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8 Easy Vegetables to Direct Sow in Garden Beds

Want to grow your own vegetables? Create your perfect vegetable patch by choosing the best and easiest veggies to sow and grow in your own garden. Enjoy your hard work and show off your skills to friends and family.

Radish

Radish (Raphanus sativus) is a plant species that represents a food staple in many cultures around the world. The Radish has a wide range of variations, including variants that grow in the spring, summer and winter. The root is generally eaten raw and can be used in salads or as a garnish.

Garden pea

Garden pea (Pisum sativum) is an annual vegetable that makes a hardy, cold weather crop. Also known as the green pea or garden pea, it grows from 1 to 1.5 feet tall. Peapods form after the first year and both peas and pods are edible and can be eaten cooked or raw. Excellent in stir fry, tender tips, called pea shoots, are also edible.

Beet

The Beet (Beta vulgaris) provides a variety of uses for food products and garden growth. The roots are commonly consumed as nutrient-rich vegetables, the body of the sugar beet is used to make table sugar, and the leaves are harvested as a separate vegetable: chard. In 18th-Century Silesia, an area that is now part of Poland, the first-ever beet sugar extraction plant was created by a royal decree from the king.

Cabbage

When you look at a wild Cabbage plant, you may be surprised by how many edible vegetables were derived from it. Native peoples selectively cultivated the wild Cabbage over centuries to produce broccoli, cauliflower, kale, kohlrabi, and more. The wild form of the plant is also edible.

Swiss Chard

Swiss Chard is a leafy green that’s cultivated and sold worldwide. It is cultivated for its leaves and stalks, and unlike other beet varieties, it does not produce fleshy roots. Despite being called “Swiss Chard”, this plant doesn’t come from Switzerland; its place of origin is Sicily.

Lettuce

Lettuce (Lactuca sativa) is a hardy annual plant commonly cultivated as a leafy vegetable. The earliest evidence of its cultivation goes all the way back to Ancient Egypt. Its leaves are often used for making salads and they are an excellent source of vitamins K and A.

Common bean

Common bean is one of the most widely produced cash crops in the world, with 23.6 million tons grown in 2016. China is the largest producer of the Common bean, accounting for 79% of the market share. While the Common bean is known as a staple food source, the leaves can be used to trap bedbugs and the beans are widely used in a type of fortune-telling called “favomancy”.

Spinach

Spinach (Spinacia oleracea) is an edible plant species that is often considered a ‘superfood’ due to its high content of vitamins, folate, fiber, iron, magnesium, and other nutrients. Spinach is grown in gardens around the world and provides an important food source.

9 Houseplants That Can Be Dangerous to Children and Pets

We all have that single friend whose beautiful house would never safely support a toddler. But not everyone is in that situation. These nine popular houseplants should be avoided if you have kids or anima

Amazonian Elephant Ear

Amazonian Elephant Ear (Alocasia mortfontanensis) is a hybrid species between Alocasia longiloba and Alocasia sanderiana. The Alocasia is known for its large leaves and wide variety of cultivars within the species. Amazonian Elephant Ear is native to tropical Asia and Australia.

Crown of thorns

The Euphorbia milii is commonly known as the Crown of thorns or Christ thorn, as it is believed to the plant associated with the crown of thorns that was worn by Christ. It needs to stay above 10 °C with full sun.

Sago palm

The Sago palm is said to be a source of sago, a starch and carbohydrate source eaten in certain countries. Great care must be taken, however, because Sago palm is poisonous that could cause vomiting, diarrhea and headache, etc. These palm-like plants are more often kept for their decorative value. But make sure that your pet is away from this plant, which could be fatal to pets if consumed.

Peace lily

The Peace lily gets its scientific name Spathiphyllum wallisii from a combination of the two Greek words ‘spath’ and ‘phyl’, which means spoon and leaves, respectively. The large graceful white spath of the Peace lily resembles a white flag, which is an international symbol of truce or peace.

English ivy

English ivy is the most common climber of European forests. It is a perennial woody vine with evergreen, dark, shiny lobed leaves. It utilizes aerial rootlets to attach to the tree bark with exceptional strength, helping the ivy creep more than 15 m up a tree. English ivy also grows as a forest groundcover and is invasive outside of its native range.

