It’s a familiar scene. You’re lying in bed, exhausted but restless. So, you flick on the TV, open YouTube, or let a podcast run to quiet the racing thoughts or fill the silence. Before you know it, you’ve drifted off while a late-night talk show host or your favorite television series hums in the background. For many people, sleeping with the TV on feels like the only way to get a good night’s rest. But is it really helping? Or is it quietly sabotaging your sleep quality and long-term health? Let’s explore what the science says about TV shows, background noise, and sleep, along with healthier alternatives that can help your mind and body truly recharge. Is It a Good Idea to Sleep with the TV On? There’s been a lot of research into how the technology we use every day affects our sleep, stress levels, weight, and even our...

You go to bed expecting a peaceful night, but wake up feeling shaken, replaying bizarre imagery, unusual scenes, maybe nightmares. Why do dreams sometimes get unusually vivid, strange, or unsettling? And when does it become more than just a “weird night”? Below, we’ll unpack the science behind weird dreams, the various culprits, and concrete ways to calm things down, so you can return to more restful nights. What’s Going On in Your Brain When Dreams Get Weird? To understand why your dreams sometimes feel unusually vivid, strange, or even unsettling, it helps to look at what’s happening in the brain while you sleep. Sleep isn’t one long, steady state. Instead, your body cycles through different stages several times each night. In the early stages of non-REM (NREM) sleep, your body relaxes and brain activity slows down. Stages one and two are considered light sleep, while stage three is known as...

Poor sleep can affect every part of your life, from how alert you feel in the morning to how well your body protects itself from long-term health problems. Many assume their restless nights, morning headaches, or daytime fatigue are due to stress or a bad mattress. But in some cases, the cause is a sleep disorder you may not have heard much about: sleep hypopnea. What Is Sleep Hypopnea? Sleep hypopnea is a sleep-related breathing disorder. It occurs when one's breathing becomes unusually shallow during sleep. Instead of smooth, normal airflow, the upper airway becomes partially blocked, reducing the amount of air one takes in. This decrease in airflow means less oxygen reaches your blood. Over time, repeated episodes can lower your blood oxygen levels, strain your body, and prevent you from reaching restorative sleep stages. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine defines hypopnea as a partial reduction in airflow...

In a recent article, we explored how a NASA invention for astronauts turned into memory foam mattresses that improve our sleep every night (see From NASA to Your Bedroom: The Evolution of Memory Foam Mattresses). But what about the astronauts themselves? Up on the International Space Station (ISS), crew members aren’t dozing on king-size beds; they’re cocooned in sleeping bags attached to the wall as they hurtle around Earth at 17,500 mph. In fact, an astronaut on the ISS experiences 16 sunrises and sunsets every 24 hours, making a “normal” night’s sleep a bit of a cosmic challenge. It sounds wild, yet many astronauts insist that sleeping in space can be extremely comfortable – perhaps even more comfortable than on Earth – once you get used to it. How Astronauts Go to Bed Astronauts don’t use traditional mattresses in space. Instead, each crew member sleeps solo in a small, closet-like...

Jet lag is essentially a circadian rhythm sleep disorder. Normally, your body clock is tuned to the 24-hour day–night cycle: daylight keeps you awake, and darkness tells your brain it’s time for sleep. But when you zoom across several time zones in a matter of hours, your internal clock can’t instantly catch up. For example, if you fly from New York to London and arrive at 11 PM local time, your body might still feel like its 6 PM back in New York, making it hard to fall asleep. Your body then goes through a “recouping” phase – sometimes linked to the growing pains of adjusting to a new schedule. The adjustment takes time. In practice, your circadian clock shifts by roughly 1–1.5 hours per day as you reset to the new zone. This means if you cross, say, 6 time zones, it could take around 4–6 days to adapt...

You know that moment, when your brain checks out, your eyelids get heavy, and everything just feels… slower? It usually hits right after lunch, and no, it’s not just you. Turns out, your body’s wired for a midday dip in energy. And the fix isn’t always another cup of coffee. Sometimes, what you really need is a quick nap. That’s why companies like Google and Ben & Jerry’s have built nap rooms into their offices. They know what NASA discovered: a short nap can boost alertness by 54% and improve performance by 34%. Why Power Naps Work The magic of power naps lie in their timing. When you rest for a short period, usually between 10 and 20 minutes, your brain stays in the lighter stages of sleep. Your body relaxes, your mind clears, and stress levels drop. This short burst of rest helps improve focus, lift your mood, and...

Not everyone is wired to wake up early, fall asleep quickly, or feel energized at 9 a.m. sharp. And that’s perfectly okay. Thanks to the work of clinical psychologist and sleep expert Dr. Michael Breus, we now understand that people fall into four distinct sleep chronotypes; Bear, Wolf, Lion, and Dolphin. These categories explain your natural sleep-wake cycle, energy highs and lows, and even your ideal mattress type. So if you've ever wondered why you're ready to start the day while your partner is hitting snooze for the third time, or why your productivity peaks just before midnight, your sleep chronotype might hold the answer. Let’s dive into each chronotype, what it means for your lifestyle, and how to choose the perfect mattress for your unique rhythm. What Are Sleep Chronotypes? Sleep chronotypes are biological labels for how your circadian rhythm—your body’s internal clock—operates. This rhythm governs when you naturally...

A dream is lucid when it feels vivid and real (sometimes, hazier), but you know it isn't. It often happens during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, and last for about 10 minutes. When you lucid dream, you’re aware of your consciousness, and you can control what happens in your dream. About 55% of people have had at least one lucid dream in their lifetime. Benefits of Lucid Dreaming Scientists are increasingly establishing a link between dreaming and mental health. Could taking control of your dreams lead to a better life? The answer is yes, lucid dreaming can allow you to:  Overcome Nightmares One of the most practical benefits of lucid dreaming is the power to conquer nightmares. If you become lucid during a bad dream, you can remind yourself that the scary situation isn’t real and even change the story. For example, you might face down a monster and turn...