Sleepy Tales
Lucid Dreams and Segmented Polyphasic Sleep

“It’s possible to dream what you want to dream!”

I’ve been sleeping an average of 5 hours a night the past few weeks with an nap at in the afternoon and sometimes if I’m still sleepy, another nap early evening. I see this continuing for at least another month (especially with the Euro 2008 matches to watch in June!).

My dreams are more vivid now, and now more than ever, I’m aware of the fact that I’m dreaming and can control my dreams. I recently found the term for this:

Lucid Dream

“A lucid dream, also known as a conscious dream, is a dream in which the person is aware that he or she is dreaming while the dream is in progress. A lucid dream can begin in one of two ways. A dream-initiated lucid dream (DILD) starts as a normal dream, and the dreamer eventually concludes that he or she is dreaming, while a wake-initiated lucid dream (WILD) occurs when the dreamer goes from a normal waking state directly into a dream state with no apparent lapse in consciousness.” Wikipedia

Apparently, you can learn how to achieve lucid dreams. So it’s possible to dream what you want to dream!

Segmented Sleep

I’ve not experienced any adverse effects from the reduced number of sleeping hours apart from feeling very sleepy after lunch (then again, I’ve always been sleepy after lunch with or without enough sleep), and this is relieved by taking a nap.

I was slightly worried about the effects it would have on my body but the article What is a natural sleep pattern? on Scienceblogs is reassuring to a degree:

“In a natural state, humans do not sleep a long consecutive bout throughout the night. The natural condition is bimodal – two bouts of sleep interrupted by a short episode of waking in the middle of the night.”

Steve Pavlina took segmented sleep a step further by experimenting with Uberman or Polyphasic sleep, dividing his sleep into 6 half-hour segments and sleeping a total of 3 hours a day for nearly half a year. Yikes!

Given a choice, I think I’d still prefer to sleep 7-hour straight at night but at least I can rest in relative comfort now. :)

Healthy Ambitions
Small Steps to A Healthier Me

A friend of mine, Will, told me he has quit smoking cold turkey for a few months now. Though I was happy he did that, I was also shocked with this sudden change. He then revealed that three months ago, he was diagnosed with a thyroid problem, high-blood pressure, high cholesterol levels and gout. He needs to be on regular medication from now on and he’s not even 30!

Weirdly, he told me that when he asked his doctor what measures he should take to reduce his cholesterol levels, he was told to consider smoking! A doctor telling his patient to smoke? Sounds like someone needs a new doctor fast!

I am not taking my health for granted. I am not gonna wait for my teeth to fall out or hip bones to crumble before doing something about it so I’m making small changes to my diet and lifestyle in a bid to improve my health. [Read more....]

This Entry is Full of Cruciferous Vegetables

As expected, after my previous entry, I went on to eat a lot of junk – half a pack of Arnotts chocolate-covered Scotch Fingers, a quarter of a family-sized bar of Haigh’s dark chocolate and 7 pieces of luscious coffee cream filled chocolates from Darrell Lea. So. Much. Chocolates! (It is PMS at work?)

Today, I decided to give my body a break. I won’t think of unhealthy foods for a change and I’m dedicating this entry to vegetables. First a love letter to a cute floret:

Dear Broccoli,

I ♥ you.

I do admit my love for you is sadistic by nature. I love you sautéd, steamed and boiled; I love you roasted, grilled and puréed. In fact, I’d eat you raw any day.

I tend to misspell your name as “Brocolli”. Please accept my apologies, I am only human. But don’t let them tell you you’re just another vegetable. I’m aware of your superpowers and have actively lobby for your cause for many years now.

Looking forward to many more years together (mostly with you in my tummy).

Love,
M

I was eating a piece of steamed broccoli just now when it hit me — I really, really love the taste of broccoli. So sweet and flavourful, I rate it second only to its pale cousin, the cauliflower. I wonder if there’s anyone else who loves broccolis and cauliflowers as much as I do.

Speaking of cauliflowers, I recently discovered the existence of a purple variety:

Image from Wikipedia

WOW! What a beautiful work of art. And I thought purple cabbages were fancy. I’ll try some if I can find them in the supermarket.

