You aren’t getting enough sleep. Yes, that’s a pretty bold statement, since we don’t exactly know you, but if you’re like most people—and we’re willing to bet that you are—then you’re not getting the rest you need. The numbers alone do the talking: 40 percent of Americans report occasional insomnia, 22 percent experience insomnia almost every night, and 70 percent of Americans aren’t getting enough sleep, no thanks to shifts in our culture (twenty-four-hour everything), technology (all Wi-Fi, all the time), and habits (overworking, undernourishing). Unfortunately, the seemingly small oversight of not getting enough sleep—whether it’s because you’re choosing other priorities over sleep or you’re having sleep-related challenges that don’t seem to be going away anytime soon—will most likely end up having some very big consequences, if it hasn’t already. But not to worry; that’s all about to change. Namely because you’re about to read the very first one-stop sleep-better resource that’s perfectly tailored to you, your sleep, and your life.
From the time we, the authors, first met, we knew that we were going to team up to improve people’s lives. In fact, that’s why we were introduced in the first place—because a mutual friend knew how obsessed we each were with that mission. Neil first came to Frank as a patient—he wanted a new approach to feeling better and liked Frank’s holistic philosophy (as in, better sleep leads to improvement in your overall health, and improvement in your overall health leads to better sleep) along with his tough-love style (a little bit of a whooping followed by a carrot). Meanwhile, Frank was inspired by Neil’s passion for the emerging tools and technologies that help form new, better habits, especially when it comes to getting a good night’s rest. After weeks of daily e-mails back and forth about our respective discoveries of new gadgets, therapies, and ideas around sleep and behavior change, this book was born. Our mission: Write a book that would finally get people in bed to get the rest they need.
Especially in the wake of Covid-19, when even more people began struggling with maintaining healthy sleep habits and it became clear that lack of sleep was a comorbidity in the virus, we knew that we needed to do something different from what had already been done. Most of you have seen the articles (or at least read the headlines). You already know that we are currently experiencing a sleep-deprivation epidemic, and you’re aware—either anecdotally or firsthand—that most people are paying the price. From an out-of-whack immune system, to weight gain, to hormone dysregulation, to brain chemistry imbalance, or even worse, heart disease, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s, you’re at least somewhat aware of the price you pay when you don’t get enough sleep. And on the flip side, tons of studies have confirmed that if we just get more sleep—more than the five or six hours we’ve been telling ourselves is plenty—then we can fend off both major and minor illnesses, boost our ability to learn, solve problems better, think outside the box, lose weight, look and feel younger, and better manage stress. Plus, there’s no shortage of clickbait articles outlining just about every sound piece of advice for sleeping more or better, whether it’s unplugging from our devices an hour before bedtime, using room-darkening shades, or taking a lavender oil–infused bath before bed.
And yet, we are all still exhausted.
Not many people sleep any better than we did before the emerging research gave us an even clearer understanding of why sleep is so important, what it does for every single element of our health, and how to get more of it. So to everyone walking around feeling like they’re living in a fog, like they’re moving at half speed, like they can’t shake their depression/anxiety, and like they, perhaps, may never get a good night’s sleep ever again, this book is for you. It’s also for those of you who aren’t quite there but feel irritable, dulled, worn out, and worn down. We have made it our goal to figure out why it’s so difficult to do anything about it—and to fix it.
We believe the fix begins with changing the way you think about sleep. For the longest time, the three big pillars of wellness have been diet, exercise, and stress. Important, yes, but not the whole picture. Without adequate sleep, a healthy diet, regular exercise, and stress management aren’t enough to comprehensively transform or even maintain your health. That’s because sleep is your primary rhythm. Every single system of your body is regulated by your circadian rhythm, which is your body’s own 24-hour rhythm that synchronizes your cardiovascular, muscular, digestive, immune, and reproductive systems. But the queen of these individual rhythms is sleep. That’s why we like to say sleep is your primary rhythm: all roads lead to and from sleep. When sleep is off, so is every other function in your body. Think of it this way:
- If you’re trying to solve a health-related issue but are not addressing sleep, then you’re swimming against the current.
