Booming Dreams:

The children born between 1946 and 1964, known as the baby boomers make up a subset of the American Population now 75 million strong. There are some differences in the range in terms of what they experienced with the earliest boomers having lived through the Vietnam War and the massive impact of the death of the political leadership of JFK and Bobby Kennedy as well as Martin Luther King.

But while Boomers are aging, they represent a new breed of aging. This is not the shuffleboard set. Many boomers are not just working but running major corporations (Steven Jobs, Bill Gates, Donald Trump, Bono are all Boomers); but are balancing children, grown children boomeranging and aging parents. This is a hectic pace, at times a grueling lifestyle and with aging comes new needs for sleep.

Preparing a space to indulge in pampering, spa like recovery and restoration is extremely important. Creating a place in your home where you can find stillness, quiet and regroup from the daily grind is essential when pressures come from every direction. The bedroom should be that room. Everything in it should pamper you, restore you and allow you to fully recharge.

Find a bed that suits your style, the décor and most importantly supports your sleeping needs. Find bedding that appeals to senses and helps generate the spa feeling that allows restoration. If pillows feel luxurious and plush, top your bed with a variety of shapes, sizes and firmness.

Keep clutter to a minimum. Try to shutter out the things that cause you stress and worry. If bills make you anxious, don’t use the bedroom to pay them. If work winds you up, don’t use your bed to work. If laundry stresses you put the hamper in the closet or use a laundry chute. The important thing here is to prepare you to sleep.

For some people, sleeping without TV brings stress, and if you are one of those then position the TV for comfortable viewing. Some experts say that any electronics in the bedroom is disruptive to sleep cycles. Again, this needs to support the relaxation process. If watching movies before you drift off to sleep relaxes you, then you should set that up in the room.

Comfort is critical to relaxation, with age comes more challenge to that concept. In addition to the hectic pace, boomers may be starting to experience health conditions that can benefit from restful sleep and elevation. Acid reflux, snoring and joint or muscle conditions can benefit from being able to raise your head to the right angle. Circulation issues can benefit from raising your legs. Beds without innersprings will help relieve the contact pain that comes from the pressure points of innerspring. Muscle and joint aches can be supported from deep memory foam and no innersprings as well as the variation of elevations.

Whether you are still at the peak of performance or starting to feel the aches and pains of a hectic lifestyle, sleep is the critical element to surviving and thriving every day.<./p>