In commemoration of the Gunpowder Plot dated back to 1605, November 5 is set aside each year to observe a vast array of fireworks and bonfire displays in what has become known as ‘Bonfire Night’. Robert Catesby led a failed conspiracy in the year 1605 in which he along with his team of English Catholics would destroy the House of the Lords killing the Protestant King thus allowing him to take over as Catholic Head. Guy Fawkes was the gentleman who was to handle the explosives and everyone knows how that played out.
This period of time can leave some people scratching their heads as to what the best way to block noise when sleeping would be. As is tradition, many hang out around the bonfire with their sips of either mulled wine or hot chocolate and a warm cup of soup while enjoying loud fireworks that can go for as long as a week or more. For some, this can mean consistent sleep insomnia.
Blocking The Sound Of Fireworks
There are people for whom finding the best way to block noise when sleeping becomes difficult when the sound of a bonfire is crackling in the distance or people are chattering away or fireworks are booming overhead. Others find these noises to be soothing, almost comforting and fall right off to sleep. Incorporating some of these methods may aid in your ability to maintain a healthy sleep pattern during bonfire night.
++ Try mindfulness activities or meditate for 10 minutes
Prepare the intention of being relaxed by opting to meditate in silence. Using mindfulness to help sleep can prime your body for the time when the festivities are set to begin. Follow that by a calming cup of tea or rest in a soothing bath. Maintain a sense of peace and quiet throughout the home.
++ Listen to white noise.
In an effort at blocking the sound of fireworks, there are white noise machines that are built for the purpose of creating a low-level sound that will offer a consistency that makes the sleep area a stable place so the brain is able to turn itself off and the loud noise is less effective in interrupting the sleep pattern. You can also create this sound via a fan or a radio that’s not tuned in or even an old TV.
++ Try speaking to neighbors before.
Maybe it’s not so much the overall festivities that are the problem but the ones that are closest to your home that are causing the real issue. By speaking with the people who live the nearest to you about the noise level, you can perhaps find a way to come to a happy medium with the amount of commotion that they create. It has to be handled in a very ginger way so as to not initiate any kind of conflict. You have to live with your neighbors and want to do so in as serene and compatible way as possible.
++ Soundproof your bedroom with furniture.
Using furniture and accessories is a great cost-effective way to soundproof your sleeping space and save neighborly relationships. You can hang heavy blankets over the entryway points to the room, add extra furniture especially bookcases or your headboard to space and place them in a position where they will absorb sound, hang thick curtains to help neutralize the extra noise going on outside. All of these options will enable you to have a safe haven within your house while the world is celebrating around you.
Why We Need Sleep
A healthy night of sleep means that we can retain vital information and learn skills so that we can thrive throughout our lives. This is why our children require on average upwards of a range of 10 to 14 hours of sleep per night so that they are capable of the necessary motor, language, and social skills that they need for proper development. On the contrary, the health consequences of lack of sleep can include a decrease in the functioning of our mental capacity, less awareness and alertness to the surroundings, a sense of time distortion, and intense fatigue.
Scientists find that the closer we come to maintaining the optimal number of hours of sleep for our age group, the healthier we may be. This is our body’s chance to work on itself without interruption from our busy lives. It is able to restore and repair organ systems which include the immune system and our muscles as well as a variety of other hormones. And it also plays a critical role in our cognitive functionality, particularly with memory allowing us to retain all that we learn throughout the course of a regular day. These are the main health benefits of sleep that scientists feel makes the case for why it is necessary to get in the suggested amount of rest each and every night without any lapses.
Common Sleep Disorders
There are upwards of nearly 100 million people who are suffering from some type of sleep disorder with approximately 100 varying kinds of different sleep disorders recorded. Some happening on a far greater prevalence as compared to others.
- Insomnia. This is by far among the most common of the sleep disorders with nearly half of the population experiencing symptoms on an occasional basis and upwards of 10% of the United States admitting to suffering from a chronic bout. It is characterized as having a difficult time falling to sleep, waking in the middle of the night with the inability to go back to sleep, or waking up way earlier than you need to. This leads to not feeling refreshed in the morning, extreme cases of daytime fatigue, overall lapse of energy, a tough time with focus, mental decline such as aggression or irritability as well as impulsiveness, inability to perform tasks, forgetting, quality of life lessons.
- Restless Leg Syndrome. There is a small percentage (10% adults/2% children) of the population who endure restless legs syndrome or RLS in different degrees. This is a neurological disorder that gives the person suffering a constant, overwhelming need to move their legs around and oftentimes other parts of the body are involved. Usually during moments of rest. The symptoms that most people report include a pulling or itching, aching or burning as well as a throbbing with relief only being given through movement or massage. It’s classified as a sleep disorder because it greatly affects the sleep pattern having to constantly maintain motion in the legs which leads to the same health deficits that any type of sleep disorder would bring.
- Narcolepsy. This is a neurological disorder in which the brain is not able to control the sleep/wake cycle with nearly 200,000 in the United States reporting this condition. These people report chronic sleepiness during the day and periods in which they unexpectedly just fall asleep in the daytime at any moment while in the middle of any activity including work or school function, interacting in a conversation with someone, working out, even in the instance of driving. This can happen with having plenty of rest the prior night and can go on throughout the entire day. Their sleep at night, however, is often fragmented with difficulty staying asleep generally awaking as much as five times for upwards of 20 minutes for no apparent reason.
Waking up each morning feeling like you are still tired is an indication that you’re not getting the amount of rest that your body needs. If you’re always feeling sleepy or you see that it’s difficult for; you to get to sleep at night, you may want to check in with a doctor just to see if there’s something underlying going on. Getting enough sleep is our way to stay alert and healthy. It's critical to maintain that as long as possible.