Angle wings

The Heart of jesus is a poisonous leafy plant. Its paper-thin, heart-shaped leaves lend the plant its common nickname, along with names like “angel wings” and “elephant ear.” Though native to South America, its primary hub of cultivation is now around Lake Placid, Florida, where it has become a popular centerpiece for an annual festival.

Persian cyclamen

Persian cyclamen (Cyclamen persicum) is a flowering herbaceous perennial native to Turkey, Israel, northern Africa and some Greek islands. The Persian cyclamen root can be combined with lime and added to lakes in order to stun fish. This method of fishing is banned in many jurisdictions.

Golden pothos

The Golden pothos is a popular flowering house plant that’s commonly seen in Australia, Asia, and the West Indies. It goes by many nicknames, including “devil’s ivy,” because it is so hard to kill, and can grow in the dark. Golden pothos has poisonous sap, so it should be kept away from pets and children.

Poinsettia

The Poinsettia is a common sight in the United States during Christmas time. It was popularized by Albert Ecke after he emigrated to California from Germany. Today, 70 million Poinsettia are sold in a short 6 week period.

9 Recommended Air Plants to Grow Indoors

While most popular garden plants grow in soil, air plants are different. They manage to spread their roots through the air alone. This captivating growth habit allows these plants to grow in striking hanging garden displays. If you want to grow these incredible plants in your home, here are a few of the species to try.

Giant airplant

Giant airplant, or Tillandsia fasciculata, is a large species of bromeliad. In the wild, it grows on tree trunks and produces a stunning flower-like inflorescence that can last for a year. This air plant is endangered in the United States.

Spanish moss

Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides) is native to subtropical and tropical Mexico, Central America, South America, and the southern United States. Spanish moss is also known as grandpa’s beard in Polynesia. It grows on the surface of southern live oak and bald-cypress trees. It has spiritual symbolic significance in Hawaii and the American south. It is also finds commercial use in insulation, mulch, packing material, and mattress stuffing.

Small ball moss

Small ball moss (Tillandsia recurvata) is a flowering plant that grows on the surfaces of other plant species, most commonly the southern live oak. Small ball moss is not a true moss, despite its name. This species is native to the southern United States, Argentina, and Chile. It was consumed by the indigenous Pima people of Mexico and can also be fed to animals.

Octopus plant

Octopus plant, or Tillandsia caput-medusae, gets its Latin name from the Greek Medusa, an evil creature whose hair was made of snakes. This variety of air plant can tolerate more sun and less humidity than other varieties.

Air plant

Air plant (Tillandsia ionantha) is a plant species native to Central America, Mexico, Costa Rica, and South America. The Air plant has become naturalized in Florida. This species is a popularly sought-after air plant for home cultivation. It is popular because it is considered hearty and requires minimal care. Air plant grows best in warm, humid rooms with occasional misting with water.

Air plant

Graced with strong, silvery leaves, Air plant (Tillandsia xerographica) is one of a number of species colloquially known as “air plants.” This name references their preference to grow, suspended, in the highest branches of tropical trees. Quite remarkably, the Air plant does not necessarily need soil, instead absorbing water through its leaves.

Spreading airplant

Spreading airplant (Tillandsia utriculata) is native to Florida and Georgia within the United States. The Spreading airplant is also often called the giant airplant. This species is the host of many native invertebrate animals because it can hold a great deal of water in its leaves. It is susceptible to the invasive weevil Metamasius callizona, which has a profound effect on its native ecosystem.

Airplant

Airplant (Tillandsia stricta) is a miniature tropical plant that makes a great addition to a terrarium or an enclosed indoor garden. The lush green leaves fan out from the center, growing thick and bushy as it matures. It produces clusters of eye-catching, pinkish-purple flowers that rise up above the plant on a green spike. Prefers bright indirect sunlight or fluorescent lighting. Water-loving: soak twice a week or mist three to four times weekly.

