A new study shows that men sleep better beside their mate while women sleep worse. Women sleep less soundly when they share a bed with a romantic partner, a study published in Sleep and Biological Rhythms found. Surprisingly, men actually sleep better when they sleep next to a woman. Mark Mahowald, director of the Minnesota Regional Sleep Disorders Center in Minneapolis and a professor of neurology at the University of Minnesota Medical School, believes that women may have a tougher time sharing a bed because men are much more likely to be snorers. However, snoring may not be the only problem for women who’d like to spoon all through the night. Researchers speculate that women's fretful sleep might be caused by brain wiring differences between men and women. Women tend to be lighter sleepers because they historically have been the ones caring for infants, the researchers suggested.

Psychologist Wendy Troxel isn’t surprised to see that men do better when sleeping in a shared bed. Studies have shown that men are very dependent on close relationships. This is contrary to popular stereotypes, say Troxel, a researcher at the University of Pittsburgh who has studied how the quality of a relationship affects overall health and sleep in men and women. In general, men show much clearer benefits from committed relationships, Troxel says. “My research shows that married men are much happier and healthier than unmarried men," she adds. “The findings are much less consistent with women.” Hmm, maybe that is why married men live on average, 10 years longer than non-married men.

This month, Rancho La Puerta Spa addresses this concern with Robert deStefano’s “How to Create a Sleep Sanctuary for Lovers and Others”.  Sleep guru to the spas, Robert deStefano brings blissful relief to frustrated, sleep-deprived partners in this four-session workshop. “When one partner's sleep not in harmony with the other’s, the romantic, spiritual, energetic and practical glue of the relationship is compromised,” he says. Research by the National Sleep Foundation supports deStefano’s theory, finding that once disturbed by a partner's sleep problems, the other partner experiences an average loss of 49 minutes of sleep a night or 300 hours a year. In the same study, more than 25 percent of adults polled said that they have sex less often or have lost total interest in it because they are too sleepy. DeStefano teaches couples how to successfully transition from the chaos of the day to a "state of synergistic sleep readiness." You will learn how to return back to each other every night by creating a private sleep sanctuary far removed from work, bills, even kids. “After the demands of the day,

leaving the world behind and entering a blissful, stress-free state of consciousness together is the best way for lovers to cultivate a night of sleeping together and/or ‘sleeping together’."

deStefano is part of a very special Couples Week for the week of October 13th to October 20th, 2007.  During this week, couples will enjoy selected classes, activities, lectures and programs that are custom-tailored to couples. The couples will learn new habits and methods of living a healthier life together.