This week’s conversation is with Matthew Walker, a Professor of Neuroscience and Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, and Director of the Center for Human Sleep Science.

He is also the lead sleep scientist at Google.

Matthew has received numerous funding awards from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health, and is a Kavli Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences.

His research examines the impact of sleep on human health and disease.

Matthew is also the author of the International Bestseller, Why We Sleep, which has sold over 1½ million copies worldwide, having been translated into 34 different languages.

In this conversation, we focus specifically on Matthew’s deep body of knowledge when it comes to sleep.

I wanted to dig deep and better understand the nuances of sleep… how does it impact our overall health, how can we sleep better, and what can you do if you feel like your suffering from a sleep related disease.

As I’ve mentioned previously, gone are the days in professional sport and business where it’s cool to brag about how little sleep you’re functioning off of and I hope this further brings to light how critical sleep is for just about every facet of life.

“If you are short changing your brain on your sleep, you are neglecting your mental health.”

In This Episode:

  • His core pillars for wellness
  • How poor sleep can lead to social isolation
  • The intimate relationship between a good night sleep and emotional first aid
  • Is insomnia innate or a product of your environment?
  • The transformation that is taking in place with sleep in sports
  • 5 tips people can adopt to get a better night’s sleep: regularity, darkness, temperature, caffeine/alcohol, and don’t stay in bed for too long awake
  • Techniques to quiet your mind and lessen decrease anxiety before bed
  • How a lack of sleep can damage the long term of health for men and women differently
  • Insight on how one night of sleep with less than four hours cripples the immune system
  • His thoughts on sleeping pills, melatonin, and cbd
  • Can some people can get by with less sleep?
  • How do you understand your sleep needs?
  • Which sleep technologies he’s most excited about

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