Ep. 138 – Keep the Bedroom Dark

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Welcome to Episode 138 of The Train Your Brain Podcast with Dr. Michael Trayford. Every Monday we produce a 30-minute episode. Tuesday through Sunday we produce episodes with five-minute tips. Every episode of the Train Your Brain Podcast features a tip, so you can receive pointers 365 days a year that will help enhance the performance of your brain!

Now through the end of February we are having a special contest for Train Your Brain Podcast Listeners to send in their best brain training tip for a chance to win a $25 gift card!

Today Dr. Trayford shares brain training tip 138 about getting quality sleep. Anyone who has ever cared for a child over night at least once in their life knows that throughout the varies parts of the sleep cycle, the child will sleep better if it is dark. The same is true for people of all ages. Make sure you make your bedroom a dark place. Blackout curtains are a great solution, especially if your work schedule requires you to sleep during the day. Dr. Trayford has a friend who is a pilot who routinely flies back and forth from New York City to Tokyo. The way that he handles what could be a pretty devastating case of jet lag is to utilize darkness when his body is expecting night. We hope this tip helps you, too! Thanks for listening!

If you have any concerns regarding the information and applications discussed in this podcast, please consult your physician and a doctor who is experienced in functional neurology. Michael Trayford DC, DACNB is available for consultation by calling (828) 708-5274. Thanks for listening.

This tip is an important part of sleep hygiene. While it might seem like a very simple tip, it’s something that a lot of people violate to some degree. From the brain’s perspective we need a dark environment in order for your brain to sleep effectively.

While you can fall asleep in bright environments, but to perpetuate healthy and safe sleep-wake cycles, we need to keep the bedroom dark at night.

I was talking to a pilot who routinely flies between New York and Tokyo. Obviously, there’s a significant time difference. His night becomes day and day becomes night. He’s been doing this for over thirty years. He’s actually lived quite healthy.

When he gets to his destination the first thing he does is shut the blinds in his room to make sure it’s completely dark. He’s managed to maintain his sleep-wake cycles so effectively, that whether he’s here or in Tokyo he’s on the same sleep-wake cycle.

This is pretty amazing. I’ve taken one flight to Tokyo and I know I was messed up for about three weeks afterward. I didn’t lock myself in a room, I went straight at it, and I paid for it for weeks.

There can be a lot of sources of light pollution in a room that also needs to be addressed. Small LED lights on computers, television sets, or other electronic devices in the room, needs to be out of the room.

Alarm clocks can also be significantly bright and have lights that are set way too high.

We recently got a new alarm clock from the i-home brand. I really love it, because it has varying degrees of light and sound. I really don’t mind waking up to this alarm clock, and at night I can set the lights on it so dim that I don’t even notice it.

You need to keep the room dark. If there are any sources of light in the room, or electronic lights, you need to cover them up to sleep in a room that is as dark as possible.


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