Random musings: 7 Ways to Sleep Better in the Next Heatwave

Monday, July 29, 2019

7 Ways to Sleep Better in the Next Heatwave

Today's blog post is based on a blog post by Dr. Michael Breus and is very appropriate right now:

Most of the United States is just cooling down after a difficult, stifling, sleep-depriving heatwave. About two-thirds of the country was affected by this latest heatwave, which saw temperatures near and above 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and heat indexes even higher. (The heat index measures how the body actually feels, taking into account both heat and humidity.)

This wasn’t the first heatwave of the summer. And it’s not likely to be the last, especially since we’re headed into what are typically the hottest days of the year. As many of us have just been reminded, hot temperatures and high humidity make it a lot harder to sleep. And when you can’t rest comfortably and sleep soundly, that makes everything else you do harder. Let’s take a look at how the body handles sleep and heat, and how you can set yourself up to sleep better when temperatures soar.

It's supposed to be a little cooler this week but back into the low 100's this weekend in Modesto! It was so hot this weekend that I took a trip along the coast from San Francisco to Big Sur on Saturday. It was nice...the temperatures were about 30 -40 degrees cooler than in the valley. But what can we do to sleep better other than taking a road trip?

Get ahead of the heat spike
Stay hydrated
Eat a light dinner
Nap smart
Take a warm shower or bath
Use a cool—not a cold—compress
Double down on your healthy sleep habits when it’s not scorching hot

The article goes into more detail about each of these steps and it also discusses why temperature is so important to sleep...basically you fall asleep when your body cools off. If it doesn't cool, you won't be able to sleep.

Sleep is highly dependent on temperature. Internal body temperatures play a critical role in sleep onset and sleep maintenance—those are scientific terms for our ability to fall asleep and stay asleep. Environmental temperatures—the ambient temperatures in our homes and our surroundings—also affect sleep directly, by interfering with the body’s ability to cool itself down.