It is possible improve your health without a prescription, and without a diet or exercise program. Just breathe.

Of course, breathing is something you do automatically, but for optimal health you should spend some time breathing intentionally. Focussed breathing techniques activate your body’s natural relaxation response. When you’re stressed, your sympathetic nervous system is ready for fight or flight. With breath you can activate your parasympathetic nervous system into rest and digest mode. This can lead to a decreased heart rate, lower blood pressure and reduced muscle tension. Over time this can lower cortisol and inflammation.

Start with something simple – diaphragmatic breathing – which is good for asthma, COPD, anxiety, high blood pressure, irritable bowel syndrome, chronic pain and insomnia. Lie on your back with bent knees or sit in a chair. Place your hands on your belly. Inhale through your nose and notice how your belly and hands rise. Exhale through pursed lips as if you were blowing bubbles, while tightening your stomach muscles. Your belly and hands will lower as you breathe out. Practice this slowly for up to five minutes once a day to strengthen the diaphragm and breathe more efficiently.

Then explore using your strengthened diaphragm for other breathing techniques like alternate nostril breathing, box breathing and 4-7-8 breathing which is particularly helpful for falling sleep.

To start a healthy practice, choose a routine time each day – after lunch, before taking a walk, or at bedtime. Notice how you feel and adjust as you like.

Just breathe.

Worrying about getting enough sleep can actually keep you up at night. It’s a myth that everyone needs eight hours of sleep every night. But we are all hoping to feel rested and ready to meet each day, so it is common to worry when we hit a patch of insomnia.

Before considering medication, which has limitations and can have unwanted side effects, experts recommend trying a few new habits or strategies. Here is what they suggest.

Set a reasonable bedtime, and stick to it. If you find you are tossing and turning after about 20 minutes, get up and do something relaxing before getting into bed again. Even when you have had a late night, get up at the same time each day.  Going for a leisurely walk is better for you than napping in the daytime.

Eating within three hours of your bedtime and consuming caffeine in the evening can keep you awake. Alcohol relaxes at first, but then it disturbs sleep. To calm your mind and body before sleep try some mindful meditation or other relaxation techniques. Reading in low light before bedtime is tried and true. Tightening and releasing muscles one at a time from toe to head relieves tension (PMR). So does the 4-7-8 breathing exercise. Or try distracting your busy mind by choosing a theme and thinking of a word for each letter of the alphabet relating to the topic. i.e. A – antelope, B – beaver, C – camel, D – dingo, etc.

One or more of these tips for better sleep may be just the help you need. Sweet dreams.

When Islington 2000 was under construction, popcorn ceilings were an obvious choice. The bumpy finish was easy to install, hid imperfections, and discouraged both fire and noise. If you still have the stippled finish you are still benefitting from these advantages.

Current taste has moved away from a focus on these practical issues and toward the modern look of smooth finishes on our ceilings. If you are inclined to make your ceiling smooth there are options. Scraping/sanding is the worst – the dust can be toxic.

Popcorn ceilings in big rooms can be covered with 3/8” drywall. This will lower the ceiling a very little. In a condo remember that the building is designed to sway which may in time expose cracks. More creative options for covering the stipple are decorative ceiling tiles or wooden planks. Both offer warmth and visual appeal.

A newer option for creating a smooth surface is to tightly stretch fabric or pvc across the existing ceiling. Installers work with an aluminum frame attached to the ceiling, then stretch the membrane of your choice over all. Besides a sleek look this improves acoustics. And the space above a stretched ceiling can include various kinds of ambient lighting options. 

A plasterer can skim-coat the whole ceiling. It may require multiple coats to even out a very textured ceiling, because it is not advisable to prepare the surface by sanding. As mentioned above, it is best to avoid any contact with possibly toxic construction dust.

The least expensive and least fussy option is to paint over the textured ceiling. An acrylic/latex paint in a flat or matte finish, possibly in a darker colour will visually camouflage the texture. It is decorative and also works as a sealant. Lay down multiple coats very thickly for best results.

Getting sufficient sleep is important for good health. However, authoritative statistics on insomnia worldwide suggest that 16.2% of the global population suffers from insomnia, and 7.9% have severe insomnia. A survey study in the US conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that adults had trouble falling or staying asleep within a 30-day period.

A recent scientific meta-study examined the outcomes of 22 randomized controlled trials investigating the effects of exercise and other therapies for insomnia, and found that four types of exercise may be the best ways to improve sleep quality and avoid insomnia: yoga, Tai Chi, walking, and jogging.

The study found that practicing yoga, Tai Chi, walking, and jogging are effective therapies for treating poor sleep and insomnia. The positive effects of yoga were the strongest of the exercises studied, and the beneficial effects of Tai Chi were the longest-lasting. The conclusions of the study were:

• Practicing yoga may increase sleep time by just under two hours a night and boost sleep
  efficiency by 15%. It may also shorten the amount of time it takes to fall asleep and wake
  up after having been asleep.
• Tai Chi may improve sleep quality, increase total sleep time by nearly an hour, reduce
  wake after sleep onset, and shorten sleep onset latency. The beneficial effects of Tai Chi
  were especially long-lasting: as long as two years.
• Walking or jogging may result in an almost 10-point reduction in insomnia severity
  scores.
• For people seeking better sleep, yoga, tai chi, walking, and jogging may be as effective
  as cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia.
• Seven to nine hours is the recommended amount of sleep each night for adults.

The original study is published in the journal BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine.