We made the final delivery of beds to the Phuket Airport hotel on Saturday, they are upgrading all their rooms.

We supplied mattresses and divan beds (box spring bases) to them. As they say on their website 'make your short stay a great stay'. See their website here: http://phuketairporthotel.com/ I have attached some pictures though unfortunately they aren't that clear as I think I had my camera on the wrong setting.

Both the owner of the hotel (Marcel from Holland) and I helped with the unloading so it got done pretty quickly, all the rooms will be finished by the end of next month and they are looking great. They have new ceilings, new wall decoration, 32 inch LCD TV's and, of course nice new beds. The hotel also offers good Wi-Fi and a swimming pool, yet the prices are very reasonable.

I don't normally take pictures of deliveries but made an exception today, to show you what we are doing. 

Having problems sleeping? I'm sure you're not alone, many people experience insomnia at some point in their lives.

This is part one of five issues that can cause it.

A disrupted routine

Our body clock reacts to light and dark even when are eyes are closed. The aim being to synchronize our body to something known as the 'circadian rhythm, which could be described as our best natural state as human beings. The sleep hormone is called melatonin and during daylight it's production is reduced causing us to feel more awake and alert.

This means that if we go to bed later than usual or get up earlier we don't get as much of the deep sleep, and the REM sleep that follows it, as we need and hence feel tired.

So, try to avoid both too many late nights partying and too many early starts! Easy to say, right?

We are pleased to announce that we are now sole agents for a large Thai furniture manufacturer that has factories in Phuket and Chiang Mai. They produce furniture both for homes and hotels, their hotel clients include Ritz Carlton and JW Marriott (among many others) so their products are very high quality. We will be posting more pictures of their work soon and we are happy to quote on custom made furniture too.

ที่นอนอาจใช้งานได้แค่ครึ่งหนึ่งเพียงเพราะผู้ผลิตประหยัดเงินในการผลิตสินค้า

ที่นอนสมัยใหม่ ​​ยังคงต้องมีการสลับด้าน ถึงแม้ว่าจะเป็นงานที่น่าเบื่อ แต่จำเป็นอย่างยิ่ง หากคุณต้องการดูแลที่นอนให้ใช้งานได้นาน

วันหยุดสุดสัปดาห์ที่ผ่านมา ผมอยู่ในร้านขายปลีกที่นอน ซึ่งเป็นที่รู้จักกันดีในจังหวัดภูเก็ต ทางร้านได้นำที่นอนแบบ pocket spring + pillow top มาโชว์ ดูดีมาก แต่มีปัญหาหนึ่งอย่างคือมี pillow top เพียงด้านเดียว

ซึ่งหมายความว่าคุณไม่สามารถเลือก สลับที่นอนระหว่างด้านบน ด้านล่างได้ หรือไม่ก็ คุณยอมรับว่าที่นอนของคุณจะใช้ได้เฉพาะด้านเดียวที่มี pillow top

เป็นอีกตัวอย่างหนึ่งที่ผู้ผลิตประหยัดค่าใช้จ่ายในการผลิต แต่ไม่สนใจลูกค้า

และนี่คือเหตุผลหลักที่ Hugs Thailand แนะนำให้ลูกค้าใช้ที่นอน ที่มี pillow top สองด้าน เพราะคุณสามารถสลับใช้งานได้ทั้งสองด้าน และ สามารถใช้ที่นอนของคุณได้ยาวนานกว่าที่ควรจะเป็น

Halving the life of your mattress (but saving the manufacturer a few Baht)

Modern mattresses still need to be regularly 'turned'. It is a chore, but a necessary one if you want to take good care of your mattress and ensure it lasts as long as possible.

At the weekend I was in a well known mattress retailer here in Phuket and was shown a 'pocket spring' mattress with a pillow top. Very nice.

The only problem was the pillow top is on just one side.

That means you can either:

1. Alternate between having a pillow top and not.

or

2. Accept that your mattresses life will be half as long as it should be.

Our 'show' mattresses have single sided pillow tops (in latex and foam) but this is just to show customers the difference between having a pillow top and not. Our supplier wasn't at all happy about making them for us, until I assured them that they were not going to be for sale, just for people to try out.

This purely because of the affect it has on the mattresses lifespan.

Another example of a manufacturer saving a few baht at your expense.

This is why Hugs only sell mattresses with double-sided pillow tops.

Sleep tight.

Hugs 

Reports from the UK claim that the colour of your bedroom apparently affects your sleeping pattern.

