The Search for Sleep
Still chasing a good night’s rest? Create a sleep temple in your bedroom
This 24/7 digital world is keeping us all up at night. Have trouble falling asleep? Can't stop scrolling? Waking at 3am? The bad news is blue light from our devices is only the latest villain.
How Bad is Chronic Lack of Sleep?
Sleep experts agree that our immune system suffers, physical coordination plummets and that lack of sleep is almost as harmful as smoking. Going to bed after 1am also disrupts our circadian rhythms, according to Stanford University Medicine, even for avowed night owls: The Mind After Midnight is a hypothesis proposed by researchers from medical schools at Arizona, Pennsylvania and Harvard that suggests thinking is far from optimal between midnight and 6am and can lead to impulsiveness and risky behaviour.
According to Mark Sands, vice president of wellness at Six Senses resorts, a leader in sleep programmes, “Sleep debt doesn’t work like a bank account. You can’t fully repay chronic deprivation with weekend lie-ins or naps, since the damage to brain function, metabolism and health accumulates.” Consistency in sleep habits is crucial, doctors agree, but try not to obsess over it, since worrying can exacerbate the problem.
The Medieval Sleep Hack
Blame lack of sleep on the Industrial Revolution and invention of the light bulb, since that’s when we began to ignore our circadian rhythms and see short sleep as a badge of honour. Left to natural devices we would fall asleep at dark, researchers maintain. Through medieval times people practised biphasic sleeping, dividing the night’s rest into two parts. They would retire at dusk, sleep a few hours, then awaken to cook, stoke the fire, visit neighbours—who were also awake—and propagate the species. They would then sleep again until dawn. Some scientists feel if we habitually awaken at around 3am our bodies are trying to revert to this traditional pattern.
Global Cultures / Ancient Cures
Our forebears came up with some dazzling, if likely ineffective, sleep cures such as rubbing a dog’s earwax over our teeth and sipping bile of a castrated boar. The good news is today’s remedies are far more agreeable.
At bedtime, Scandinavians give children välling—warm oat milk mixed with nutmeg—and believe setting them outside wrapped in blankets brings on deeper sleep. Traditional Chinese medicine suggests soaking feet in warm water, while some Japanese train themselves in the technique of inemuri, intentional daytime napping, to heighten diligence on the job. Since the blanket war between sleep partners is common to many societies, experts suggest each person wrap themselves in separate covers.
In past millennia Egyptians swathed their bodies in cool wet linens against the region’s relentless heat. Ancient Greek and Roman societies tapped mythological gods—Hypnos in Greece and Somnus in Rome—both depicted as a winged youth embracing poppies. Indeed, the far-sighted Greek healer Hippocrates named sleep one of the key requisites for health. Still used today is the traditional Ayurvedic energy balancing treatment Shirodhara, warm herbal oil poured on the forehead.
The most direct precursor to modern sleep cures may be ancient Greek temples known as Asclepieia, named for the god of medicine. Built in areas of calming beauty, this is where priests performed soothing physical and spoken rituals. The goal was to reach enkoimesis, a state that induced visits from the deities through dreams. While these practitioners administered many of the sleep-inducing herbs used today, it’s likely the combined effect of bucolic surroundings, incantations and bodywork drew supplicants into slumber.
Create a Sleep Temple
Modern sleep remedies are a startling parallel to these early practices. “Sleep isn’t something we can control directly,” explains clinical psychologist Dr Wendy Troxel, “but we can create conditions that allow it to happen. Sleep hygiene is largely about how you prepare your mind, body and environment for rest.” The foundations, she advises, are small, consistent rituals to signal safety to the nervous system.
The well known, if seldom followed, rules for sound sleep remain steering clear of late-night dinners, caffeine and nightcaps, since alcohol may bring drowsiness but fragments sleep. Instead, unless you’ve been diagnosed with a clinical sleep disorder, which should be managed by a physician, we can benefit by recreating a modern version of these sleep temples in our own bedrooms.
Troxel recommends establishing a soothing environment about two hours before bedtime by lowering lights and using yellow/orange bulbs for reading on paper, not screens. She also instructs patients to release tension by trading intense activities like vigorous exercise for calming ones such as gentle stretching, yoga, soft music or a warm bath. “Allow your thoughts to slow naturally rather than forcing sleep,” she advises. If your mind is racing, Troxel suggests journaling your fiercest emotions and most pressing to-do items. “Ending the day with intention rather than stimulation can dramatically change how easily we fall asleep.”
There’s no denying that the habits of your sleep partner also impact restful slumber. “Sleep is a biological need, not a relationship test,” says Troxel, who wrote the book Sharing the Covers: Every Couple’s Guide to Better Sleep. “Prioritising quality rest, even if that means separate beds or bedrooms, can actually improve mood and connection with your partner.”
Morning rituals are also important, Troxel notes. What you do upon awakening directly affects how well you sleep at night. A consistent wake-up time and exposure to bright light help regulate your circadian rhythms, setting you up for sleep 16 to 17 hours later.
DIY Sleep Hacks: Do the Cognitive Shuffle
It’s fine to take antihistamines or melatonin to help bring on slumber, advises the Mayo Clinic. In addition, try small bedtime snacks high in melatonin or tryptophan such as almonds, walnuts or tart cherry juice, as well as foods rich in magnesium to relax the muscles such as bananas, oats and peanut butter. Cool temperatures are also important for sound sleep. Try a temperature-controlled mattress cover or a warm bath or shower to lower body heat.
Put body mechanics to work with the CIA Method: lie down, relax face muscles, drop shoulders and loosen your legs. Yoga practitioners relieve stress with alternate nostril breathing—inhaling and exhaling through one nostril at a time—and practicing bumblebee breath, humming with your mouth closed. Another breathing technique known as 4-7-8 suggests inhaling for four counts, holding your breath for seven and exhaling slowly for eight.
The Cognitive Shuffle is a sort of advanced form of sheep-counting designed by cognitive scientist Dr Luc Beaudoin. Pick a word, focus on the first letter, then visualise random words that start with that letter. If you’re still awake, move on to the next letter of that word.
One of the pleasantest sleep hacks may be going on holiday. Six Senses resorts offer some of the most comprehensive sleep programmes, created in conjunction with Dr Michael Breus, a clinical psychologist and sleep specialist. Six Senses Asia properties offer guests methods to track sleep metrics and an analysis to pinpoint possible changes.
The Future of Sleep
In ancient times sleep was seen as a transcendent state. Today, scientists are working on concrete solutions such as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) devices that reach the brain’s sleep/wake regions, and doses of creatine monohydrate, often used for muscle growth. Stanford Medicine is developing an Al model known as SleepFM, which uses overnight data to predict scores of illnesses such as Parkinson’s, dementia and some cancers.
In every age and across cultures sleep has been considered essential. If slumber was once seen as mystical, today it is known as an efficient way to clear mental rubble and reinvigorate the body. How to get there? In simplest terms, turn down the nervous system with any sleep hacks that suit you. Your body and your mind will say thank you.