"Trying

these suggestions could make a significant change in your sleep patterns."

said Whitney Spiecha, owner of Mattress Showcase in Fayetteville.

Keep regular

hours, even on the weekends.

Develop a sleep

ritual in which you do the same thing every night before bed.

Sleep on a

comfortable mattress and foundation.

Exercise regularly.

Cut down on

stimulants like caffeine.

Stop smoking.

Drink only

in moderation.

Unwind early

in the evening and don't take worries to bed.

Create a restful

sleep environment in a cool, quiet, dark, room.

Make sleep

a priority, instead of cutting hours for more work and playtime.

Kingsdown,

the company that manufactures the mattresses that Mattress Showcase offers,

agrees. "Some people just don't take sleep seriously enough,"

according to Kingsdown executives. "That is why we recently opened

a research facility to develop a better bed." Kingsdown has been

in the business of selling mattresses since 1904, but has been selling

sleep since the early 1990s.

The company

paid for a sleep study in 1993 and is now using computer technology to

develop mattresses that accommodate certain body types. Using a computerized

body profiling program called dormodiagnostics to measure the body's resting

pressure points and read the shape of the spine in various positions,

Kingsdown can build a mattress 10,000 ways to accommodate a person's body

type.

"Everybody

is different. Therefore the body should determine the bedding," Spiecha

said. "Your body should determine the bed that you sleep on because

the quality of your sleep determines the quality of your life."

Kingsdown's

newest sleep center is located in the Glenn Hood Plaza on Ga. Highway

85 in Fayetteville. "We can fit you with the bed that is right for

you," said Spiecha.

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