Last winter, I, the same person who believed “good morning” was a contradiction, found myself waking up at 6 AM by choice. My transformation didn’t happen overnight. It started when I stopped fighting my body’s natural rhythms and instead learned what science tells us about sleep patterns. I abandoned the guilt trips about not falling… Read More »How to become a morning person
Around 1 PM to 4 PM, most people hit a wall. Focus wavers. Mistakes multiply. Productivity plummets. The standard response? More caffeine. Another energy drink. Push through it. Stay busy. We’ve built a culture that praises constant activity and views rest as weakness. That coffee might keep you awake, but it won’t make you smarter… Read More »The Science of Power Napping
Every night, my phone sat on my nightstand, buzzing with notifications, tempting me with “just one quick check” that turned into thirty minutes of scrolling. It served as my alarm clock every morning, pulling me directly from dreams into a world of news alerts and messages. The cruel irony? I used a sleep-tracking app on… Read More »Sleep Better by Keeping Your Phone Out of Your Bedroom
While you’ve been focusing on when you sleep and where you sleep, scientists at the University of Tsukuba have uncovered something far more fundamental: what you eat determines how you sleep. Their research on nearly 5,000 people proves what grandmothers have suspected all along: Certain foods make you sleep better. But it’s not warm milk… Read More »Protein and fiber are your secret ingedients for better sleep
When I was a kid, my mother used to tuck me in with a kiss and say: “Count sheep if you can’t sleep.” Instead of counting, I wondered: Why sheep? Why not count ducks or balloons or tacos? And why does counting anything help us sleep at all? I now know the truth about these… Read More »Mental shuffling for faster sleep
At my lowest point, falling asleep at 3 AM and dragging through each workday, I stumbled across research about morning light therapy. Most studies focused on expensive light boxes, but some mentioned natural sunlight as an alternative. With nothing to lose, I started taking 30-minute walks immediately after waking up. The first two days, nothing… Read More »Start Your Morning Sunshine Habit
My doctor never mentioned movement when I complained about my sleep. She suggested cutting caffeine, keeping a regular schedule, and darkening my bedroom. All solid advice that barely helped. My sleep tracker still showed fragmented patterns and minimal deep sleep. What many sleep experts are only now beginning to understand is that sleep quality begins… Read More »Use daytime movement to shape your sleep
I became an expert on snoring at age seven. That’s when my father’s thunderous nighttime roars first drove me to sleep with a pillow wrapped around my head. Mom had already retreated to the guest bedroom years earlier. A “sleep divorce” before that term existed. Every family gathering or vacation meant strategic bedroom assignments, with… Read More »10 proven ways to stop snoring and sleep better tonight
There’s nothing quite like the frustration of lying awake at 2 am, watching the minutes tick by. You have a big day tomorrow and know you need rest, but your body and mind won’t cooperate. You’ve tried counting sheep, listening to rain sounds, even resorting to a nightcap, but nothing does the trick. If this… Read More »The 10 rules for better sleep hygiene
Taking a warm bath or shower before bedtime can significantly improve your sleep quality and help you fall asleep faster. A systematic review of the research found that bathing in 104-109°F (40-42.5°C) water for as little as 10 minutes, 1-2 hours before bed, can shorten the time it takes to fall asleep by an average… Read More »Improve your sleep with a warm shower 90 minutes before bed