- Or, if you’re experiencing sleep-related issues, that could likely be a symptom that something is off in another system of your physiology. (It can also, though, just be a sleep issue.)
- However, if you remedy your sleep by taking steps to address all the facets of your health that feed sleep, those benefits flow downstream to enrich every element of your wellness.
In other words, the key to living a longer, healthier life often starts with focusing on sleep. And the road back to bed is paved with getting back into rhythm.
To help you get there, we’ve developed a simple yet powerful approach: Making a series of small shifts in your daily habits, all in the name of resetting your body’s natural clock. For the first time, you will be able to clearly understand your unique rhythms and sleep needs, then curate the ideal regimen that’s perfectly tailored to your body, physiology, and lifestyle. And to help you see quick, promising results, we’ve also included The Reset—a quick, (relatively) painless, whole-system refresh. By essentially pushing the restart button on your internal clock, you’ll immediately see the positive association between the choices you make and your sleep.
Ultimately, this guide is yours to take with you for the rest of your life. It is here to help you navigate your own evolving sleep needs, as well as those of your children and parents (check out “Sleep Through the Ages” here—it will likely surprise you). This book is here for you to revisit when you need the occasional rhythm reset or you encounter an issue—like sleep apnea, jet lag, or having a newborn—that needs troubleshooting. By developing and sticking to your own sleep protocol, you’ll be taking important steps toward not only improving your sleep health, but also eating better, functioning better, and chilling out more. And as a result, you’ll be unlocking a (long) lifetime of dynamic energy, boundless creativity, resilient wellness, and of course, many, many sweet dreams.
Table of Contents:
IT’S TIME TO GET COZY WITH SLEEP
Meet Your Sleep-Better Support Team
CHAPTER 1
GETTING IN RHYTHM WITH REST
The Out-of-Rhythm Body
Sleep and Immune Resilience
A Pill Isn’t Going to Get You There
Don’t Let Sleep Stress You Out: Orthosomnia
CHAPTER 2
GETTING TO KNOW YOUR SLEEP
Insomniacs Welcome Here
Tracking Your Progress with Sleep Tech
Decoding Your Sleep
CHAPTER 3
RESETTING THE CLOCK WITH NEW HABITS
CHAPTER 4
LIVE TO SLEEP
Change Your Mind about Sleep
End Social Jet Lag Turbulence
Embrace Your Chronotype
Sync with the Sun
Stop Stressing about Stress
Have a Powering-Down Practice
Take a Warm Bath
Get More Vitamin O
Go Back to Nature
To Nap or Not to Nap?
CHAPTER 5
MOVE TO SLEEP
Exercise in Rhythm
Breathe in Rhythm
Loosen Up
CHAPTER 6
EAT TO SLEEP
Get to the Gut of the Matter
Heal Your Microbiome
Eat in Rhythm
Give Your Digestion a Rest: Overnight Fasting
Try a Sober Slumber
Curb Caffeine
Stop Smoking Already
Edit Your Meds
Go Green
Brighten Up Your Vitamin D
Melatonin: Make It, Don’t Fake It
Take a (Natural) Chill Pill
CHAPTER 7
SANCTUARY TO SLEEP
Set the Mood
Keep It Cool
Make Your Bed
Consider Swinging
Sleep Sound
Give an Eff about EMFs
Get Scentered
Redefine Pillow Talk
Don’t Blame It on the Dog
CHAPTER 8
SLEEP THROUGH THE AGES
CHAPTER 9
IN YOUR DREAMS
CHAPTER 10
THE RESET
Author : Frank Lipman, MD & Neil Parikh
Support the authors by buying their original books, so they can write even more books that you like
Loppat!
