Can't fall Asleep?

By Kacper M. Powstawski, Powerfulslepp.com, Ahmad

6 November 2008

You're lying awake, and you can't sleep because your mind just won't stop thinking!

Why can't your mind just shut up!?

Look asleep, but do we?

Actually, as this is happening, your inability to sleep is NOT the result of your racing

mind. It's actually the fact that you're lying awake that's making your mind race!

That's a pretty interesting concept isn't it? Haha… Okay, allow me to explain.

Qiammulail: solat bangun malam memerlukan kita tidur terlebih dahulu sebelum menunaikannya

Our thoughts work in the same way as a snowball that's rolling down a hill. The snow

ball gradually gets bigger and bigger and bigger. Our thoughts work in a momentum

like fashion, meaning that when you apply focus to one thought, you usually keep

thinking about that thought, and that thought leads to other thoughts of that nature.

Wow? Make sense? Probably not, let me make it a bit clearer.

Don't Do this.

Don't picture a bright blue mini van driving down a long road with two trees on the

right side of it.

Did you picture what I just said? Naughty Naughty! Told you not to!

Ha! My point is, our mind works by continuously taking in data and processing it.

This process is often outside of your control. You cannot NOT think about a bright

blue mini van because whenever I mention it your mind has to picture a mini van to

even think about it. Often times our mind has a “mind of its own” and it will move in

directions without you being even aware of it.

“Wherever focus goes, thought flows.”

Most of us are conditioned to just think about nothing when we go to sleep, our mind

naturally just shuts off after a while and we go to sleep. However, during

stressful times, our focus is entirely different, and our thoughts continue to flow in

very un-sleepy directions. Let me give you an example, suppose you're trying to

relax when you're a bit stressed...

Your thoughts:

Hmm.... It would be nice to just be in a big park right now.

With the birds,

and the bees.....

and all the happy little trees...

I'm walking in the park, lalala... Look, there's a bench in the park,

Lets sit on it....

Hey... I'm sitting.

You know... I sit like this all day in my room too...

I don't like my job, why on Earth did I choose to study there, what was I thinking?

You know, my lecturer is inconsiderate.

I can't believe he assigned me that project.

Oh No! The deadline is in a few days!

What if I don't make it?

What will the people think of me in that presentation?

The Presentation Room... There's a coffee machine in there.

I drink too much coffee.

I had all these goals for healthy meal and I failed to keep up with them.

Why am I always a failure?

This is like that time in High School when I failed my exam.

Is something wrong with me?

WHY CANT I SLEEP?! There's got to be something wrong with me!

Our thoughts can easily turn from a walk in a park to re-living stressful situations

over and over again, simply because of this momentum concept. So what's the

solution?

It's simple: 

You must focus your attention on relaxing, and not trying to *FORCE*

sleep to come.

Of course, relaxing is a challenge for most people too...

Okay, ahhhhhhh,... time to relax.

Wow! This feels good.

Mmmmmmm....

Okay, I'll just turn my head to one side there.

Yup... Relax.

Hold on, Gotta move my arm... There...

Okay you know what, I think I like the other side better.

You know, relaxing is a bit harder than I thought

Why Can't I just relax?

Okay... Just Relax...

RELAX DAMNIT!

WHY CANT YOU RELAX! AHHHHHHHHHH

Some people tends to study when other peoples asleep

Again, often the momentum concept takes over and a simple adjustment of position

leads to hours of tossing and turning! We'll deal with how to combat tossing and

turning soon.

The answer lies in focusing all your attention on getting relaxed, and focusing your

imagination on something very pleasant, that you can easily enjoy, without having to

think about it. Your goal shouldn't be to fall asleep, but to simply relax. The reason

for this is simple: The more you focus on trying to fall asleep, the more frustrated and

stressed you will become about the concept of not falling asleep, this will push your

thoughts into a very negative direction.

Make sure you are ready to wake up when the time comes!

How to sleep less and have more energy?

By Kacper MP, powerfulsleep.com, Ahmad,15 October 2008

TRONOH: The picture above shows a front page of a book, which is my reference to this article, written by Kacper M. Postawski and powerfulsleep.com. Therefore, all information contained here is received from sources believed to be accurate. Thus, please seat back, relax and lend me your piece of mind.

