It’s 3AM.You lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling, or at least where the ceiling would be if it wasn’t so dark. You have to pee, but you’re putting it off, you’re not totally sure why but something tells you to stay under the covers. The pit in your stomach is the only thing competing with the pressure of your bladder but you know that something has to give.One toe hits the floor, the ot...

2020 has us losing sleep for a lot of reasons, but one of the biggest sources of restless nights is simply not being able to look away from the barrage of terrifying headlines and stories. Last week, most of us were probably nearly asleep when the current administration’s COVID-19 diagnoses started breaking—how do you shut off when important updates are rolling in incessantly?  We’re not en...

There are a lot of weird sleep-related world records out there. From the longest line of human-mattress dominoes—2016 'dominoes' and took 14 minutes for all of them to fall—to the most people served breakfast in bed at once—418 people in 113 beds set up on the lawn of a Sheraton Hotel in China. But there's one record that remains elusive: who holds the record for longest consecutive slumber?...

Recently, there's been a lot of focus on sleep and why you need more of it. It seems we're constantly learning new ways in which our health suffers from sleep deprivation. Whether it's impacting our ability to drive safely, perform at work, or recall memories–sleep has a lot of control over our health.Why am I hungrier when I haven't slept?A lot of us might notice after a long night of ...

As we age, our sleep cycles can change pretty drastically. Babies, for example, require sixteen hours of sleep a day, whereas an older adult probably only needs between seven and eight. The way our sleep cycles function help determine when and how much you should sleep—understanding how these cycles shift as you get older can help make sure your body is getting enough rest.How do sleep cycl...

Ah, sleep regressions. The ‘He Who Must Not Be Named’ of the baby-sleep world. No one wants to tell a new parent what lies around the corner when they’ve just finally “figured out” their 3.5-month old baby’s sleep. But with a little education, and a lot of grit, the whole house doesn’t have to come crumbling down when your little one hits a regression. What is a sleep regression?If yo...

There are a lot of sleep disorders out there that interfere with our night life—but what about sleep disorders that actually rear their ugly heads during the daytime? What is CataplexyCataplexy is a complex medical condition most commonly associated with narcolepsy—an uncommon sleep disorder that affects between 135,000 and 200,000 people in the US. Cataplexy is a sudden loss of muscle tone...

Every cat parent knows that there is a true hierarchy in the house and cats sit at the top, probably judging you. But when they have thoroughly worn themselves out from their observation of their human roommates, it’s time to curl up and pass out. Cats average about 15 hours of sleep per day, and most of it seems to take place in the least convenient spots possible—for you. For your cat, ther...

Sleep apnea, narcolepsy, restless leg syndrome… there are so many disorders that can impact your sleep at night. You’ve done the hard part and identified that something is preventing you from getting the kind of sleep you need—but now you need to narrow it down. You’re ready to dive in and explore the possibilities—but how much will a sleep study cost you? What king of sleep study do I ne...

It’s Monday morning, and my alarm is going off. And by my alarm, I mean my seven month old babbling to herself over a baby monitor. A week and a half ago, I would have been up, showered, and halfway into my 50-mile commute (I know, but hey, I get to listen to so many podcasts!) by the time she starts coming to, and my husband gets her up for the day and off to daycare. But things have changed q...

Cars rushing by late at night, that surprise flight path your AirBnB forgot to mention, the neighbors have a new baby… there are plenty of things that can keep you up at night, but what can you do to drown out the noise?Disrupted sleep can cause all sorts of issues throughout the night and impact your sleep well beyond causing us to feel tired in the morning, so it makes sense that we want to...

Happy National Nap Day!As we continue to celebrate Sleep Awareness Month with our 8-hour Sleep Challenge, we wanted to dive into naps and how they help (or harm!) our sleep cycles.National Nap Day, March 11th, falls the day after the return of Daylight Savings Time to help ease us back into a new time zone. The unofficial holiday started in 1999 when Camille and William Anthony, a profess...

