How Well Did You Sleep Last Night?

Did you know Americans are finding it harder and harder to grab a good night’s rest? According to a consumer report, a staggering 68 percent—about 164 million Americans—struggle with sleep at least once a week. Not only that, but 45 percent of Americans say that poor or insufficient sleep affected their daily activities at least once in the past seven days, according to the National Sleep Foundation

What is causing my lack of sleep?
Losing valuable shut-eye can be blamed on several varying factors. Anxiety, stress, and depression are some of the most common causes of sleeping problems along with anger, worry, grief, and trauma.

The Healing Power of Touch

Most people still view massage as a luxury item. They place it on their wish rather than todo list. But massage should be considered as a necessity just like eating healthy and working out.
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Massage therapy has been employed to promote physical and emotional health since the earliest human civilizations. The earliest indication of massage was between 3,000 and 2,500 BC in Egypt and China.

​In recent years, a wave of studies has documented some incredible emotional and physical health benefits of this ancient healing practice. Here are a few reasons to pick up the phone and schedule your next massage:

HPA Axis and How to Beat Excess Fatigue for Good

Summer has begun, and with it comes extended daylight. For many people, these long days are brimming with vacations, parties, and other enjoyable events. While these activities are most certainly fun, there could also be an element of stress involved. How our bodies handle stress, whether big or small, is important to our well-being, and excessive stress can be problematic for our overall health. To get a better glimpse at how the body manages the triggers of stress, you must go to the source of it all—the HPA axis.

​What is the HPA axis?
The HPA axis is the interaction that exists between the hypothalamus, the pituitary gland, and the adrenal glands. This axis is the interconnecting of the central nervous system with the endocrine system and is responsible for regulating functions such as stress response in the body.

Science News: Stress and Depression Shown to Alter Organ Function

Neuroscientists at the University of Pittsburgh have identified the neural networks that connect the cerebral cortex to the adrenal medulla, which is responsible for the body’s rapid response in stressful situations. These findings, reported in the online Early Edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), provide evidence for the neural basis of a mind-body connection.

​We all accept that stress is terrible for us, and that when our mental health suffers, the rest of our health follows suit. And yet the branch of medicine that’s devoted to this integral relationship—psychosomatic medicine—is often written off as pseudoscience.