Is it possible to sleep for 4-5 hours and feel more rested, more alert, and more energized than you did when you slept for 8 or 9 hours (or more)? Yes it is! while this book maybe short, the information in it is extremely powerful.

Do you want to change? Allah will not change our fate until we change it ourselves

Just Imagine what radical changes you could create. and what things you could accomplish in your life if you were able to sleep just half as much as you do now!

Now, let me remind you that the purpose of this article is to get you into getting a kick-off towards experiencing quality sleep. Furthermore, this article will be appreciated when the effect of this sleepimg plam takes into  play in your lifestyle.

For your information, I have been following this powerful sleep plan for  nearly a year and it has change my lifestyle since then.

Before I proceed on the 'how' let us look at this line, "I just need to get a good night rest", "Get some quality sleep, you'll feel better". However, what on Earth is quality sleep? Is it some mysterious force that just comes and attacks us in them middle of the night that we have no control over? Most people have very limited knowledge and beliefs about what sleep is. Often sleep just means 'sleep', and nothing more, and we don't pay much attention on how it affects our health.

Until the the 20th century, it was believed that our minds completely turned off during sleep. Recent scientific discovery has un-covered something completely different. Your mind enters a state so fascinationg and rich with structure that it makes being awake look boring when we're sleeping.

Based on this writer and me, I belief contrary to popular belief, you do not need 8 hours of sleep to function properly during the day. There are many people in the world today that perform mentally and physically demanding tasks and sleep for only 4 to 6 hours per night. Are these people living zombies? Or did they somehow tap into a fountain of energy, a system that lets them perform this way?

A good example of a person like this is someone on a yacht team. The crew takes shift being on the deck and has to fight vigorous weather, poor eating conditions, continuos motion and drastic temperature changes, for up to 3 months! At this time each crew sleeps about 4 to 5 hours peer shift, and has no trouble performing the highly mentally and physically demanding tasks of sailing yacht.

There are also many other individuals in the world who don't sail yachts or perform outrageously physically demanding tasks, yet they also sleep very little. Regardless of their 'sleep deprivation',  they are always up beat, energetic and full of life. An example close to us is our beloved chancellor. Are these people just born with this ability, or something they're doing on a conscious or subconscious level?

Now let us continue with the 'hows'.

1. Sunlight exposure

• By getting sunlight into your eyes in the first few minutes you wake up. This will instantly give your body temperature rhytm the message that it's day time, so wake up! That is why it is a good idea to exxercise in the morning hours.

Are you forced to stay indoor?

• By getting high intensity light during long indoor times. If you are forced to spend a lot of time indoors because you work in the office or at home, this is the time that is most detrimental to your body temperature rhythm. Ask yourself these question on how to get most sunlight possible during work:-
1. Am I going to move my desk next to a bright window?
2. Am I going to take lunch break outside in the sun?
3. Am I going to convince my boss on getting some artificial bright light generators?

• By reducing the use of sunglasses. Or in other word, use it with common sense. UV radiation is harmful to your eyes but and is highest when the Sun is at its peak point in the sky. So, avoid wearing sunglasses just for style.

2. Activity level

• Getting at least 15 minutes of intense cardiovascular exercise. You must provide enough physical demand on your body to raise your body temperature. When your body temperature rise to a higher point, it will delay the body temperature drop and allow you to sleep deeper.

• Exercising in the morning 'if possible'. By exercising in the morning will get your body temperature to rise quickly. Thus, beating the early morning zombie phase everyone else goes through. You will get double benefit by exercising outdoor as you give light exposure to your eyes as well.

• Avoid exercising prior to sleeping. The rise of your body temperature after exerise can continue for a considerable time. Therefore, this may prevent you from sleeping deeply.

3. Power naps

• The ideal time to take these naps is when you experience your natural body temperature slump or after a hot bath or exercise. It is 60 to 90 minutes after a hot bath and about 4 hours after intensive exercise.

• If after the 30 to 45 minutes naps and you feel drowsy, it is possible that you just have by pass the naps and entered deep sleep as the amount of time required to get into deep sleep varies from person to person. Thus, shorten your naps according to your body and avoid getting into deep sleep

• Don't underestimate the power of taking these short naps. If you want to succeed at reducing sleep time, these naps will give you more energy during the day and will restore your physical energy as well as to allow you to clear your mind and concentrating better.

