Relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, meditation, yoga, and tai chi can help quiet your mind and relieve tension. They can also help you fall asleep faster and get back to sleep more quickly if you awaken in the middle of the night. And all without the side effects of sleep medication

Relaxation techniques that can help you sleep

It takes regular practice to master relaxation techniques but the benefits can be huge. You can do them as part of your bedtime routine, when you are lying down preparing for sleep, and if you wake up in the middle of the night.

     Abdominal breathing. Most of us don't breathe as deeply as we should. When we breathe deeply and fully, involving not only the chest, but also the belly, lower back, and ribcage, it can help relaxation. Close your eyes and take deep, slow breaths, making each breath even deeper than the last. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth.
     Progressive muscle relaxation. Lie down or make yourself comfortable. Starting with your feet, tense the muscles as tightly as you can. Hold for a count of 10, and then relax. Continue to do this for every muscle group in your body, working your way up from your feet to the top of your head

Insomnia cures and treatments: Using supplements and medication wisely

 Insomnia cures and treatments: Using supplements and medication wisely

When you're tossing and turning at night, it can be tempting to turn to sleep aids for relief. However, no sleeping pill will cure the underlying cause of your insomnia, and some can even make the problem worse in the long run. Before taking any sleep aid or medication, talk to your doctor or pharmacist

Dietary supplements for insomnia

There are many dietary and herbal supplements marketed for their sleep-promoting effects. Some remedies, such as lemon balm or chamomile tea, are generally harmless, while others can have side effects and interfere with other medications.

They don't work for everyone, but two of the most popular supplements are:

     Melatonin - a naturally occurring hormone that your body produces at night. Evidence suggests that melatonin supplements may be effective for short-term use, especially in preventing or reducing jet-lag. However, there are potential side-effects, including next-day drowsiness.

     Valerian - an herb with mild sedative effects that may help you sleep better. However, the quality of valerian supplements varies widely

 Over the counter (OTC) sleep aids

The main ingredient in over-the-counter (OTC) sleeping pills is an antihistamine, generally taken for allergies, hay fever and common cold symptoms. OTC sleep aids are meant to be used for short-term insomnia only. Sleep experts generally advise against their use because of side effects, questions about their effectiveness, and lack of information about their safety over the long term

Prescription sleeping pills for insomnia

While prescription sleep medications can provide temporary relief, it's best to use medication only as a last resort, and then, only on a very limited, as-needed basis. First, try changing your sleep habits, your daily routine, and your attitudes about sleep. Evidence shows that lifestyle and behavioral changes make the largest and most lasting difference when it comes to insomnia

When to consider seeking professional insomnia treatment

If you've tried the insomnia cures and treatments listed above and are still having trouble getting the sleep you need, a doctor or sleep disorder specialist may be able to help. Seek professional help for insomnia if:

     Your insomnia doesn't respond to self-help strategies
     Your insomnia is causing major problems at home, work, or school
     You're experiencing scary symptoms like chest pain or shortness of breath
     Your insomnia occurs almost every night and is getting worse

Bring a sleep diary with you. Your doctor may be able to diagnose an illness or sleep disorder that's causing your insomnia, or refer you to a sleep specialist or cognitive behavioral therapist

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for insomnia

CBT is aimed at breaking the cycle of insomnia. Poor sleep tends to lead to stress and anxious thoughts about not being able to sleep. This in turn leads to stress and tension, which leads to poor sleeping habits, such as the use of sleeping pills or alcohol to sleep or taking daytime naps to make up for lost sleep. This leads to worsening insomnia and so on

The Vicious Cycle of Insomnia

As well as improving sleep habits, CBT is aimed at changing thoughts and feelings about sleep that may be causing stress and contributing to your insomnia.

