Meg Van Deusen

How to Reduce Stress – Three Simple Ways

Being constantly connected can leave us feeling constantly on call. I share three practical boundaries around technology—designated off times, scheduled message checks, and device-free spaces—to make more room for rest and undivided attention.

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Nature as a Stress-Reliever

A tree, a stretch of sky, or even a photograph of a landscape can offer a pause from daily demands. I explore how nature’s beauty and sense of scale can bring comfort, connection, and a wider perspective on our worries.

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What is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness means paying attention to the present with curiosity and without judgment. I explore how observing our thoughts and feelings can change our response to stress, along with a simple breathing practice to get started.

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Children and Stress

Loving relationships help children weather stress, but even well-supported kids can struggle under pressure to achieve. I explore the role of secure attachment and how parents can help children feel valued beyond grades, accomplishments, and status.

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The Difference Between Anxiety and Stress

Stress and anxiety can feel similar in the body, but the experiences behind them may differ. Through everyday examples, I explore reactions to immediate threats, worries about the unknown, and feelings we have yet to acknowledge.

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Can A Positive Event Be A Cause Of Stress?

A wedding, a promotion, or a move can be welcome and unsettling at the same time. I explore why positive changes can bring stress and how patience, reassurance, and room for mixed feelings can ease the transition.

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Coping with Loneliness – Lost In Translation

The unlikely friendship in Lost in Translation offers a window into the relationship between loneliness and insomnia. I reflect on how setting aside judgment and sharing something genuine can help us feel less alone and more at ease.

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Chromosome Telomeres: What’s Sleep Got To Do With It?

What might the protective caps on our chromosomes tell us about sleep and stress? I look at research linking telomere length with sleep quality and explore why meditation and self-compassion have drawn researchers’ attention.

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From Insomnia to Better Sleep – Are We Trying Too Hard?

As sleep gadgets multiply, are we getting closer to understanding why we cannot sleep? I question the search for a technological fix and consider whether the answers may lie closer to home, in our habits and emotional lives.

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Insomnia Tips and Answers – The Shared Bed

Why does sharing a bed soothe one person and keep another wide awake? Through two contrasting experiences, I explore how attachment styles, relationship harmony, and a sense of safety can influence sleep beside a partner.

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Depression and Insomnia: A Sleep Story

Ernesto spends his days caring for others while struggling with depression and years of disrupted sleep. His story offers a personal look at how these difficulties intertwine and raises questions about caring for ourselves as well as those around us.

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Why Do We Sleep?

Sleep may look like doing nothing, but the brain and body remain busy. I explore what research on sleep deprivation reveals about restoration, immune function, mood, and why rest is essential to our well-being.

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All writing

From Insomnia to Better Sleep – Are We Trying Too Hard?

As sleep gadgets multiply, are we getting closer to understanding why we cannot sleep? I question the search for a technological fix and consider whether the answers may lie closer to home, in our habits and emotional lives.

From insomnia to better sleep – Are we trying to hard? Last month, Penelope Green, wrote an article published in the New York Times entitled, Sleep Is the New Status Symbol. In it, Green educated us on the myriad sleep gadgets both on the market and being developed at present.

From expensive eye goggles that use blue-green light to reset your body clock (isn’t blue light supposed to keep one awake?) to a reportedly cumbersome headband that produces sound waves to make you sleepy, sleep products are being researched and invented in rapid numbers.

I found it interesting that, after experimenting with many of the gadgets and downloadable sleep aids, what helped Green sleep the best was a live, professionally guided, group sleep meditation.

While the jury is still out on whether gadgets or people help people sleep, the question regarding why we are not sleeping has yet to be answered. Green cites the sleep product market valued at $32 billion in 2012, a number that has likely increased since. C Stamulous of Harvard Medical School estimated in 2015 that America spent roughly one billion dollars on sleep related expenses, including doctor’s visits, money lost from sick days and so on.

These figures may actually be conservative given the fact that many health issues people seek medical help for may, indeed, be caused by sleep loss.

If we could understand the causes of sleeplessness and actually apply cures vs. band aids, investors and entrepreneurs endeavoring to find the magic of Sleeping Beauty may actually focus on life’s bigger problems, such as global warming or world hunger.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m fascinated with and have tried many of the cited gadgets myself and some of the researchers and inventors creating these products are brilliant.

From insomnia to better sleep: Conclusion

I just wonder if we’re all on a wild goose chase, spending money galore, when the answers may be closer than we think…in our lifestyles, diets and/ or the depths of our psyches.