An Inside Look at O2X Sleep Specialist Jaime Tartar’s (PhD) Sleep Routine

A SLEEP ROUTINE FOR BETTER HEALTH AND PERFORMANCE

By Jaime Tartar, Ph.D., O2X Sleep Specialist, Professor of Neuroscience, Nova Southeastern University

As humans we spend nearly 1/3 of our lives asleep – or at least we should! In our modern fast-paced world, sometimes sleep is too easily cast aside as a luxury. We can even mistakenly think of sleep as optional, but actually sleep is essential for health and performance. When we don’t get enough sleep, everything suffers – from our physical performance to our mental health. However, when we sleep, amazing things happen to our body and brain!

Our brains are extraordinarily metabolically expensive – even though they comprise only 2% of the body weight the brain uses about 20% of our daily calories! While working at such high speed there is no opportunity during the day for that poor tired brain to repair and restore itself. This is one reason why we must sleep. All the metabolic waste that builds up during the day is cleaned out at night while we sleep. During sleep our brains are literally taking out the trash! We also need sleep to help new memories form and strengthen. It is also a time when our brain can process our emotional lives and help to prepare for emotional experiences in the future.

Even though I do research on sleep, I know that sometimes it can be difficult to wind down and go to sleep. Modern humans experience something of an evolutionary mismatch when it comes to sleep. We are simply not adapted to sleep in a modern world with things like artificial light, too much social stress, and electronic stimulation. Luckily though, our brains are fantastic at responding to routines! Many of us have seen the benefits of using a nighttime routine with infants and children. We are truly just big babies in that regard. Our adult brains respond to nighttime routines in very similar ways.

With that in mind, I can share my sleep routine with you…