While CBT can be a much safer and more effective insomnia treatment than sleeping pills, it's not an instant remedy but one that requires time and persistence. Your sleep may even get worse at first if your therapist recommends sleep restriction therapy, whereby you initially shorten your sleep time. The idea is that by limiting the time you spend in bed to the number of hours you actually sleep, say from 1 am to 6 am, you'll spend less time awake and more time asleep. As your sleep efficiency increases you'll gradually start going to bed earlier and getting up later until you reach your optimum sleep schedule

Online CBT for insomnia

 

For those who can't access or are unable to afford traditional cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia, some online programs may offer a cheaper but viable alternative. Initial studies suggest that some online CBT programs can significantly improve sleep length and quality.

However, no online program can take the place of professional medical evaluation and treatment. It's important to first speak to your doctor for a diagnosis and to rule out any underlying medical condition or other sleep disorder that may be causing your insomnia. See Resources & References below to find an online CBT program for insomnia

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QUESTIONS ON LOVE AND LIFE

Love, what is It? 

isn't love what we all desire? How could we live without loving and being loved?

Among the different expressions of love are friendship, dedication to a cause or to a person, the love of parents for their children, the exclusive love between a man and a woman united in marriage and the love with which we yearn for the Absolute.

In order to find the truth about love between a man and a woman, the first question is: what is it in a person, that causes me to be attracted towards him or her?

Is it what he / she is able to give me (money, social status)?

Is it the beauty that I see in him or her or the pleasure that I experience or that we are able to share together?

Is it the feelings I have because of his / her attention?

A relationship thus founded may feel good, but it will prove to be imperfect: the other person is reduced to a means for achieving my own good. Paradoxically, it is towards myself that I am turning ...

If we love truly, we love the other for themselves. An authentic love is above all to desire the happiness of the other. I do not love him / her only because of what they can give me but I love him / her primarily because of who he / she is. In such a relationship, there is even more reason for two people to feel strongly for one another, to experience pleasure in each other's company or to be of mutual service to one another. A profound relationship is rooted in the person himself / herself over and above their apparent qualities or faults.

To love in this way implies a free choice on my part: to decide to love the other, to commit myself to him or her. We are not able to love truly without giving some of our freedom to the other. And we expect that this choice will be reciprocated because this is the condition of a relationship.So to look for the happiness of the one I love is to contribute to my own happiness. Certainly, this isn't always easy. We are all susceptible to mood swings, to the monotony of daily living, to difficulties that may arise and to our own egoism. Love isfragile .... Will I love this person in five or in twenty years? Will I be capable of bearing with this or that fault? Is this love for life? Will it last through difficulties, through sickness?

In reality, if our relationship is founded on a free and reciprocated choice, it can only grow. Because love doesn't happen only once. 'Love at first sight', exciting as it is, is in fact a very strong emotion that does not necessarily demonstrate a profound love.

Such love is a personal relationship. It is built and it deepens with time and with a more and more solid trust between each other. By talking and sharing, love is renewed each day by means of gestures and attitudes that show to the other the priviledged place he or she has in my life. And the joys, the events and also the difficulties we live together reinforce our intimacy. This can grow to the extent that we work at our committment and through the difficulties, keep turning towards the other.

Love is therefore not just a simple union of two people but a mutual gift of two free beings of all that they are: body, heart and spirit. The logic of love is to aspire towards a total and definitive gift. Only a decision that is reciprocal and for life allows a human love to reach a certain perfection and to be capable of satisfying our hearts.

For the Christian, the source and the model of love is God: Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God, and he who loves is born of God and knows God. (1 John 4:7

How can we be sure that we really love someone?

 

 W e know from experience that it is difficult to be sure. We do not always see clearly. It is not easy, in every case, to be sure of myself or my feelings and to have to depend on tangible proofs or signs.
Love is not like an idea with a definition or like a physical phenomen on that can be measured: Love is a matter of choice. And so, to use a quotation from Saint Bonaventure: Love is its own measure and standard.
There are, however, certain practical points to consider:
Is it my friend that I love or is it the feeling of love that I love? We are so often overwhelmed by the extraordinary feeling that accompanies love that we may forget about the other person.
A good question to ask would be Do I want to love him or her? Since true love is not so much a feeling as it is a decision, a choice, we have to will to love.
Finally, love needs the response of the other to actually exist. We cannot speak of love if it is not reciprocated.If you are not sure of the others feelings, don't remain in doubt. Find a good moment to speak together and find out the feelings and attitudes of the other.