Bulbous airplant

Bulbous airplant(Tillandsia bulbosa) is a species in the genus Tillandsia. It is widespread across Central America, the West Indies, southern Mexico (Chiapas, Tabasco, Veracruz, Yucatán Peninsula), and northern and eastern South America (Venezuela, Colombia, the Guianas, Bahia, Espírito Santo, Alagoas, Amapá, Pernambuco).

12 Easy Vegetables to Grow Indoors

If you don’t have a green thumb, finding plants that you’re confident you can grow successfully can be challenging. Thankfully, many vegetables are easy to plant and maintain. Many of these plants grow well in indoor locations, and this list will introduce you to 12 such species.

Radish

Beet

Garlic

Garlic (Allium sativum) is an extremely popular garden plant because of its use for flavoring dishes, as well as its ease of care and growth. It is traditionally planted in autumn and harvested in mid-summer. This plant is also called the stinking rose, and it is useful as an insect repellent in gardens. Garlic is important to Korean creation myths, and is believed to ward off vampires and other spirits in European folklore.

Field mustard

Field mustard (Brassica rapa) is a plant that is widely cultivated and produces oilseed. Canola oil is made from the Field mustard oilseed. Field mustard attracts white butterflies who gain nutrients from its flowers.

Welsh onion

Welsh onion (Allium fistulosum) is cultivated for its onion-flavored leaves, which are used like scallions. Originally from Asia, it was brought to Europe in the 17th century and has now naturalized in various parts of North America, including Canada, Alaska and areas of the northern United States.

Basil

Basil is a species of mint plant native to Asia and Africa. It is a popular houseplant, and thrives when it receives plenty of regular sun and water. This plant is also easy to transfer from one soil environment to another. The edible Sweet basil leaves can be eaten fresh or dried with pizza, salads, soups, teas, and many other dishes.

Swiss Chard

Tomato

Solanum lycopersicum is an annual or perennial herbaceous vine native to Central and South America that produces a large, juicy, edible fruit known as Tomato. Today there are over 10000 cultivated varieties. Although tomato is the world’s most popular vegetable, botanically it is a fruit.

Lettuce

Arugula

Arugula (Eruca vesicaria) is an annual cool-season vegetable with peppery-tasting leaves. It will grow from 12 to 18 inches tall. It is often eaten in salads. The flowers and seeds are also edible. It prefers full sun to partial shade and tolerates wet soil and light frosts.

Peppers

The Peppers is a plant that produces bright red pepper vegetables. This chili pepper is commonly used for cooking in places such as the Southern U.S. and Central America. Most are moderately spicy, though because there are so many variants, the spice level can vary dramatically. Cayenne powder is also a popular seasoning product made from Peppers plants.

Spinach

8 Climbing Vegetables to Grow Vertically

Few plants are as impressive as climbing vines. Such species use their unique growth habits to entwine themselves with trellises, arbors, and other garden structures. Many of these climbing vines can reach incredible heights and grow some of the most popular foods in the world. Read through this article to learn about a few climbing vegetables you can grow.

Garden pea

Pea (Pisum sativum) is an annual vegetable that makes a hardy, cold weather crop. Also known as the green pea or garden pea, it grows from 1 to 1.5 feet tall. Peapods form after the first year and both peas and pods are edible and can be eaten cooked or raw. Excellent in stir fry, tender tips, called pea shoots, are also edible.

Field pumpkin

Field pumpkin are most commonly seen as decorations throughout the autumn and during the Halloween holiday, when they are carved and used as traditional jack-o’-lanterns. While the taste of Field pumpkin flesh may not be ideal, eating the seeds after toasting them with a bit of salt can be a delicious treat!

Malabar spinach

Not actually spinach at all, Malabar spinach is a vining plant that thrives in the heat of summer. It is very prolific in warm weather and the leaves are edible with a peppery citrus flavor. It can be eaten as salad greens or cooked or steamed. In warm climates, this vine can become invasive although a hard frost will kill it.

Cucumber

Cucumber (Cucumis sativus) is a creeping vine native to South Asia. It has a long history of cultivation – mentions of its use are found in various ancient scripts, including the Bible, Epic of Gilgamesh and Pliny the Elder’s “Natural History”. Today, Cucumber is one of the most widely cultivated vegetable species in the world.