In conclusion, the two key towards having to sleep less and have more energy is to get sunlight and get a move on! Because more than 50% of people who experience insomnia are inactive and live in a very sedentary lifestyle. Besides, what's the point of sleeping and re energizing your body if you are not going to use it?! In order to increase the quality of your sleep, you MUST INCREASE THE QUALITY OF THE DEMANDS ON YOUR LIFE AND YOUR BODY.

Are you: Active listener or passive speaker

Oleh Ahmad,

26 September 2008

Communication is what we faced everyday in our life. Even right after we are born, we cry as to tell the doctors that we lived!

Communication does not always have to involved verbally, but also body language and habit. That's right, habit is how we communicate unintentionally, showing our true colors behind our verbal communication.

Firdaus: Nervousness is normal, the one who's not nervous is weird

The purpose of this post is to ponder upon communication goal (don't worry just a short one), its barrier and how to practically improving it!

I know. You know. We all Knows! However I am still going to highlight the common goal of communication so that we don't get off track somewhere. Basically we communicate because we want to persuade others, to give information, to get action done, to give understanding and to change behavior. (see, I told you its going to be short!)

Bakri: Confidence come through experience

Next, we will look at the barrier in communication. A barrier for communication can happen both to speaker and listener. As for speaker, it involve:

1. Use of language
2. Use of semantic
3. The difference of culture
4. Feeling insecurity - tend to hold something like pen, chair in front

Is your audience listening or playing with their phone?

On the other hand, listeners barrier is slightly different from the speaker in term of:

1. Over generalization (early perception)
2. Not actively listening
3. Speed of thought (think faster than what is being said)
4. Personal interest



When someones actually listen!, we know that they listen by:

1. paraphrasing (saying back what we just said but using his/her own word)
2. Summarizing what we just said
3. Asking back question - a. Closed question such as who, when and which
                                             b. Open question like how and what (preferable)

When someone listen, they will ask back question

At the same time, there are actually clues when listeners are not actually listening:

1. They tend to wait for their turn to talk
2. Thinking about what to reply before the person finish talking
3. I know, you are that person! In fact, we all have been in this position before, but do we really want to stay this way? Certainly not!



So here are a few action plan for you to consider. First, we will go through the action plan for a speaker:

1. Sharp focus by practicing
2. Logical thinking by practicing
3. Clear phrasing by practicing
4. Crisp delivery by practicing
5. Position and posturing by practicing
6. Make eye contact by practicing
7. Expression and gestures by practicing



Now, action plan for a listener:

1. Concentrate and hear the person by suspending your judgement
2. Curiosity or open mind (do not react to emotional sentence) by suspending your judgement
3. Analysis (understanding) by suspending your judgement

Your expression & gestures is visible by all except yourself

At the end of the day, a speaker needs to practice and a listener needs to hold back their judgement. Then, everyone will be happy! Remember knowing is not enough, we must apply!, willing is not enough, me must do! From my behalf, I would like to wish all my readers 'Selamat Hari Raya, maaf zahir dan batin'. Your are all invited to my house this coming raya, oh and please call me first before you do come. By the way, my source for this post is our UTP councellor and my own experience.

"Cacat sebab merempit dan mercun jadi atlet", Jeanne

Oleh Bernama
23 September 2008

SUNGAI PETANI: Isteri Perdana Menteri Datin Seri Jeanne Abdullah mencadangkan agar kanak-kanak yang cacat akibat bermain mercun dan mat rempit yang cacat kerana nahas jalan raya tetapi berbakat dalam sukan disenaraikan sebagai atlet paralimpik.

Dengan ini, katanya, negara akan mempunyai lebih ramai atlet Orang Kurang Upaya untuk bertanding di peringkat antarabangsa.

"Semasa saya berada di Beijing bagi menyaksikan Sukan Paralimpik baru-baru ini, saya telah melihat banyak perkara yang boleh kita lakukan, dan walaupun atlet kita ada sedikit sahaja tetapi kita mampu masuk sehingga ke pusingan akhir," katanya pada majlis penyampaian sumbangan Hari Raya Aidilfitri sempena program Semai Bakti Kedah di sini hari ini.