What about fights ... and conflicts?

W hat would you say about a couple who don `t talk with each other? Wouldn't you wonder which of the two harmed the other?
What is extraordinary about the difference between a man and a woman is that, with their different manner of approaching things, it brings about a mutual enrichment if they take the time to listen to each other and try to understand each other. Talking about their differing points of view, even having lively discussions, helps love to grow through a better understanding.
Of course, sometimes we cling to our ideas and want to impose them on the other; we aren't at all ready to listen to the other. Then comes a clash ... it's not too serious as long as condemning or ironic comments are not added to the fight. All these apparently harmless remarks hurt the other because they are not respectful of the person. We react according to our different personalities: by exploding in anger, by closing up in silence and bitterness or by fighting back. Love goes to war ... fear, distrust and hate attempt to take its place. Harboring bitterness or a grudge in our heart and brooding over our disagreement is the poison of love.
What is the remedy? Decide to resist my bad feelings and to stop being carried away by my imagination. This decision to love again, to open up my heart again, to welcome and accept the person as they are, to look at them with new eyes: this is forgiveness. It is not writing off the past as if it never happened, but rather, despite the past, starting again with new hope and new strength. "I ask you to forgive me for all the times I didn't ask you since we got married." "It was as if we became newly weds once again," the wife tells us. "We found life again".
There are conflicts in life. Through forgiveness we can avoid allowing our differences to kill love and rather let them contribute to its growth

Can we still love each other when we are ninety?

Marcel: We are 89 and 90 years old respectively and we were married in 1925. And we have always loved each other! How is this possible? I will tell you, it is simpler than we think: everything depends on our conception of love. To love is to be happy in making the other happy. This is almost selfish! At that moment, our own desires that might interfere with the happiness of the other become secondary. And if you do everything for the happiness of the other, there is no reason why this relationship shouldn't last.
Georgette: Certainly, this demands a certain forgetting of self that is not always easy. Certain questions may be also sources of conflict. For our part, we know in our marriage that we agree on essential matters: religion, our concept of family, education of children, friends, etc. This being the case, a great number of difficulties are automatically avoided. There remain the little difficulties of daily life that we can always work out if we want to.
In this area, frankness is essential: we must be able to say everything, to declare without delay anything that we might not have in common, to want to look together for the answer that would satisfy both of us. Silence is never a solution.
Marcel: But you may ask me, how, practically, can I make the other happy? This also is very simple. You have to take care of them. Take every occasion to pay attention to the other. And to respect them profoundly, because politeness is a fundamental rule. And if you add a good dose of humour, you have an infallible recipe!
We have known hardships, like everyone else. Not only in our relationship but in the course of life: a separation for professional reasons, during which we wrote to each other every day - a health problem that immobilized my wife for four months after the birth of our third child, the war which separated us twice in succession - and during this time correspondance wasn't possible, except for two unhappy postcards a month - the bankrupcy of my business, etc. But in our case, the hardships never threatened our unity. On the contrary, they bound us together even more.
Georgette: For us, one of the greatest sources of our unity have been our children. And now our grandchildren and great grandchildren. They also are the objects of our preoccupation and love.
Marcel: After 67 years, our love has evolved, most certainly. What we feel for each other now is different from the enchantment of our first meeting, or the passionate love at the time of our marriage. But even so, it has not diminished. On the contrary, I can say that it has been enriched day after day by all that we have lived, by all the memories we share and by the very profound knowledge that we have of each other.
Georgette: Were we made for one another? I don't know if this expression is very accurate. I believe that we were made one and the other. We evolved together one with the other.
Both of us have the good fortune of still being alive and of not suffering from very serious infirmities. I don't see well, my husband doesn't hear very well, but as a friend told us recently: You are so united that, together, you do not need more than two eyes and two ears!

Man. Woman. Living the difference.

