Guided imagery & relaxation links

Below is a list of websites that have free audio files that you can use to improve your ability to relax. Review these websites and pick the ones that appeal to you the most. Some have just talking and others have music in the background. Use the ones that are the most effective at helping your relax. I recommend listening to your favorite ones at least once a day.


University of California-Los Angeles

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Dartmouth College

University of Houston-Clear Lake

Iowa State University

University of Michigan

McMaster University

University of Melbourne

Mindful way through anxiety book

Babies sleeping position

Research shows that putting your baby to sleep on their back reduces the risk of SIDS, or sudden infant death syndrome. This article discusses a study showing that only 77% of moms have their baby sleep on their back. This is despite a 23 year ongoing campaign to educate parents about safe sleeping positions.

Exercise and sleep

Regular exercise has been shown to improve sleep quality. This article discusses that research in the past decade has confirmed that. However, I'm unsure of some of the statements in this article. Specifically, how taking sleeping pills is as dangerous as smoking a pack of cigarettes per day. No studies are cited, which makes it difficult to assess the accuracy of such statements.

Sleep deprivation overview

This link about sleep deprivation is informative and worth a look. It won't tell you how much sleep you need. Given that sleep deprivation is a common problem, getting more sleep may help.

Sleep apnea and pregnancy complications

Pregnancy is a time of rapid change in women's bodies. Sleep apnea can be more common due to weight gain and fluid retention (Restless legs syndrome is also more common - but that is for a separate post). This article discusses research presented at the American Thoracic Society's 2017 International conference. I did not attend this meeting. Researchers studied > 1.5 million pregnant women with a history of sleep apnea. The results showed that in women with obstructive sleep apnea there was a greater risk of serious pregnancy complications, longer hospital stays, and admission to the intensive care unit than mothers without the condition. However, treatment of sleep apnea was not determined, so it's not known if that would reduce the risk.

Sleep quality and Alzheimer disease

Patients with Alzheimer's disease often have poor nocturnal sleep quality and daytime sleepiness. In fact, the sleep difficulties at night are a common reason that Alzheimer sufferers are put in nursing homes. Caregivers are unable to stay up at night to ensure their loved one's safety, and then function in the daytime. This study showed that there is a relationship between individuals' sleep quality and Alzheimer disease markers in spinal fluid. I don't full access to the article, so can only comment on the abstract.

This study has some limitations. Participants sleep quality was assessed only via questionnaire, not by objective sleep testing. So it's unclear what is contributing to the reduced sleep quality. Also, the participants were already at risk for Alzheimer disease, having a family history of it. From this study, we can't conclude that poor sleep quality leads to Alzheimer disease. And it's not clear if improving sleep quality would lead to a decrease in the biomarkers for Alzheimer disease.

"Hacking" your sleep

Yet another article discussing sleep hygiene, but changing the verbiage to make it seem like new information. Using the word "hacks" makes it sound like you can break the sleep "code" and improve sleep quality. Almost all of the items listed are part of good sleep hygiene, and have been around for decades. With that said, I actually think this article is really good, providing useful information in a succinct format that may steer individuals in the right direction to better sleep.