Katanya Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat boleh menguji bakat kanak-kanak yang cacat akibat bermain mercun dan mat rempit yang cacat akibat kemalangan bagi mengenal pasti bidang sukan yang boleh mereka sertai.

"Kanak-kanak OKU merupakan anugerah yang istimewa walaupun mempunyai kekurangan dari segi fizikal namun saya percaya mereka mempunyai bakat tersendiri yang tidak ada pada orang biasa," katanya.

Jeanne juga menggesa orang ramai menjadi sukarelawan bagi membantu program pemulihan OKU di negara ini.

Ulama kecam fatwa budak perempuan 9 tahun boleh nikah

Oleh AFP,
23 September 2008

RABAT (Maghribi): Badan ulama tertinggi Maghribi kelmarin mengutuk seorang ulama kerana mengeluarkan fatwa budak perempuan semuda sembilan tahun boleh dinikahkan.

Dalam satu kenyataan, Majlis Tertinggi Ulama Maghribi 'mengecam penggunaan agama untuk menghalalkan perkahwinan budak perempuan berusia sembilan tahun'.

Sheikh Mohamed Ben Abderrahman AlMaghraoui awal bulan ini berkata perkahwinan budak perempuan sembilan tahun dibenarkan Islam kerana seorang isteri Nabi Muhammad saw berusia itu semasa dinikahi beliau.

Majlis tertinggi ulama itu menyifatkan fatwanya sebagai 'penghasut dan pengeliru'.

Seorang peguam , Mourad Bekkouri, telah memfail satu aduan terhadap Sheikh Maghraoui dan fatwanya, yang disifatkannya mencemari hak asasi kanakkanak.

Mari Memasak!

Oleh Ahmad,
Isnin, 22 September 2008

Memasak memang seronok, apetah lagi dengan sahabat-sahabat serumah, namun sedarkah kita tanggungjawab selepas memasak?



Lihat sahaja gambar di atas, sudah pasti menjadi kebiasaan kepada golongan pemasak, Sebelum boleh di goreng sesuatu bahan, minyak hendaklah di panas terlebih dahulu. Namun sudahkah minyak itu dibersihkan? Mari kita sama-sama menyaksikan minyak yang sama seperti gambar di atas, cuma di besarkan sahaja, jangan terkejut ya.





Lipas! Adakah pemasak sedar ada lipas di dalam minyak ini? sudah tentu ya!, kerana minyak ini sudah berada dalam keadaan statik sejak minggu lepas! Namun apakah tindakan pemasak ketika itu? adakah:

1. Ah! biarkan Makcik Cleaner yang uruskan, tugas aku belajar saja.

2. Tak apa, nanti adalah sahabat-sahabat yang bersihkan.

3. Ada lipas, so what?

4. Minyak masak aku dah masuk lipas, ini dah kotor, aku kena bersihkan. Silap haribulan, ada sahabat aku yang terpakai minyak kolam lipas ni, aku yang bersalah.

Berdasarkan jawapan yang diberi, sudah pasti nombor 4 menjadi pilihan secara teorinya, namun secara praktikalnya jauh sekali! Sebak di hati pengarang melihat suasana ini di House sendiri, bukannya tidak diberi peringatan (Tazkirah) dan semestinya bukan kali pertama.

Sekiranya situasi yang sama berlaku di kampung, sudah pasti kitalah orang nombor satu yang akan membersihkannya, tidak kira anak sulong atau bongsu. Atau, mungkin juga kita membiarkan kerja yang remeh ini kepada Mama atau Abah kita? Tepuk dada dan tanyalah akal pemikiran yang waras! Kerana itulah yang membezakan kita dengan makhluk Allah yang lain (contoh: Lipas, cicak dan lembu).

Seperti biasa, berkat tarbiyah Mama dan Abah pengarang (adab selepas makan ialah mencuci. orang melayu memang penuh dengan adab, terutamanya bab bermasyarakat). Pengarang sekali lagi berjaya membersihkan dapur, walaupun membiarkan minggu lepas sebagai tempoh masa untuk melihat sendiri samada pemasak itu ingin membuat pilihan nombor 4.

