24. Techniques for Superior Sleep, Do Naps and Blue Light Glasses Work?
Are naps helpful, do blue light glasses work? In this episode, we dive into how to achieve better sleep and why. This includes many techniques, including having white noise, a natural sunrise alarm clock, waking up naturally vs. a traditional alarm, and maximizing your sleep environment. It is important to improve our sleep in three steps. The first is our before bed routine. Avoid electronics right before bed, wind down with a book, meditation, or whatever your nightly routine is. What's better before bed- a cold shower, hot shower, or no shower? Then, how can we maximize our sleep quality? Should we strive for a colder or warmer sleep environment? What kind of mattress (hard vs. soft), how many blankets and what kind (weighted blankets), should we wear socks and lots of clothes when sleeping, or should we sleep naked? Finally, how should we be waking up? We are built to wake up naturally with the sun and to go to bed when it gets dark. How can we sleep this way when living in different places and having to stay on society's time with work and school? If you live in Alaska, your sunrise and sunset is not going to coincide with your schedule, especially in the winter. There are so many ways to improve sleep, and it is one of the most important things we can do to stay healthy, energized, focused, and live a fuller life. We also jump into a discussion of the importance of naps, how they affect us physically and mentally, and if blue light glasses are legit or just a fad?