If you room is red, you can expect 6 hrs and 58 mins rest.

A grey room will give you around 6 hrs and 12 mins shut eye.

The colour of calm is apparently blue, if you have a blue room you will get a blissful 7 hrs and 52 mins sleep.

However those of you with a purple room can only expect a mere 5 hrs 56 sleep time.

Personally I think your mattress is more important than the colour of your bedroom. How do you know what colour the walls are when you have your eyes shut? But I would say that wouldn't I? 

What colour is your bedroom?

Sleep tight!

Hugs

According to Greg Jacobs of Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for Insomnia (from the USA) when we go to bed for the first 1 hour to 1 hour and 40 minutes humans go through four stages of sleep.

The first stage is when you become drowsy, your breathing slows, your muscles relax and your heart rate reduces. It is a half way house between being awake and asleep and is the time when occasionally your body rebels and you get a 'falling' sensation and wake with a jolt, or something similar.

In stage 2 you are in a slightly deeper sleep. You are actually sleeping but may not fully realize it and still feel awake. This can give rise to a feeling of a 'sleepless' night.

Stages 3 & 4 are 'deep sleep', as the name suggests this when there is the lowest amount of brain and body activity meaning it is the state that it is hardest to wake up from.

We return to stage 2 for a few minutes after 'deep sleep' and then enter the 'rapid eye movement' phase which is known as 'REM'. This is when we dream.

In a full nights sleep we will typically experience all four stages, followed by a return through stages 3 & 2 and then a long 'dream sleep' phase.

Clearly a comfortable mattress and bed will help you get this proper nights sleep, and that is where a Hugs Mattress can help…

Sleep tight.

Hugs 

And how a new Hugs mattress can help improve your health & quality of life!

www.hugsthailand.com

Here is an article that explains the current theories on why we need to sleep. I was also reading elsewhere of a Vietnamese man who didn't sleep for 33 years (with no ill effects) after recovering from an illness in the 1970's. Personally I like snuggling up in bed so I'm glad I still need it, dreams can be fun too.

One thing is for sure, a new Hugs Mattress wouldn't be the cause of insomnia! 

from: http://psychology.about.com/od/statesofconsciousness/p/TheoriesofSleep.htm

Sleep has been the subject of speculation and thought since the time of the early Greek philosophers, but only recently have researchers discovered ways to study sleep in a systematic and objective way. The advent of new technology such as the electroencephalograph has allowed scientists to look at and measure electrical patterns and activity produced by the sleeping brain.

While we can now investigate sleep and related phenomena, not all researchers agree on exactly why we sleep. A number of different theories have been proposed to explain the necessity of sleep as well as the functions and purposes of sleep. The following are three of the major theories of sleep.

Repair and Restoration Theory of Sleep:

According to the repair and restoration theory of sleep, sleeping is essential for revitalizing and restoring the physiological processes that keep the body and mind healthy and properly functioning. This theory suggests that NREM sleep is important for restoring physiological functions, while REM sleep is essential in restoring mental functions.

Support for this theory is provided by research that shows periods of REM sleep increase following periods of sleep deprivation and strenuous physical activity. During sleep, the body also increases its rate of cell division and protein synthesis, further suggesting that repair and restoration occurs during sleeping periods.

Evolutionary Theory of Sleep:

Evolutionary theory, also known as the adaptive theory of sleep, suggests that periods of activity and inactivity evolved as a means of conserving energy. According to this theory, all species have adapted to sleep during periods of time when wakefulness would be the most hazardous.

Support for this theory comes from comparative research of different animal species. Animals that have few natural predators, such as bears and lions, often sleep between 12 to 15 hours each day. On the other hand, animals that have many natural predators have only short periods of sleep, usually getting no more than 4 or 5 hours of sleep each day.

Information Consolidation Theory of Sleep:

The information consolidation theory of sleep is based on cognitive research and suggests that people sleep in order to process information that has been acquired during the day. In addition to processing information from the day prior, this theory also argues that sleep allows the brain to prepare for the day to come. Some research also suggests that sleep helps cement the things we have learned during the day into long-term memory. Support for this idea stems from a number of sleep deprivation studies demonstrating that a lack of sleep has a serious impact on the ability to recall and remember information.

Final Thoughts:

While there is research and evidence to support each of these theories of sleep, there is still no clear-cut support for any one theory. It is also possible that each of these theories can be used to explain why we sleep. Sleeping impacts many physiological processes, so it is very possible that sleep occurs for many reasons and purposes.