colder at night because overheating is a main reason people wake up . I ’ m a big fan of sunrise alarm clocks that wake you up with natural light . All that is great , but it ’ s an adjunct — it ’ s not going to fix their sleep ; it ’ s going to help .
P : In your view , are individuals doing a better job of practicing habits that will lead to better sleep ? What role can spas play in helping guests pursue their sleep goals ? R : People are experiencing a lot of anxiety and stress , but they ’ re not really understanding how significantly it affects sleep . One of the things I talk about is putting your phone away at least an hour before you go to bed , and people think that ’ s all about the blue light because that ’ s what we all hear — the blue light goes into our eyes and tricks our brain into decreasing melatonin production . But there ’ s a whole psychological and emotional component of technology and being online and social media . I don ’ t think people understand their emotional reactions to what they ’ re doing on their phones and how that is going to affect their sleep . I always describe sleep as this intricate puzzle ; there are all
these pieces that have to fit perfectly in order to have great sleep .
When I was looking up what spas have been doing recently for sleep , a lot of it is about sleep hygiene . That ’ s kind of the easy stuff to know : You should not be on your phones before you go to sleep ; you should try to stop eating at least two hours before bed ; you should not work out at least two hours before bed ; before you go to sleep , you should not be drinking alcohol . But if you ’ re going to do all that and then have an inconsistent sleep schedule , you are not going to have great sleep . Or , if you ’ re not going to have a relaxing routine before bed , you ’ re going to have problems . There ’ s so much that needs to be offered to guests other than “ let ’ s try to relax and breathe .”
It ’ s really important to have a calm brain as well as a calm body , and I think that spas do an excellent job on the body part of it , with massages and aromatherapy and yoga . I ’ m a huge spa-goer , and I believe all of that helps , but as far as sleep is concerned , we really have to focus on the mental or cognitive part .
“ I always describe sleep as this intricate puzzle ; there are all these pieces that have to fit perfectly in order to have great sleep .”
46 PULSE n AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2022