Sejurus sahaja selepas pengarang mencuci segala yang tertera di bawah. Muncul pula pemasak Y untuk menggunakan dapur. Minyak di tuang ke dalam kuali yang baru sahaja di cuci, kuning bersih minyaknya, tanpa pemandangan lipas berenang-renang di dalamnya. Dengan harapan pemasak Y akan memilih pilihan nombor 4 kerana pengarang baru sahaja menunjukkan contoh bagaimana pilihan 4 dilaksanakan, namun kecewa bertimpa-timpa.

Tapi jangan risau, bertenang. Kerana hari ini baru sahaja bermula, mana tahu niat pemasak Y hendak mencucinya sebelum ke kelas, selepas kelas, sebelum Zohor, selepas Zohor, sebelum Asar, selepas Asar, sebelum berbuka, selepas berbuka, sebelum Isyak, selepas Isyak, sebelum tidur, atau sebelum digunakan semula dengan harapan lipas dah pandai, minyak bukan tempat lipas berenang, ni kan bulan puasa, nanti batal puasa lipas tu.

Tujuan posting ini di buat bukan untuk memalukan mana-mana pemasak atau pun housemate, tetapi lebih kepada kesedaran menyeluruh bahawa kebersihan itu sebahagian dari islam itu sendiri, tidak boleh tidak dipisahkan dari kehidupan kita seharian. Kita semua sudah dewasa, untuk dilayan sebagai seorang dewasa, act like one! Semua dah panjang lebar, boleh fikir mana baik dan mana yang buruk, dah boleh jadi suami orang pun. Minta maaf dan terima kasih kerana membaca. Pengarang harap pembaca mendapat sesuatu yang positif untuk posting kali ini.

cicak didalam bekas kek batik buatan

bekas kuih raya yang sudah habis

penuh! namun masih boleh di sumbat-sumbat

"30 MP telah sokong", Anwar

Oleh Mstar,
19 September 2008

KL: "Mereka kata Anwar pembohong, tapi saya tak gila."

Demikian reaksi Ketua Umum Pakatan Rakyat, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim hari ini apabila ditanya lagi butiran mengenai senarai ahli-ahli Parlimen Barisan Nasional (BN) yang dikatakan telah bersetuju untuk beralih ke Pakatan Rakyat bagi membolehkan kerajaan baru persekutuan dibentuk.

Hari ini beliau berkata, seramai 35 Ahli Parlimen BN telah menyatakan sokongan kepada Pakatan Rakyat untuk membentuk kerajaan.

Kelmarin - pada 16 September - Anwar yang dikatakan bakal mengumumkan senarai Ahli Parlimen BN yang sedia melompat parti berkata, beliau sudah ada bilangan wakil rakyat yang mencukupi untuk membentuk kerajaan.

Anwar yang turut diminta memperkenalkan semua Ahli Parlimen seperti yang didakwanya mencukupi untuk membentuk kerajaan, terus merahsiakan maklumat tersebut atas alasan keselamatan.

"Kami ada senarainya, saya dah kata nak tunjukkan kepada Perdana Menteri nanti.

"Lagi pun ahli-ahli Parlimen berkenaan yang meminta saya agar tidak umumkan dulu sehingga masanya sesuai kerana bimbang akan keselamatan (mereka)," katanya.

Pada sidang media kelmarin, Anwar tidak mengumumkan senarai nama Ahli Parlimen yang bakal melompat parti itu.

Sebaliknya kata Anwar, beliau bersedia dan hanya akan mengumumkan nama-nama Ahli Parlimen BN kepada Abdullah terlebih dahulu.

"Sebaik sahaja jumpa Perdana Menteri, kita akan patuh mengikut Perlembagaan termasuk mendapatkan perkenan Yang di-Pertuan Agong," kata beliau.

Bagaimanapun pada hari yang sama Abdullah menolak permintaan Anwar itu.

Anwar juga menyelar tuduhan kasar Perdana Menteri semalam yang mendakwa beliau merupakan ancaman kepada ekonomi dan keselamatan negara.

"Nampaknya Perdana Menteri tidak faham kandungan surat itu.

"Saya tulis untuk berbincang mengenai masalah kestabilan negara dan arah tuju politik," katanya.

"Saya guna bahasa yang sopan, tidak pula saya nak kata untuk adakan perbincangan bagi gulingkan beliau dan kerajaannya," katanya dengan sinis apabila ditanya mengenai pandangan Abdullah bahawa Anwar merupakan ancaman kepada ekonomi dan keselamatan negara.