T he difference between a man and a woman is a gift of God. It is this difference that allows us to meet, to love and to support each other through life.
Each and every one of our cells, without exception, carries male or female chromosomes. The sex of each one of us, the difference between us, manifests itself throughout our entire being: our body, our feelings, our mind and our spirit. This difference, when added to the individual character of each one of us, causes us each to see things differently, and produces different kinds of reactions in men and in women.
This is why men and women do not always find it easy to maintain straightforward relations. Misunderstandings can arise: for example, a girl will more readily show tenderness towards her male friends, which a boy will often interpret as a sign of love. A boy will generally attach importance to appearances; for a girl, however, dressing in a seductive manner does not always indicate a desire to be provocative. On the other hand, a feeling or a compliment concerning her will rarely leave a woman indifferent. Finally, the very rhythms of a man and that of a woman, who is much more influenced by her own body, are very different and this can lead to misunderstandings.
Getting to know these differences allows each one of us to get to know ourselves better and to discover our own qualities and our own uniqueness. All this, however, has to be learned. Caution, and sometimes even a certain amount of reserve, are needed. Our intentions are sometimes ambiguous or perhaps immature. For instance, a flirtatious manner could be a way of testing whether we are capable of seducing someone just like everyone else.
How can we discover our real motivations? By seeking a real purity of mind. By looking for an appropriate way to dress. By choosing carefully what we read and how we spend our free time, and by developing what is best in ourselves?
It is not always wise to let ourselves be guided by our spontaneous feelings. Self-discipline does not work against friendship, on the contrary, it prepares us for real love.

Going out with someone. Where are the limits? 

is a wonderful experience to be attracted to someone. The mere sight of him or her makes us feel, all at once, tenderness of heart and a strong physical attraction. The pleasure we discover in just being close to the other makes us want to live things all the more intensely and to go even further in the relationship.

Even holding hands or kissing is a big step. Gestures of tenderness and love commit us to one another. No such gesture is without meaning, regardless of the feelings behind it. This is why it is important to take the time to consider if these gestures have the same meaning for both of us. Are they motivated by love or by the desire for pleasure, or by a need for tenderness? These tender actions commit us to one another more than we think.

Once a couple in a committed relationship have experienced all the various expressions of love, can they still clearly make out the true nature of their feelings?

Paying attention to the reactions and feelings of the other person allows us to be more tender. In addition, we need to exercise a certain degree of patience. Many marriages fail because the husband and wife did not take the time to get to know each other. To choose one another in complete freedom, one needs to know who that person really is.

Temptations often arise, especially in a long-standing relationship, which becomes increasingly more intimate. What is it that really takes hold of us in these circumstances? Is it the desire to express our affections? Is it our longing for the other, or is it a profound love? If we are truly attracted to each other, and we feel true love, isn't the time right to consider marriage?

In a society where advertising slogans are full of words like instantly, immediately and where everyone wants to have everything, at once, remember that it takes time to build the relationship between husband and wife and that the test of love is in the enduring commitment.

Is happiness only for married couples?

M arriage is not the only context in which we can fulfill our capacity to love. Friendship and the giving of 'self' are also precious expressions of love.
There are men and women who decide not to marry, not because they scorn or reject it but simply because they feel an exclusive call. For example, priests, monks and nuns witness to the world that the love of God is above all other loves and that it is enough for them. There are also men and women in science, in politics and in other kinds of service who give themselves totally to their calling and who find happiness in the gift of themselves to this calling. Their fidelity to an ideal gives them deep personal satisfaction.
To forsake marriage for the Lord is a calling. Those who answer such a call live their lives just as fully and in complete happiness.
Certain people, however, who would have liked to get married, remain single. This is a hardship. Nevertheless, for every person there is a road to happiness. It may take some time to find it, but it exists. Often, the road is to be found in a generous heart and in openness towards others

Two people of the same sex love each other.

