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Deep, restful sleep can oftentimes feel elusive and out of reach, especially during busy week nights. If you're having trouble catching up on your z's, we have five tips to help you reclaim your sleep.

This is something that many of us have heard, but don't follow. It's tough, but incredibly important. Getting off your phone, computer, tablet, or iPad will significantly help your chances of restful sleep. The bright lights in our technology slow the production of melatonin, which is crucial for sleep. Light, in general, is the body's way of registering that it is time to keep staying awake and alert. 

In addition to putting your electronics away an hour prior to bed, you should also start turning the lights down low to encourage sleepiness. Shower with low, ambient light and allow yourself to start relaxing and getting all your thoughts and mental notes for the next day out before heading to your bed.

Even the smallest amount of light (like the computer monitor, a light in the other room peaking underneath the door, or car lights shining through the blinds) can disrupt sleep. Our Bucky sleep masks are the best quality, blocking out light and never put pressure on your eyes, ensuring pressure free blinking.

Exercising helps you sleep better and it's good for mental and physical health. Any form of exercise, whether it's going for a walk, doing some yoga, rollerblading, etc., will help you get that sought after shut eye. Just be sure to get your fitness in 3-4 hours before you plan on going to bed or you might have a burst of energy and sleep will be distant.

In order for sleep to occur, you also need to be relaxed and comfortable. On cold winter nights, heat therapy is a great way to soothe your muscles and induce relaxation, which will bring you one step closer to a good night of sleep. You can relax with our neck wraps, heart warmers, and compact wraps, which can also be used to warm the bed for maximum comfort. On hot nights, use cold therapy to cool off and achieve a cooler body temperature, which is necessary for falling asleep. 

Finally, set a routine and stick to it every night. Set a reminder for when you want to head to bed and plan to wake up at the same time each morning. This will help set your biological clock, eventually making it easier to wake up since it will be more natural than an alarm. To make your body more alert and awake, spend time in the sunlight for 5-20 minutes first thing in the morning, if possible. 

Sometimes the culprit to lack of sleep can be as simple as the type of pillow or mattress you are using. If it's time for a new, comfortable pillow, we recommend our natural filled buckwheat and millet pillows. Hull bed pillows are not only great for deep, restorative sleep, but provide ideal head and neck support that greatly improves sleep posture and reduces soreness in the morning. 

 We hope these tips will lead you to more restful sleep and a healthier life. 

The average adult will spend 1/3 of their time sleeping. If you are going spend that much of your life in bed, you should be sure to put some thought into choosing your bed pillow.

Here are 12 Reasons why your next Bed Pillow should be a Bucky Natural Cotton Buckwheat Bed Pillow! 

1. Larger than traditional buckwheat pillows (measures 23" x 16")
2. Stomach, back or side sleepers are provided the proper neck, shoulder and back support
3. Recommended by chiropractors for maintaining spinal alignment during sleep
4. Filling is the very best buckwheat hulls, grown totally without fertilizers or pesticides
5. No additives
6. Filling is triple-cleaned to remove dust, buckwheat flour, debris to make it hypoallergenic
7. Comfortable texture, very durable yet very smooth to sleep on
8. 100% unbleached cotton fabric
9. Zipper closing to allow removal of hulls and adjustment to exact needs
10. CPAP-friendly
11. Ideal for chronic pain sufferers
12. Made in the USA

Since 1978, I have been coaching my clients on improving their sleep. I am L. John Mason, Ph.D. and founder of the Stress Education Center. In this blog, I offer 12 tips for getting the sleep you require and deserve.

1. Create your own bedtime ritual for preparing for sleep. Use a regular bedtime and allow as much time for sleep as you require.  Some clients will take a warm bath or shower to relax before heading for bed.  Other people may read calming books or articles that do not stimulate too much thinking. TV news is NOT ideal before sleep for most people.
2. Avoid stimulants like caffeine.  Many people find that even one cup of coffee in the morning can affect their sleep at night.  Be aware of how much caffeine you use and when you consume it.
3. Limit your bed activities to sleep and sex, so you do not get into the habit of being awake in bed. Even though TV, reading, work, and telephone calls are possible activities, these may not help your bedtime sleeping.
4. Avoid eating big meals or drinking alcohol late in your day for these can reduce your ability to get quality sleep.
5. Create a calm, safe, dark, warm and quiet space to sleep. Avoid unnecessary stimulation. Use sleep and eye masks like Bucky's Sleep Eye Mask, Eye Shades with ear plugs or 40 Blinks of Sleep to block out light and sound.
6. If your mind is racing and filled with clutter, consider making a list or using a journal so you don't need to keep all this information in your head.
7. Eat a healthy diet.
8. Get regular exercise but not too close to bedtime.
9. Avoid using sleeping pills regularly.
10. Avoid naps, if you are having difficulty sleeping at bedtime. 
11. Consider using relaxation techniques especially ones that will aid in muscular relaxation and in slowing down your mind. 
12. Allergies can effect sleep.  Ensure your bedding and pillows are hypoallergenic.  Consider natural fill bed pillows such as those sold by Bucky!

Please take good care of yourself and get enough good quality sleep.

No, you can’t nibble your buckwheat pillow in an emergency snack attack. 

The buckwheat fill is made from the husk of the fruit (it isn’t a grain, and it’s unrelated to wheat). The husk is crisp and slightly springy, and it’s removed in the milling process that makes buckwheat flour. It would be destined for the compost heap, except—

—Except that several centuries back, Asian cultures discovered that the husks make amazing pillows. And they have real advantages over feather, down, or foam pillows.

Buckwheat fill automatically conforms to the natural shape of your head, neck, or whatever anatomical component plops into it, instead of resisting and pushing back. The miniature triangle-like husks make air space between them, which naturally ventilates the pillow, leaving it cool and nonstuffy.

And buckwheat is one of the planet’s most sustainable and hardy crops. It grows organically in a wide range of environments thanks to its natural resistance to insects and disease. It doesn’t need chemical fertilizers.

No animals are harmed, or even mildly annoyed, in the making of a buckwheat pillow.

Bucky makes a variety of fine pillows with buckwheat fill. The Utopia Neck Pillow offers cozy, relaxing comfort and stress relief. It’s ideal for travel, reading, or simple relaxing. The Buckwheat Bed Pillow is infinitely customizable for thickness and density by unzipping and adding or subtracting fill. The Duo Buckwheat/Millet Bed Pillow has a buckwheat chamber on one side and millet on the other. The smaller millet hull gives a creamier feel with less ventilation, so it warms with body heat.

Never slept with a buckwheat pillow? Can’t imagine such a thing?

Emily G. wrote us to admit that when she received a Bucky neck pillow as a high school graduation gift, “I – in typical 18-year-old fashion – thought it was one of the weirdest gifts I’d ever received.” But a few months later, she used it to relieve the stress of her 1,000-mile car trip to college, and fell in love: with a pillow.

“I sleep with my Bucky every night. I take it with me on EVERY trip, no matter if it’s just one night or two months abroad. My pillow has been to Texas, South Carolina, France, Scotland, Los Angeles, Quebec, Boston, Las Vegas, and many more places in-between. I use it every night while reading or tooling around on the internet.

“... My old family friend had no idea that her graduation present would be the only one of the many I would still use daily more than a decade later, but here we are.”

And Jamie K., a massage therapist, reported that she personally loves her Duo Buckwheat/Millet Bed Pillow and is now recommending it to all her clients who suffer with chronic neck pain.

And—we hadn’t thought of this, honestly— she added that “It does not retain heat like some pillows, so great for hot flash sufferers.”