This Sleep Routine Helps A Neuroscientist Get His Best Rest

As a child, I had a lot of very vivid dreams. Many of them were enjoyable or neutral, but some of them were nightmares that were very scary at the time. Because of this, I really didn't like sleeping because I was scared to be alone in the dark. Then, when I was about 10 or 11, I taught myself how to breathe my way to sleep.

I started breathing the way that I thought I breathed when I slept by listening to other people breathe when they were asleep (long slow inhales and exhales). This really helped me start to get better sleep each night and fall asleep more quickly. I also fell asleep to classical music a lot, which was helpful.

Medical school was the next phase of life that really taught me how to get to bed—anytime, anywhere I could. But my sleep wasn't as deep or restorative because I was always falling asleep a little worried that I was going to be called to attend to an emergency situation. It took several years after I was no longer the "on-call doc" to be able to fall asleep without this worry, which definitely made my sleep depth and quality much better because I felt safe enough to let myself go deep.

Nowadays, I typically get my best sleep after a good workout or long bike ride, and on Friday and Saturday nights when I don't have a lot of responsibilities the next day. My biggest barriers to sleep are not moving enough during the day, having unfinished work on my mind, and working too late without a proper wind-down.

7 p.m.: It's a weekday night, and I'm closing my computer to start to get into a wind-down mindset after a busy day.

7:30 p.m.: I turn on one of my favorite playlists, set my Apollo wearable to Social & Open, get into the kitchen, pour myself a big glass of water, and cook something really delicious, healthy, and well-deserved. I get real hungry after working all day, especially when I get on a bike ride!

9:30 p.m.: I finish dinner, tidy up the kitchen, and start winding down for bed.

10 p.m.: After cleaning up the house a little bit and doing 15 minutes of meditative stretching, it's time to wash up for bed.

10:28 p.m.: I set my Apollo wearable to Relax & Unwind to wind me down into sleepy mode, step into the bathroom to floss, brush my teeth, wash my face, and moisturize my skin.

10:46 p.m.: Finally time for my favorite moment of the day: reading before bed. My favorite book lately has been The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. Every time I read it, I learn something new, and it's extremely helpful for the work that I do with my clients.

10:55 p.m.: Eyes are just about too heavy to keep reading. Just need to get under the covers and…zzzz…