Is it legitimate?

is important to differentiate between friendship and feelings of love. Obviously, friendship may exist between two boys or two girls. A true friend is a precious gift.
We speak of homosexuality when there is a feeling of love accompanied by sexual desire between two persons of the same sex. Our aim here is not to study why and how this can happen but simply to underline a few points:
We live in a world that erases differences. Some pretend that (sexual) union between two people of the same sex is good and that homosexuality is simply an alternative to heterosexuality (sexual relations between a man and a woman). That is not true. The truth is that God created man and woman differently so that they can give themselves to each other with their own differences, including the differences of sex which allow life to come into being from that union. Whatever our situation, it is important to recognize the truth, to follow it and to have the courage to live chastely. Chastity is the virtue that regulates human love. (1)
Outside the homosexual pressure groups which try to find ways to justify and to give recognition to a homosexual culture and way of life, homosexuality is generally a situation that people do not choose. They experience it as a form of suffering. Shame and humiliation are often mingled with worry (Am I abnormal? What kind of future do I have? ...). They feel guilty, different from others and cut off from life. The constant worry causes instability. And they end up thinking that there is no cure, no future and no hope for them.
Let us be careful not to confuse different situations: an active homosexuality, is entirely different from the fleeting inclination at the time of adolescence, springing from a lack of emotional maturity, a lack of an adult role model and from the self-centred attitude very common at that age. Sometimes, this tendency goes away even if it leaves some wounds in the memory. If it does not, the struggle for chastity will be more difficult.
In some people there is a permanent homosexual tendancy (which means a predominant or exclusive attraction to someone of the same sex) that seems to come from way back and is deeply rooted in the person. This can remain at the stage of inclination, even a strong one, but without any consequences. It is the transition to an active homosexuality that is the turning point because we then enter into a vicious circle of guilt on the one hand, and complicity on the other.
We are not responsible for our feelings or for our instincts, we are responsible for our actions. We do not have to feel guilty for our bad inclinations; it is acting on those inclinations that brings on real guilt. When the act is wrong in itself, it would be dishonest to pretend otherwise, but this does not mean that the person who commits it is bad. Who can judge his brothers and sisters?
There is always hope because we are free. We may have a serious difficulty, but we do not have to identify ourselves with it. My innermost being cannot be reduced to a tendency or even a habit. I am not the inclination that inhabits me.
In every human being, the capacity to love, to give of oneself is much greater than all the tendencies and the hindrances. Even when I despair of being set apart from others or when I pretend that everything is normal, God continues to call me to go forward. He invites me to get up so that I can get out of the situation that I'm in.
However, it is often difficult to respond to Him either because of erroneous thinking on my part, because I do not like myself, or because I am afraid of change and of peer-pressure. So I end up under-estimating my capacity to resist as if I had already lost the battle. But God's power cannot be defeated, even by the obstacles in my own life. 

Is happiness possible with a man or a woman

who is not free? 

is said that you cannot force love. So, what if I am attracted to someone who is not free to become involved in another relationship? Is happiness not more important than social rules?

In such a case, it would be better not to let the attraction turn into passion. Love is not something which is imposed on me by fate. There is always a moment when I can choose.

Do you really believe that someone who is already committed in a marriage relationship (1) and who tries to seduce you can truly fulfill his promises of love toward you?

As for myself, do I have the right to break up a marriage and a family and to make the judgment that they were unhappy together? Considering the suffering that this situation will bring to the children, at what price will I build this new relationship and (if there are children) what kind of life will I be able to give to them?

There will always be a great deal of suffering when one gets involved in a relationship with someone who is not unattached. And a great deal of effort will often be necessary to justify to others - and to yourself - a situation that was not right from the beginning.

Our human heart longs for more than a happiness in which the future is already compromised.

(1) The Sacrament of Matrimony is a life-time committment which often involves hard work in choosing to remain faithful to our spouse. The graces given to us in this sacrament can strengthen us to live through these difficult times rather than to seek other, easier relationships outside our marriage situation

Is there one person out there made just for me?

