| If there's a need - a real one or just a perceived one - | | | | When you get a new bed, make sure you get one |
| you can count on some company somewhere to | | | | that's big enough. The Furniture Industry Research |
| create a product to meet it at a profit. It will probably | | | | Organization says that 80 percent of Britons sleep on |
| be a technological solution. Our age is in love with | | | | standard double bed, which is not big enough to be |
| technology. And the profit will be as big as possible. | | | | comfortable. |
| Maybe a drug will also be patented for that need and | | | | With a bed that size, sleeping with another person, you |
| be sold everywhere ? that drug may even work. But | | | | have as much relative room to move as a baby in a |
| that's another article. | | | | crib. Get a bed that's at least 5 feet 6 inches wide. It |
| When it comes to a need, hundreds of thousands of | | | | should be at least 6 feet 6 inches long, too, unless one |
| people world-wide say that they don't get enough | | | | of you is really tall and you need something longer. |
| good sleep. And reams of studies from researchers | | | | A Cool, Dark, Quiet Place |
| of all kinds seem to back them up. | | | | Light is a signal to your body to wake up. So keep light |
| The Japanese electronics giant Matsushita decided | | | | out. |
| that the ideal solution was a technical one, and their | | | | Police officers and others who have to sleep during |
| solution was the "perfect sleeping room." They put | | | | the day have been known to nail sleeping bags over |
| their designers and engineers to work. Here's what | | | | the windows. You don't need that. Quality lined drapes |
| they came up with. | | | | will do a better job and not make it seem like you're |
| The Technological Solution | | | | sleeping in a youth hostel. |
| It's like something out of science fiction. There's a giant | | | | If you've got an alarm clock with a bright display, turn it |
| TV screen and a control panel on the wall. The walls | | | | off or at least down. Turn off other lights or displays |
| are thick sound-absorbing material. | | | | that might affect your sleep. |
| There's music. Most of it is gentle guitar or piano music. | | | | And keep your sleeping room cool. The general rule is |
| There are sounds of a brook, with birds in the | | | | that cooler is better, but stay above 12 degrees |
| background. | | | | Celsius. Keep cool but comfortable. |
| The bed probably doesn't look like your bed at home. | | | | You won't be able to do much about the noise outside |
| It's upright like a giant recliner or a hospital bed. The TV | | | | your room unless you move. But you can do some |
| screen, over the dresser, is aligned to be directly in | | | | things inside. |
| your line of sight. | | | | Those good curtains I mentioned will help keep noise |
| After you've sat in the bed for a while, the room starts | | | | out. There's a technological solution, too. |
| to do its thing. The lights dim. The screen goes dark. All | | | | "White noise" is noise made up of all the available |
| sound except the brook die away as the back of the | | | | frequencies. Practically, "white noise" is used to mask |
| bed lowers you into sleeping position. | | | | background noise and sounds. |
| The bed begins to massage you. This is not one of | | | | An inexpensive white noise generator can do the trick. |
| those cheap motel devices where you put in a coin | | | | So can a small fan that runs while you sleep. The |
| and for five minutes of vibration. This is gentle and | | | | unobtrusive fan noise will mask other, more annoying |
| concentrated on your upper and lower back. | | | | noises. |
| After a while the massage stops. The room goes | | | | Scent and Feel |
| completely dark. | | | | Where you're sleeping also involves the material of |
| Air is released from the mattress. Your body settles | | | | everything you're sleeping on. |
| deeper into it. | | | | Pick natural fibers for whatever you wear to bed. |
| According to the people at Matsushita, everyone who | | | | They absorb moisture well and breathe better than |
| has tried the system has fallen asleep. Sounds good, | | | | synthetic fabrics. |
| but there's no track record of people who've had a | | | | For a little extra relaxation help, try a natural lavender |
| system for any length of time. | | | | scent. Research shows it can improve the quality of |
| That could have something to do with the price. If you | | | | sleep. Naturally lavender-scented ironing sprays are a |
| want the "perfect sleeping room," Matsushita-style, it | | | | good solution. |
| will cost you $30,000. | | | | Your sleeping room is only part of the formula for |
| Do It Yourself | | | | great sleep. And, the "Perfect Sleep Room" is an |
| That's an awful lot of money for a system that might | | | | expensive, high-tech solution. But it may not work as |
| or might not give you a good night's sleep. And what | | | | well some simpler, easier and less expensive ways to |
| happens if the system goes on the blink? Do you have | | | | create your own perfect sleep room. |
| to send it out for warranty repairs? If so, now you're | | | | Environmental versus psychological |
| dependent on it like a drug, how do you sleep until | | | | Everything in this report deals with the external |
| then? | | | | surrounds for where you are sleeping. Personally, it's |
| That all makes no sense to me. Instead, try some | | | | my belief that all these are nothing more than training |
| low-tech, low-cost things that we know will help you | | | | wheels on a bicycle. |
| sleep better. | | | | It's great to get you started, but one day you need to |
| A Good Foundation | | | | progress beyond it. |
| Good mattresses aren't cheap these days. That may | | | | The real key to sleeping anywhere and anytime is to |
| be why most people keep them far too long. | | | | learn to flip the sleep switches inside your mind and |
| According to the British Sleep Council, most people | | | | body. Once you learn that, you'll be able to fall asleep |
| hold on to a bed for almost twenty years. By then a | | | | on a bus, plane, foreign hotel bed ? even with a |
| bed is just a lump of tired and old rags with metal | | | | partner snoring next to you like a drowning water |
| springs. | | | | buffalo. |