Tomato

Common bean

Cantaloupe

Cucumis melo includes a variety of melons, including honeydew, cantaloupe, and muskmelon. These melons are an excellent source of vitamins A and C and are commonly eaten fresh or dried. It is occasionally turned into oil or liqueur.

Bottle gourd

Bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria) is an annual vine that is considered easy to grow from its seeds. This species is also known as calabash. This gourd is edible and is also used to make bowls and musical instruments.

Video test-2021-12-17

Cultivar People Often Ask – Content Creation

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Writing Guide: https://article.picturethisai.com/writing-guide/

What's this content for?

This workspace is to address questions that people commonly have about different plants. You are selected to generate and/or solve questions, make sure each cultivar has sufficient questions and answers.

Requirement

1. General Requirements:

Number of Questions: 6~8 questions (have a proper answer) are needed for each cultivar. (One exception is when there are no questions on google.com, see Operation 2.1 & 2.2)
Question solved: all questions should be accurately answered. The Word count for each answer is not limited, but please make sure the answer is concise and right on the topic.
Diversity: make sure not all questions are asked in one or two directions.
Directions: major directions for people often ask include (a) breeding history or cultural history behind it, (b) physical properties, (c) classification, (d) care guide or tips, (e) name story, (f) others.
Avoid plagiarism: rephrase the questions into your own words.

2. Special Attentions:

Local: local information in your country is highly recommended
No Medical: no questions or answers should be involved with medicinal use.
Common name: Use common names instead of Latin names whenever possible
Format for Latin words: Italicize any Latin words (except the ones already represented by placeholders) that appear (e.g., genus names referred to, etc.)

Operation Guide

1. If there are pre-existing questions:

1.1 Check the questions:

Check if there are enough questions for the cultivar, then check the diversity of the questions. Either not enough questions or the questions lack diversity, new questions should be added.
Check the questions if it is based on medical use. Delete any question based on medical use.

1.2 Check if they have pre-existing answers:

If they have, check the facts and expressions to see if you could refine them.
If they have not, click the “+” button on the right of the question, select the first choice “Custom answer” to create a text box, and provide an accurate answer for the question.
If you could not find the answer, just leave the answer blank, and find a new question.

2. If there is no pre-existing question or not enough questions

Find a proper new question: All questions should come from the ‘People also ask’ section on google.com. To obtain appropriate questions about the cultivar, try searching both the scientific name + cultivar name and the common name + cultivar name.
If you could not find any ‘people also ask’ on the google search engine, then leave it as it is for the cultivar even if the number of questions is less than 6. Do not make up your own question.
You can create new questions by clicking on the green bottoms “+FAQ”.
Answer the questions with the method mentioned above.

Example for POA Questions

Rosa Peace

Is Rosa Peace a climbing rose? (b. physical properties)

How tall does a Peace rose grow? (d. care guide or tips)

What is the story behind the Peace rose? (a. breeding history/cultural history behind it)

Who bred the rose Peace? (a. breeding history/cultural history behind it)

How did the Peace rose to get its name? (e. name story)

Is peace rose a floribunda? (c. classification)

How Meditation Improves Sleep

You can use meditation to improve sleep patterns and even help to eliminate insomnia by positively influencing your body chemistry, organs, and mental health. With regular meditation practice, you can sleep easier and feel more rested from your sleep.

Meditation is a technique that gives you many benefits. It has been shown to improve your mental and physical health in different ways, from having better memory function to lowering blood pressure. Did you know meditation can help you improve your sleep at night?

Today you will learn how mediation can positively affect your sleep and allow you to get more out of your night’s rest. You will be able to see why meditation improves sleep, and what types of meditation strategies will give you the best results for sleeping better.

Relaxation Response and How It Affects Sleep

The relaxation response is entirely different from the more well-known stress response. Both the relaxation response and the stress response are activated in the nervous system. The parasympathetic nervous system is responsible for the relaxation response, while the sympathetic nervous system is used for the stress response. The sympathetic nervous system is used to keep you awake and alert but can overreact to stress. The parasympathetic nervous system is what relaxes your body and allows you to go to sleep.