Right or left? Closer to the door or farther? Facing a window or facing a wall?The side you choose to sleep on can have a bigger impact on your sleep than you think, and strangely enough, it says a lot about you.So is there a wrong side of the bed?A recent study conducted by Premier Inn of over 3,000 sleepers revealed some pretty interesting things about where we choose to sleep a...

You wake up, and immediately the guilt hits.You finally got home, after a long work day and drinks with your friends, and the last thing you wanted to do was spend more time away from your comfy, cozy bed. Especially when it meant dealing with running mascara and sticky lip stains. But this morning, you're paying for it. The flaking black mess on your pillow surrounded by peachy residue and f...

When you’re busy and trying to squeeze in a nap, the last thing you want to do is cut into those precious moments of rest by taking your contacts out.But what’s the risk to leaving them in? Is there a time limit you should keep in mind? Can anything really that bad happen?Why you shouldn’t sleep with contacts in.According to eye doctors, sleeping with your contacts in is never ide...

We know that getting enough sleep is incredibly important to keeping us healthy, well-rested, and thriving in our day-to-day lives, but did you know that when you sleep might be just as important as how much you’re getting?Setting, and sticking to, a healthy sleep cycle involves a bit of math and some serious commitment, but understanding how your body works at night can set you up for some m...

Animals have a lot of weird sleep habits, from sleeping vertically (lookin’ at you, whales!) to only getting a few moments of sleep throughout the day.The weirdest of them all, perhaps, is the snail. We know, what’s really so interesting about snails and their sleep habits? Well, you Googled it, we’re just here to help.What technically is a snail?First things first, snails are gas...

What better time for National #CuddleUpDay than the frigid nights of early January, when Winter is just starting to settle in and the temperatures aren’t showing any signs of warming up.Snuggling in close to someone you love is the perfect way to pass the time, but is cuddling helping or harming your sleep?The benefits of cuddling seem to outweigh the potential issues—like sleeping next t...

Hibernation is one of those things that you can easily forget about as a human, but it has to be one of the most fascinating processes that occurs in nature.Surely, if we had the choice, most people would opt to cuddle up and sleep for the winter, leaving the rest of the world to spin madly on.But what exactly happens when animals turn in for the long, cold months of winter? Hibernation i...

Dinner is done, the dishes are piled in the sink, and you’re one button on your jeans away from that food coma you’ve been looking forward to all week.The food coma—everyone’s favorite culprit for post-holiday lounging. We love to lay around after Thanksgiving dinner and tell ourselves that we simply can’t help it, the turkey’s to blame. All that tryptophan, you know? It just makes you pass r...

Sleep can be quite the mysterious subject, and what we think we know about it can often be totally wrong.Constantly evolving studies on sleep help us debunk common sleep myths and better understand what our bodies need while we’re drifting off to dreamland.You can’t sleep if you have a concussionProbably one of the most common questions the Internet gets is if you sleep after a co...

We need a mindset refresh.Think about your last 9AM meeting. How many people were actually on time, not rushing in ten minutes late with a half-assed apology? How many people were alert and paying attention and not catching up on whatever they didn’t finish before crashing? How many people were slumping over a half gallon of espresso pretending to listen while they try to shake off last night...

We're all a little stressed, for one reason or another, but it's important to understand how stress and sleep are related.It only makes sense that stress and sleep would be closely tied, we all tend to lose sleep when things are chaotic or something is negatively impacting your day-to-day, but the impact of stress on your health and sleep goes deeper than forcing you to lie awake at night thi...

Halloween is upon us and so is the inevitable sugar rush that hits right around 9PM when the last little goblin leaves you with half a bag of Snickers on your hands.If you eat them all tonight you can start your post-Halloween pre-Thanksgiving diet tomorrow, right? Unless, of course, you can’t quite get to sleep tonight, and then you’re late in the morning, and rushing to work so there’s no t...

It’s seven o’clock, October 31st, and you’ve been too busy living your life to come up with an actual costume.The party won’t wait for you, so you go with what you know—for some reason, what we all know—is a classic, if not boring, option waiting right in your own linen closest. No, not that gloriously soft and durable percale one! The wrinkly, wadded-up dorm room leftover in the corner. Yes,...