I t's a dream and a worry at the same time ... Is the person I met really made for me? Does the one that I am dreaming of really exist and if so, how will I know?
These questions are nearly inevitable: the more we get to know the other, the more we discover his or her qualities as well as his or her faults. We also become aware that the committment we will make is total and definite. What if I were wrong? What if it were not him or her? And what if we were blinded by our passions and once we were married, we realized that we had made a mistake?
Sometimes the imagination tends to create an ideal image of the other: He or she has to be just like that, look like this, act like that and definitely not have that fault! Often, instead of accepting and getting to know the other for what he or she is, we try to find in him or her the ideal image that we have created in our minds.
To be sure that we are made for one another requires that we take time together to get to know each other well. We need to share in depth and to accept that the other is different from myself. It is also good to discuss certain questions together: Will we be able to love each other for all our life? Will we be able to face together the troubles of life? Do we love each other enough to put up with each other's faults? Recognizing these concerns will enable us to make a choice in total freedom: Yes, it is with her or with him that I want to live for the rest of my life, to have children and to raise a family. Then the choice to make a total and definite committment will be made in total trust and with hope.
It is also important to feel free to stop a relationship because we realize that after all, we are not made for each other, that we will not be able to overcome the differences in our temperaments, in our cultures or in our age, or else we are not able to accept the limitations of the other, etc. That choice needs to be made without being distracted by ideas like: I desperately want to get married and to have children, everything will work out once we're married or, my parents really like him. We must also be careful not to let ourselves be pressured by society or family, not to idealize the other, or be physically or emotionally dependent upon each other. This can happen without us noticing it.
In fact, this decision is a committment of our whole life, as well as the other's and the children's to come. This is why we can say that marriage is not only the starting point of a life together but also the finishing point of a long road lived and shared together on which we recognized that we were made for one another

When does human life begin?

H uman life begins at the precise moment when the two half-cells, the sperm of the man and the ovum of the woman, meet and form the first cell of a unique being who will never be duplicated in the history of the world. The different stages that bring about this extraordinary moment are as follows:
For the man, the pituitary gland, controlled by the brain, will begin to signal at puberty the command to manufacture 100 million sperm daily. During any act of sexual intercourse, there will be between 200 and 300 million sperm ejaculated into the body of the woman in the vagina, near the cervix. Sperm can enter the uterus if, at a precise time in the woman's cycle, the cervix is ​​open and secreting a particular liquid, cervical mucus, which enables the sperm to swim to the ovum.
For the woman, during each of her cycles, an ovum (egg) is prepared in a follicle, as commanded by the pituitary gland. When the egg is mature, the follicle opens and releases it whereby it moves down the Fallopian tube towards the uterus. It is in position to unite with a sperm.
The first instant of life occurs at the the union of the egg and the sperm. There is not the least interruption between this moment of conception and what each one of us is today. This is why any harm of an embryo, irregardless of the maturity, is harming a human being. It is immaterial whether the brain is developed or not from the first moments (the first brain cells develop at the fourth week of pregnancy): the tiny being contains all the potential elements for his existence and development. The life of an unique human being has already begun

What are the Natural Methods of Birth Control?

T hey are a group of methods based on observations of the feminine menstrual cycle. During a normal cycle, a woman is fertile only for a certain number of days. Her body, in preparing to conceive a new life, sends out signals that can be observed:

    the rise in basal body temperature by a few tenths of a degree after ovulation.
    the presence of a substance called cervical mucus (see Q. 24) at the vulva (which is observed and noted).
These signs allow the woman to chart the fertile and infertile phases of her cycle. If the couple wishes to conceive a child, they will try to do so during the fertile period. If the couple does not wish to conceive, they would have sexual relations only during the infertile phases.
This method brings a couple to different "moments of love": times of physical union and times when their love is expressed differently. The great majority of couples using NFP have acknowledged that it leads to self-control, more dialogue and mutual comprehension. Respecting each other's capacity of giving life, on the part of the woman and the man, leads to a greater and more profound love. The desire, instead of becoming dull, is renewed.
When the methods are used correctly, their reliability is excellent. Of course, we need to be faithful in charting the signs as they are observed and the husband needs to be supportive - his role in the use of the method is indispensible. Isn't it extraordinary and so much more healthy to understand what is happening in our body and to live in rhythm with it?

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