This is important because meditation activates your relaxation response through your parasympathetic nervous system. When you meditate, your body becomes relaxed and at ease which is exactly what the relaxation response is. You can teach your body and mind to be in a state closer to the relaxation response than to the stress response through meditation. When you strengthen your ability to activate your relaxation response, it will become easier for your body to transition to sleep when you need to.

There are even other great benefits you receive from your relaxation response, such as:

Improves insulin resistance
Reduces inflammation
Reduces oxidative stress

Meditation is a practice that improves your sleep health significantly by influencing areas of your body that are used for sleeping. The nervous system isn’t the only part of your body that meditation can change for the better.

What Sleep Benefits Are Behind Meditation

There are a few reasons why the consistent practice of meditation can help you sleep better at night. The results of meditating for better sleep are worth the effort, especially for those who experience insomnia regularly.

Meditation has been shown to help you:

Fall asleep when you want
Sleep uninterrupted
Wake up when you intend to
Feel more rested throughout the day

For all these great reasons, all you have to do is take a little time out of your day to relax. Really quite a bargain. The question is, how does meditation allow this to happen. There are quite a few answers to this question.

Meditation And Your Body

Meditation affects quite a few brain chemicals and hormones, as well as some organs in your body related to sleep. When these brain chemicals or body hormones are changed through meditation, you are able to fall asleep faster and have more restful sleep as well.

One excellent way meditation affects body chemistry is by reducing cortisol. Cortisol is the hormone that is most associated with stress. When you are able to lower this hormone, you experience less stress. With less stress, you are able to sleep better, as stress is the main issue for those with insomnia.

The practice of meditation also increases natural sleep by producing more melatonin. Melatonin is a chemical in your brain that sends signals associated with healthy sleep patterns. Meditation does this by helping create more serotonin in your brain, which is the precursor for melatonin. Therefore the more serotonin produced through meditation, the more melatonin your brain has access to.

Meditation has also been shown to access parts of your brain that are responsible for sleep. One main area in the brain associated with rest is the hypothalamus. This part of the brain is accountable for both sleep and waking. Meditation allows the hypothalamus to relax and activate its sleep response instead of the wake response.

Your heart rate is also positively affected by meditation. Meditation is known to slow down your heart rate, which allows your body to relax. A high heart rate can keep you from falling asleep. Through its effect on the heart, meditation also lowers your blood pressure which can generally keep you awake when it is high.

Mental Health Affects Sleep

Many people in the world experience mental illness of one kind or another. Depression, anxiety, PTSD, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and many other mental illnesses have insomnia as one of the side effects of their disease. Many of these illnesses come with other symptoms that may not allow them to sleep properly.

These illnesses can cause episodes of dysfunctional thoughts and behaviors that don’t allow sleep to come quickly. With anxiety, you can have overwhelming panic attacks, increased heart rate, and racing thoughts. Depression can cause rumination, which is similar to overthinking, where you cannot control your thoughts. Most mental illnesses affect your control over your thoughts and sometimes even actions, and none of this is conducive to sleeping.

Meditation can help those with mental illness have better control over their thoughts when practiced regularly. Through meditation, many with these diseases are able to take better control of their symptoms and episodes, which allows them to have a better sleep night of sleep.

Types of Meditation to Help You Go To Sleep

Two main types of meditation benefit sleep the most, although all forms of mediation can aid sleep in their own ways. Mindfulness meditation and guided meditation are the best to use when it comes to going to sleep or relaxing your body before going to bed.

Mindfulness meditation is when you focus on your body in the moment. You focus on breathing and work to relax every single part of the body as you do.

Guided meditation is best to use when going to bed at night. You can listen to audio of someone guiding you through your meditation. This keeps the mind focused on the task well and has excellent results for sleep health. Guided meditations can vary greatly, but there are many that are aimed specifically at aiding sleep or helping you to fall asleep. Many use this method who prefer a structured meditation that they can follow instead of creating their own system.