And speaking of works of art, check out this fractal romanesco broccoli.

Photo by Jon Sullivan, pdphoto.org

Out of this world?! I imagine it tasting similar to broccoli but with a fuzzier texture. Has anyone tried this before? Do share your experience!

That’s it for today. I hope I’ve inspired some of you to eat your greens. Or purples. LOL!

The Best Cure for Hiccups
The Secret to Stopping Hiccups Lies in Warm Water

When I was younger my mother told me that the only way to cure hiccups or hiccoughs is to drink water. I’ve tried this many, many times with inconsistent results. I’ve also tried many other methods of stopping hiccups like holding my breath, pulling my ears, pinching my nose, drinking honey and getting tickled (made me feel worse). That was until B told me that the best cure for hiccups does indeed lie in drinking water but not just any water — it has to be warm.

I was a bit skeptical at first that just by simply drinking warm water alone can actually help to stop hiccups. The solution was way too simple, but his reasoning made sense — hiccups are caused by the spasming of the diaphragm (spelled wrongly as diapragm in the illustration, I know), a sheet of muscle located across the bottom the ribcage. And what do you do when a you get a muscle cramp? You apply heat. Does this warm water method really stop hiccups? You bet. It works like a charm for me every time. The hiccups will resolve in less than a minute (usually about 15 seconds). If it doesn’t work for you, what you’re drinking probably isn’t warm enough, try something warmer.

The first time I tried it, I was very surprised that it worked so fast. B was more amused that I didn’t know about this method before because he had assumed that everyone else knew it! That was about 6 years ago. For the past 6 years, each time someone else has the hicks, I tell him/her to drink warm water. And each time, they’d be surprised at how effective my method is (my method because I marketed it aggressively. ;) LOL). It then occurred to me that every one else in the world may have never heard of this very simple and effective remedy to hiccups. This must change!

So I now present you, The World, the only tried, tested and confirmed way to stop hiccups that you ever need to know – WARM WATER.

You read it here first — Try it yourself, tell your friends, spread the word.

Some other methods on how to stop hiccups are listed below. You may want to try at your own risk (a.k.a. MYTHS!?)

Other Hiccups Remedy, Tips, Tricks And Techniques

• Cure Hiccups at About.com (Video)
• 12 second Cure for Hiccups at Opiniorama
• 13 Techniques to Cure Hiccups at Howstuffworks.

Thank you for your comments and suggestions, dear readers!
You might also be interested in reading Escalating Hiccup – Stretching and Other Tried and Tested Ways to Stop Hiccups where I try some of your suggested methods to stop hiccups!

Got Milk?

Ok, so the high-calcium soya(soy) milk diet I’ve been following religiously for a month didn’t work. I’ve been sitting in my chair for the past, oh, 10 hours, craughing hysterically while trying to maintain enough sanity to get some work done. Enough whining for now, I need to review what went wrong and plan what to do next.

“New research suggests that a diet rich in calcium and vitamin D may help prevent premenstrual syndrome, or PMS.”
CBS News

Could it be that I’m not getting enough vitamin D to absorb all the calcium I’m consuming(the soya milk is not fortified with vitamin D)? But a few minutes of sun a day should’ve been enough, no? In any case, I am thoroughly OVER with soya milk to go through this experiment another month with a vitamin D-fortified version so I’m thinking of trying something else, I dunno, fortified juice, cod liver oil or chocolate milk? Chocolate milk sounds good.

Related links
Calcium & Vitamin D for PMS – CBS
Dietary Supplement Fact Sheet: Vitamin D
Got Milk?
Got PMS?
Get the Glass! Game

Related posts
Testing Out Theories
There Must Be A Better Alternative To This
Still Wishing for a Happy Period
Wish: A Happy Period

There Must Be A Better Alternative To This

It’s been 14 days since I started drinking soya milk regularly and I officially am sick of the stuff. It started out so well. I had it with cereal, in my coffee, straight up, 2 cups a day on average. In the beginning I actually looked forward to drinking it. And then I got sicker and sicker of the taste. How do people drink this (or milk) everyday? I need to find another high-calcium, non-dairy alternative. Rice Dream perhaps? Recommendations appreciated. Thanks!