7 Steps To Reduce Insomnia

I was fascinated by the NY Times' two recent articles on sleep. One is about how to get more of it so you'll be more beautiful, featuring spas, sleep products and a barely perceptible nod to useful skills like meditation and relaxation. The companion piece is about makeup to hide the ravages of sleeplessness. Really?

Sleep deprivation causes irritability, relationship issues, depression, anxiety, weight gain, medical problems, cognitive deficits, impaired work performance, car crashes and a host of other ills beyond the toll it takes on physical beauty. Makeup is not going to solve these problems.

Clouding the issue by suggesting a cosmetic fix, spa products or pills, ignores the fact that sleep problems are often easily remedied without medication or costly solutions.

Since it's summer, why not send yourself to sleep camp? In sleep camp you have daily activities, just like volleyball and swimming in summer camp. If you despised summer camp you can think of it more like soccer or tennis camp where you're trying to improve a skill set and you know it's going to take dedication, practice, tweaking and repetition.

Here's how sleep camp works: 

1. Start a sleep journal. 

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7 Ways To Banish Breakup Blues

Summer is upon us and for many, I fear, there is longing for summers past. I know what it can be like to face weeks without a fun vacation in sight or the hope of a romantic sunset on the horizon. Those summers from the years of so-called marital bliss or happy coupledom seem so sweet by comparison. Misty watercolor memories of the way we were, or thought we were, rear their ugly heads.

 Ten years post-divorce, happily, it's been a long time since I felt the summer blues. Still, I have to admit there is a bit of a sting to the fact that I will not be renting that beach house this summer. You know, the one my ex is going to rent. It took a minute, but I'm over it.

Perhaps you can't afford the time or money for your dream-vacation this summer. Ten years post-divorce I'm pleased to report that my experience, not to mention the vast happiness literature, confirms that glitzy vacations (and beach houses) are a bit like that fantastic car or necklace you simply have to have…surefire ways not to create happiness.

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Check out my new book, The Post-Divorce Survival Guide..Tools for Your Journey!