Final Thoughts

Insomnia is not something anyone wants to live with. It can cause you even more stress and allow you even less energy. Thankfully, meditation can almost eliminate insomnia in certain people, especially when regularly practiced. Meditation works with the body to lower stress hormones, increase brain chemicals needed for sleep and lower heart rate and blood pressure. This practice can also decrease the symptoms of mental illness and invoke your body’s relaxation response. The best types of meditation for sleep are guided meditation and mindfulness meditation. These both allow your body to relax as much as possible and prime your internal self for rest. The only way to get the most sleep health benefits out of meditation is to practice on a regular basis. Even if you only meditate once a day before bed, you will see improvements. Consistent meditation practice will give you consistent results.

Why Can’t I Sleep?

There are several reasons why you may not be able to sleep. These reasons include diet, exercise, health conditions, mental illness, and everyday stress.

Many people have trouble sleeping. The difficulty of going to sleep or staying asleep is something all cultures seem to share. Having a proper night of rest is essential to good health. Having interrupted sleep patterns or not getting enough sleep will result in many health issues that can become more serious.

Today, we’ll look at all the reasons you might be having trouble sleeping and also what you can do to manage it.

Why You Need to Get Enough Sleep at Night

There are very many harmful side effects of not getting enough sleep. Some of these can even be life-threatening.

Let’s take a look at the side effects of losing sleep:

High Blood Pressure: Having unhealthy sleep patterns is linked heavily to increasing blood pressure. It has been shown that even having just one night of inadequate sleep is enough to cause your blood pressure to rise. Over time, you can imagine that not sleeping enough too often will significantly increase your risk of complications with high blood pressure.
DNA Disruption: There is also reason to believe that not getting enough sleep will cause DNA disruption. This can lead to various issues because DNA disruption causes your genes not to function correctly. Your genes are required for critical bodily functions, so this may cause many health issues.
Increased Risk of Diabetes: Lack of sleep has been tied to increasing your risk of type 2 diabetes. Not getting enough sleep can alter how your body reacts to insulin which may cause a problem with how your body metabolizes glucose. This can lead to developing diabetes.
Heart Disease: Insomnia is directly responsible for many who suffer from heart disease. This is the most concerning of the side effects of losing sleep. According to the European Heart Journal, when someone suffers from a lack of sleep, the risk of death from coronary heart disease is almost doubled.
Faster Aging: If you aren’t getting enough hours of sleep at night, you may begin to notice increased signs of aging. “Beauty sleep” isn’t just a myth. Your body, especially your skin, needs time to recover from environmental stress such as UV radiation. This can only happen when your body is at rest, and if you aren’t getting enough, you may see a change in your skin coming on quicker than it should.

Insomnia Symptoms

Lack of sleep is better known as insomnia; it is called acute or chronic insomnia when you lose sleep for a short or long period.

If you suffer from any of the following symptoms along with loss of sleep, your insomnia may be a concerning health issue for you that could lead to detrimental side effects:

Trouble falling asleep when you want to
Waking up in the middle of the night
Waking up too early
Feeling tired when you wake up even after a night of sleep
Feeling tired throughout the day
Easily irritable
Depression
Anxiety
Confusion
Lack of focus
Memory problems
Often having accidents or making mistakes
Constant worry about sleep

If you suffer from many of these symptoms, it may be a good idea to talk to your doctor about it. It’s important to not suffer without seeking help because, over time, a lack of sleep can cause you more and more problems.

Causes of Lack of Sleep and Their Solutions

Stress

Stress can be a significant cause of losing sleep at night. Many people lie awake at night contemplating everything they are stressed about. This can include problems in the family or at work. Stress can come from many sources. Even planning a vacation can cause stress. Even those without an anxiety disorder suffer from everyday stress. Stress can cause a drain on the body and cause it not to function as it should, including disrupting your sleep patterns.

The best way to solve the problem of stress is to manage it effectively. It is practically impossible to eliminate stress from your life entirely, so you must learn to live with it more healthily. An excellent way to manage stress is daily meditation to calm your mind and emotions. Another way is to manage your time differently and plan for things ahead of time to be better prepared to deal with them.