Night terrors, or sleep terrors, are a parasomnia that affect up to 40% of children, though they are less frequent the older we get.Typically paired with sleepwalking, night terrors can have a few symptoms and causes. Parasomnia refers to any unwanted and abnormal events while someone is sleeping, like sleep paralysis or exploding head syndrome. Parasomnias can occur while someone is about to...

It’s an eye-catching name for something, that’s for sure, but exploding head syndrome, or EHS, is a real parasomnia that people experience either as they fall asleep or wake up.Parasomnias are disorders characterized by abnormal and hard to explain nervous system phenomena. Exploding head syndrome, medically referred to as episodic cranial sensory shock, can be experienced a few ways, and is ...

Autumn brings with it a lot of beautiful things—cool relief from the summer heat, a red-orange foliage blanket on the sidewalks, and a warm, glowing, amber light.You don’t notice it right away. It sneaks up on you, washing everything in a soft, golden glow. The light starts shifting away from a bright, clean white in the early fall and as the weather cools down, the light warms up—but how doe...

Sleep apnea is a relatively common condition in the US, affecting an estimated 22 million Americans, according to the American Sleep Apnea Association.There are three types of apneas that can have a major impact on the quality of your sleep, if you suspect you might be showing signs of having sleep apnea, always contact your doctor for more information.What is sleep apnea? Sleep apnea...

As the sun dips below the horizon, most of us embrace the night and start getting ready for bed without a second thought.We wind down and cuddle into soft pajamas and fluffy bedding, grateful for another long day’s end and looking forward to a night of deep sleep. But for 10% of adults bedtime is anything but relaxing.Nyctophobia, the irrational and overwhelming fear of the dark, can keep...

It’s late, you’ve been working all night, and you can’t seem to get comfortable. Maybe a quick night cap will send you off into the slumber you’re after.You pour your favorite spirit into a glass and take a sip, a few more and you’re feeling nice and warm. That’s better.But what is alcohol really doing to your sleep?20% of Americans utilize booze at the end of a long day to unwind and...

Coffee shops all across America are breaking out their Pumpkin Spice, but we’re here to sing the unsung praises of another fall marvel that doesn’t get enough love—even though it’s at its peak in cool, crisp autumn air.That’s right, folks, while you’ve been excited for your favorite seasonal drink, the blushing apple waits quietly in a shadowy orchard, ready to be mulled into a cider or drown...

Hormones aren’t always the sexiest topic (Okay, pretty much never the sexiest topic.) but they are pretty darn important in your day-to-day life and you might be surprised what they do in your body.Like, let’s say, preventing you from wetting the bed when you sleep.We know. Not sexy. But hey, we warned you.What is anti-diuretic hormone? Anti-diuretic hormone, or ADH, is one of the m...

Everything we put into our bodies can impact how you sleep—for better or worse.A lot of digestion happens overnight, so eating foods that are easy on your body and have ingredients that support sleep could totally turn your night around. Cutting out certain food and adding in some new ones can help get you on the right track for better sleep.First, let’s start with what has to go.Ca...

You already know exercise is important to your health—we don’t need to tell you that.The Mayo Clinic recommends 30 minutes of physical activity a day for the average adult, it can improve just about ever aspect of your health. You might also know that working out can have a profound impact on the quality of your sleep. When and how you get your exercise in might be impacting your health in mo...

If you’ve ever woken up in a panic, or if you keep a regular dream journal, you’re probably pretty aware of how little sense dreams make.While tiny bits of reality might sneak in here and there, most dreams, at least the memorable ones, are filled with nonsense. To understand why dreams are so odd and sometimes unsettling, it helps to know exactly what’s happening, why it happens, and how it ...

Balancing your life can be a lot of work and every so often you’re bound to be a day late and a dollar short—so you stay up all night to wrap up whatever it is you forgot.Maybe it’s cramming for a final, finishing up a presentation you forgot you had, or just plain struggling to fall asleep, whatever your reason, all-nighters happen. While making a heroic effort to get things done feels good ...

