Over the past few months, it has become painfully obvious that I am in the throes of perimenopause. I kept lowering my thermostat — first from 68°F to 65°F — and yet I was still waking up in the early morning feeling like I was overheating. Because I wasn’t actually...

Now that we spend most of our lives in climate-controlled spaces—air-conditioned in the summer, heated in the winter—it is easy to lose sight of the environmental conditions the human body was built to expect. For most of human history, wakefulness was linked to...

Today I wanted to provide a brief overview of the treatment options for snoring and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). A lot of people ask me if CPAP aka the Darth Vader mask is the only treatment option for OSA. The answer is “no” there are many different treatment...

In the medical setting, we separate insomnia into two categories, acute and chronic. Acute insomnia is something that is very recent and might be related to a stressful event like an illness or a divorce. In this scenario, the person might try over-the-counter...

‍We’ve all been hearing about putting electronics away at night and wearing blue light glasses. However, the underlying problem runs deeper, it starts with a dearth of light exposure during the day, in particular at our wake time and misaligned with our modern...

Hi guys! Today I want to talk to you about mind racing. Racing thoughts are a real bugger when it comes to sleep so let's take a closer look at what they are and what we can do about them. Racing thoughts tend to occur when we are sitting alone with our thoughts, in...

Hey guys today I wanted to discuss immediate release (IR) and prolonged release melatonin (PRM) and some of the factors I consider when choosing these formulations. The most important factor I consider when determining if melatonin has a role in each case is figuring...

One of the useful clinical applications of exogenous (supplemental) melatonin is administering it before typical dim light melatonin onset (DLMO) to shift the bedtime earlier. Advancing = shifting earlier. This concept comes in handy in several clinical scenarios:...

‍If keeping your little one in bed is a challenge, check out these posts (linked in my stories) I wrote describing three strategies for training to stay in bed and fall asleep. The Sleep Fairy Reward Chart Bedtime Fading ‍I have one additional strategy that is a...

Last week I attended a fascinating conference on napping. After that, I had to dig in more and decided to dedicate a few posts this week to napping. Naps are an under-utilized tactic to enhance performance and facilitate learning, optimal performance, and mood. First,...

We humans love predictions. Think about the weather for example, knowing whether it’s going to be sunny, rainy, or snowy is super helpful to planning and navigating the days activities, even in this day and age with our tools. Circadian rhythms likely evolved, at...

‍It might not seem obvious, but knowing your values and priorities is extremely important for getting a good night of sleep. With so many variables vying for our attention, we have to examine how we spend each moment and prioritize so that we have ample time for...