Schedule

Your schedule can also have a significant impact on your sleep. Many people work more than they should, giving them less time to sleep. Even those who don’t work can have too full of a schedule to get enough sleep at night. Parents particularly often have trouble finding time for a full night of rest.

Managing this issue is to make some sacrifices for your schedule. Think about it this way; you are already deciding to sacrifice your sleep and, in turn, your health. Instead, choose to sacrifice something less critical. You can change your schedule for work. Work fewer hours or even just at a more consistent time. Many have insomnia because they go from working mornings to working at night and back and forth. If you are a parent, you can work to have your children on a more consistent schedule over time so that you manage your sleeping time better. If you spend too much time doing unnecessary things throughout the day, sacrifice some of these, so you have more time to sleep at night.

Sleep Habits

Sometimes it’s our bad habits that cause us to lose sleep. With so much focus on mobile devices, technology, and the internet, many are up late into the night staring at a screen. When you use your phone, computer, or laptop when you should be sleeping, you stimulate your mind, causing you to be even more awake. This makes it exceptionally difficult to fall asleep, even hours after you should.

It’s essential to take the time before bed to wind down your mind. If your brain is full of thoughts and ideas and social media posts before you go to bed, you will find it challenging to slip into sleep. When you are sleeping, your mind is at rest, and the easiest way to get there is to start resting your mind while you are awake.

Nicotine, Caffeine, Alcohol

Nicotine and caffeine are stimulants; this means they have the side effect of keeping you awake. Alcohol can help you fall asleep, but you won’t reach the deepest stages of sleep when sleeping under the influence of alcohol. This causes you to feel that you aren’t well-rested even after sleeping an entire night.

If any of these are used to excess, especially at night, you may have trouble sleeping. It’s best to limit your use of nicotine, caffeine, and alcohol as much as possible if you are having difficulty sleeping.

Medical Conditions

Many medical conditions can cause people to lose sleep. The symptoms of these issues are usually enough to keep someone from falling asleep or even staying asleep. Medical conditions that can cause insomnia include Alzheimer’s, chronic pain, diabetes, cancer, asthma, heart disease, overactive thyroid disorders, and Parkinson’s.

Mental Illness

Several mental health illnesses show up alongside insomnia. Sometimes lack of sleep can worsen mental disorders, and insomnia can even be a symptom of some mental illnesses. People with anxiety disorders such as PTSD find themselves waking up throughout the night and having trouble falling back asleep. Those who suffer from depression usually are known to wake up earlier than they intended.

Medication

Several medications are known to make sleeping more difficult. Depression medication, blood pressure medication, and asthma medication are known to cause issues with sleep.

Final Thoughts

Getting the needed amount of sleep at night is critical of being healthy. Lack of sleep can cause many serious health problems that worsen over time. Insomnia symptoms are hard enough to deal with without developing a severe medical condition. You can avoid almost all of the ways you lose sleep with some simple lifestyle changes. If you suffer from sleep loss due to a medical condition, medication, or mental illness, you should consult your doctor about making sleeping easier for you in particular.

Clear Your Mind for Meditation

In this article, we will show you how to learn how to clear your mind.

Meditation is known to have many benefits not only for your mental health but your physical health as well. However, many struggle to master meditation. There are a lot of people who think meditation “isn’t for them” or it’s “too hard.” Anyone can practice meditation, and even young children can learn to meditate.

The first skill to master for meditation is clearing your mind. This can be one of the hardest things for a beginner to learn, but it is one of the most important. With a little practice, you can clear your mind for meditation.

In this article, we will show you how to learn how to clear your mind. Once you have this one crucial skill down, you will find meditating much easier and more enjoyable.

How a Clear Mind Can Help You Outside of Meditation

Finding the right way to clear your mind can benefit you in so many ways. You can manage your entire life more effectively when you have better control over your thoughts.

You’ll find that you have more creativity. We can be bogged down with too many thoughts and worries to get into a creative flow. You can better harness your creative energy and put it to use by clearing your mind.

A clear mind will also give you more energy overall. The constant bombardment of unnecessary thoughts is enough to drain you. Having control over your mind allows you to use your energy on what you want.