####“Trafficking animals, zombie video games, going through the Panama Canal on a boat."“Get part time job at local pizzeria… worried I’m going to be late, show up 30 mins early.”“Boardwalk art show turned street race. Streets invisible. Courage not invisible.”“Mattress murderer on the loose.”“This is the raccoon’s. He doesn’t do much. He’s not even here right now.”“I don’t ...

Where your pup passes out for the night is a hotly-debated topic in a lot of households.Should you get your dog their own space to sleep? A fancy dog bed? Out in the grass under the moonlight? Its own personal La-z-boy? A dog bed that goes next to you in your own bed? Don’t knock it ‘til you try it, according to one of our teammate’s roommate.Your dog could sleep just about anywhere, prob...

You don’t think about it too much… wake up an hour early here, miss bedtime by thirty minutes there, who actually gets 8 hours of sleep anyway?According to a National Sleep Foundation survey, not many of us. The average American gets less than 7 hours of sleep a night, which adds up over the week. Everyone’s needs are different, but generally it’s recommended to get 8 hours a night for the av...

Dreaming is one of the most fascinating things we do as humans.As we sleep, our brains process information and moments from our days, and the images we see can range from fairly monotonous to totally absurd. When we’re excited about something, we dream about it, when we’re worried, we have nightmares. People even tend to have similar dreams when they’re stressed (Ever dream that your teeth we...

If you’ve ever mentioned trouble sleeping in a group of friends, you surely got an earful of at-home remedies and therapies you can apply to your bedtime routine for better sleep.If your friend group is like most of America, about 1.3% of them are using melatonin supplements to get better sleep—and you’ve probably heard some pros and cons. Most people do find that they sleep better when takin...

Okay, maybe everyone wasn’t at Stonehenge yesterday.If you’ve got any friends (or follow anyone on Instagram) in the UK, you might see that they hit Stonehenge around sunrise Thursday morning—but why were all those people gathered at a bunch of super old rocks?To celebrate the Summer Solstice, of course.What? Didn't you know that England’s oldest cemetery is also the hippest place to ...

The Summer Solstice is tomorrow, which means we’re losing a little more nighttime than usual and about to embark on the longest day of the year. Not to worry—the next few nights might seem short, but we’ve got a handy guide to ensure you’re getting the most out of your sleep tonight, tomorrow, or really any night.While you’re frolicking around a bonfire or watching the feed from Stone Henge...

The longest day of the year is upon us!This Thursday, at 6:07AM EST, you can officially break out the flip-flops and sunscreen, because Summer is on—if you’re in the Northern hemisphere that is. From June 21st to September 23rd, the Northern Hemisphere will be enjoying our warmest season and longest days.But what’s all this Solsticing about? The Summer solstice used to fall betwe...

Losing out on sleep is just about one of the worst feelings in the world, but if you find that you’re suffering from insomnia, you absolutely aren’t alone. From A-list celebs to some of the most brilliant minds in science, the movers and shakers of our world seem to have something in common—they don’t sleep much.Ariana Huffington The founder of The Huffington Post and author of The Slee...

It’s 2 AM. You’ve been up for hours, possibly days at this point. No matter what you give up—caffeine, working out at night, eating bigger meals before bed—you can’t seem to get the rest you need. Or maybe you passed out hard, hopeful for those precious 8 hours, but you never seem to stay asleep and wake up over and over again. Why is this happening? What can you do about it? Is there a magic c...

Listen.If you’ve ever been on the internet, you know that everything even remotely enjoyable is ruining your life. Diet Coke, eating standing up, the freaking sun—it’s all out to get you. But, if you look deep enough, there are scientists out there who are taking one for the team and using their knowledge to confirm our own hopes and dreams—some of these “bad things” might actually be okay fo...

You’ve no doubt heard the term before, but what is circadian rhythm and what does it mean for your sleeping habits?Every living organism—from you down to that house plant in your kitchen you’re desperately trying to sustain—has a circadian rhythm. This can sometimes get conflated with our biological clocks, but the two vary slightly. The circadian rhythm definition is an easy one to remember:...