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www.newsindiatimes.com – that’s all you need to know News India Times (September 20, 2025 - September 26, 2025) September 26, 2025 26 Lifestyle/ Health Try This Simple, Science-Backed Trick To Fall Asleep Faster own circadian rhythm is preparing for sleep. People who take warm baths earlier in the day – say at 4 p.m. – don’t experience this benefit. WHY DO WARM FEET HELP WITH SLEEP? Some scientists think the reason heating up your feet works well is not because you become so toasty, but paradoxically, because by dilating the blood vessels in the skin, you’re ultimately helping your core cool. That’s why a warm room won’t necessarily help. It’s the combination of warming your skin before bed and sleep- ing in cooler ambient temperatures that researchers have found is most helpful for staying asleep. The body’s core temperature drops by around 2 or 3 degrees Fahrenheit as we fall asleep, and it needs to stay that way to maintain a deep sleep. The trouble is, of course, we usually set our thermostats once for the night and don’t change it while we sleep. For that reason, it’s very common, Wisden said, for people to wear socks to sleep, only to wake up in the middle of the night and pull them off because they feel overheated. But being too cold can arouse you from sleep as well – and whether you feel hot or cold during sleep depends on a combination of factors including your paja- mas, bedding and ambient bedroom temperature. Therefore, layers are helpful, Wisden advised, because they allow you to adjust your microenvironment as your body’s thermal needs shift throughout the night. Wheth- er it’s through subconsciously kicking off your comforter as you roll over, or throwing your socks unceremoniously on the floor, layers keep you nimble and adaptable. WHAT’S THE IDEAL TEMPERATURE FOR SLEEP? If you haven’t had at least one argument with a room- mate, romantic partner or ex-best friend about the optimal room temperature at night, you’ve missed out on a formative human interaction. People feel very, very strongly about this topic. So when I tell people that, according to the National Sleep Foundation, experts often recommend an ambient room temperature of 60 to 67 degrees Fahrenheit at night – well, you can imagine the stares of disbelief. I know people who would embrace such a chilly room, but others would find that range closer to torture than comfort. That’s because there’s a normal amount of vari- ability in what temperatures each person finds comfort- able during the night. It’s well described that women tend to prefer sleeping in slightly warmer conditions than men. WHAT I WANT MY PATIENTS TO KNOW There’s a surprising way you can inadvertently cancel out the benefits of skin warming before bed: by taking nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications, or NSAIDs, like ibuprofen or aspirin. Many people grasp for these medications at the end of the day to alleviate muscle aches or headaches. But researchers found that NSAIDs, which cause small blood vessels to constrict throughout our bodies, counteract the effect of warm baths and socks. Even if you took the warm bath out of the equation, smaller studies have found that NSAIDs can disrupt sleep cycles in general, which could also be due to their impact on melatonin production. Check with your doctor for pain management alterna- tives. It may be worth consider- ing acetaminophen for pain relief before bed instead. A clinical trial found that people who took acetaminophen do not experience the same disruptions to sleep as NSAID users. Trisha Pasricha is an instruc- tor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. -Special to TheWashington Post Photo:TheWashington Post Ask Sahaj: I’m Financially Disciplined; She’s Not. Can We Get Married? H i Sahaj, I am a 29-year-old male dating a 30-year- old female (both Indian) for the last year or so. We are childhood friends and are considering getting married next year. My parents had warned me that her parents were always fiscally very irresponsible and always trying to live beyond their means. Because of this, they were against the relationship initially but now seem to have come around. My girlfriend informed me after we started dating that her parents had taken a home mort- gage that has a 30-year tenure. She said they’re trying to fix it by either selling off the house or through other means. Nearly half her earnings go into these payments every month, while her parents are now senior citizens and contribute one part of it. Here’s the kicker: The prop- erty is still under construction, which means they pay rent and installments every month. Living in a city like Mumbai on our limited salary with heavy debt seems to be a challenge. Even more challeng- ing is that our financial temperaments are poles apart. I am very disciplined while she has always spent a little beyond her means. Since we started dating, we’ve had conversations on how we could be on the same page with regards to handling finances, and she seems amenable to changing some of her poorer money habits. However, when we were talking about the loan pay- ments last week, I realized she was completely clueless on the loans and had just agreed to them because her parents had asked her to. I am extremely worried about coming off as the partner who pushes her partner to get details, but she feels more questioning would lead to her parents blaming me, though I don’t know for what. I’m worried. How can I best manage the situation? I would hate to hear frommy parents, “I told you so,” but I also don’t want to end a relationship over this despite knowing that money issues are legitimate. – Money Talk Money Talk: Everyone has a money story. For some, like you, it may be about being more disciplined – ei- ther because of experiencing hardship, learning finan- cial responsibility or fearing “not having” money. Your girlfriend, who has taken on a major financial burden without fully questioning or understanding the details, may be more avoidant about money because she has been taught to defer to her parents (who have their own story around money equaling status – even if it means living out of their means). Neither you nor your girlfriend’s attitude about money is inherently “right” or “wrong” – but without awareness, they’ll clash. The real work is to uncover the stories be- hind both of your money habits, so you can consciously choose which ones to carry forward into your partner- ship, and which ones to release. It is important for every relationship, regardless of financial situation, to have the big talk about money. So before you get to the specifics of your girlfriend’s situ- ation, zoom out. You can use resources like Money for Couples or Feel-Good Finance (written by a financial therapist!), which can both help you broach this scary conversation. For starters, discuss your shared goals. So instead of focusing on numbers, consider what values you both agree on when it comes to lifestyle and your future together – things like wanting stability, freedom to travel or having a retirement plan. Once these goals are named, you can start to explore specifics (i.e. When you say you want stability, what would that actually look like in our bank accounts, or in how we spend money day-to- day?). It may even help to have one active goal you work toward together, like saving for your wedding or a home purchase. These shared values and goals will shed light on what emotions are coming up and whether you and your girlfriend even want the same things. These conversations should be ongoing and consis- tent. Consider incorporating this into your relationship by having a “money date” each week or month where you both talk about finances openly and nonjudgmentally. This allows you to practice talking about money regularly the same way you’d talk about hopes, sex or health, and it allows for financial transparency. When you do talk to your girlfriend about this specific concern, frame it as wanting to build a healthy future together, not as judging her family. Instead of “you need to get details,” use us language and say, “if we’re planning a future together, I’d feel more secure if we had clarity on this.” You can even bring back your shared goals as a way to voice concerns on how this is going to hinder achieving those. You deserve to know if you’re agreeing to supporting her parents occasionally or if you’re being locked into their financial mistakes indefinitely. Asking for details like what her monthly obligation is or what happens if she were to stop contributing (legally, is this falling on her anyway?) helps you understand if you’re both on the same page. And maybe getting on the same page means being okay with her parents misunderstanding your relation- ship and “blaming” you but knowing you and her are in this together. Or it may mean you’ll need scaffolding, like paperwork, in place (which I know can feel countercul- tural) so her responsibility won’t fall on you. And ulti- mately, it will mean having bigger conversations about both of your needs in the relationship to feel secure, trusting and aligned as partners in life. It’s valid to be afraid of your parents’ “I told you so,” but it can’t become a factor in your relationship. The key issue isn’t that her parents made poor choices; it’s whether your girlfriend is able (and willing) to manage her financial life with you. If she shows account- ability and willingness to learn, that’s different from her blindly repeating her parents’ patterns. Sahaj Kaur Kohli is a thera- pist and the creator of Brown Girl Therapy. -TheWashington Post By Sahaj Kaur Kohli PHOTO:@sahajkaurkohli.com - Continued From Page 18