Clearing your mind also allows you to have more mindfulness and presence. It’s important to enjoy your life and be in the moment instead of worrying about the future and the past.

You will also find it easier to deal with negative emotions and situations. This is a natural result of having control over your mind and thoughts. You will find yourself overreacting to things much less.

Meditation and the ability to clear the mind of thoughts you don’t need also offer the great benefit of better mental function. You will learn new things much more accessible, and your memory will significantly improve.

Why Is It So Hard To Clear The Mind?

Almost anyone who has tried to meditate has had issues clearing their minds. In theory, it seems like it should be a simple task. Why do so many struggles with this?

The mind has a limited amount of attention available to it, and people usually have many different things to focus on in their lives. You could be concerned about work, your family, what to have for dinner, the bills, your house, your community, or your car. There are so many things that people are worrying and thinking about throughout the day, and as mentioned before, the mind only has limited space to focus on a few of these at one time. Due to this, the mind is constantly filling space with what you feel you need to focus on.

So what happens when you try to clear your mind? The mind automatically tries to fill the empty space with things you feel you should be thinking about. Any time you clear out your mind, the first response is to fill it with new worries.

One great thing about meditation is it allows you to manage these thoughts and worries more successfully over time as you meditate frequently. The very problem that frustrates many into giving up on meditation is solved through meditation. Once you master changing your thought patterns through meditation, it becomes much easier to control them in your regular life.

How to Clear Your Mind Through Breathing

One of the most important techniques to learn for meditation is breathing. Breathing exercises and focusing on the breath are the best way to learn to clear your mind.

This is the process of breath focus through meditation:

The first and one of the most important steps is to find a comfortable position. One of the most distracting things you will run into during meditation is your body. If you are slightly uncomfortable, you’ll notice more and more as you try to meditate. Try to pick a spot where your body is entirely comfortable and you aren’t too hot or cold. Some people will even lay down to meditate, and this can be a good option.
Eliminate distracting noises. Some can find it hard to locate a place with absolutely no noise. The best thing you can do is just eliminate noises that will distract you. A good suggestion is to use headphones and turn on music or noise without words. Music without any lyrics can be a great sound to meditate to due to its consistent patterns.
Close your eyes. It’s best to keep visual distractions at bay, especially when you’re first starting out.
At this point, you need to direct your attention to your breathing. You can’t simply clear your mind to the point of emptiness. You need a point of focus to fill your mind with. Pay attention to your breath as it goes in and out of your body and where your breath is at all times.
Take deep breaths in through your nose. You should breathe in for about two seconds, and you should count these in your mind.
Next, breathe out through pursed lips. Breathe out completely and count to four as you do.
Make sure you are breathing using your diaphragm. This is when your stomach moves out when you breathe in and moves in when you exhale.

Throughout this process, keep your attention entirely focused on your breath. Your mind may wander, but simply redirect your mind back to your breath when you notice other thoughts intruding. You may do this many times, but it will happen less and less with practice.

Active Meditation

Many people find success with active meditation. There are two primary forms which include movement meditation and focused thought meditation.

Movement

Movement meditation is simply moving while you meditate. You can choose to take a slow, relaxed walk or even tread water in a pool. In this meditation, you still take deep breaths and focus on using the entire capacity of your lungs through your diaphragm. In this meditation, you are able to direct your focus to your movement as well, your legs moving, your arms swinging. Movement meditation focuses on your body, filling your mind, and keeping unwanted thoughts out.

Focused Thought

Focused thought meditation can be combined with movement or choosing a comfortable place. With this mediation, you focus on specific words or feelings instead of just your breath. You should always choose something that has a positive meaning to you. You can imagine this word written in your mind as a specific color and use your mind to write this word over and over in your mind. Focus on the creation of the letters, each one at a time.

Final Thoughts

Meditation can be a beneficial practice but, clearing your mind can seem like a challenge. Clearing your mind requires you to fill it with different things. Meditation is the act of choosing what you fill your mind with instead of simply emptying it. With the practice of the techniques discussed, you can achieve a clear mind a reap the rewards of meditation yourself.