There is also a matter that I addressed in the essay on sleep preparation. It is the transition in temperature from other rooms to the bedroom. Much as we often become tired when leaving a cold wintery environment (after skying, sledding or making angles in the snow) and enter a warm lodge or living room, so many of us find that we are likely to feel tired after transiting from a very cold bedroom into a very warm bed. Alternatively, there can be a transition from hot to cold. We savor a warm bed or shower and go immediately to our bedroom and fall asleep. A couple with whom I am friends has a hot tub located outside their bedroom. On a cold evening, my friends will spend time in their hot tub and then leave it to settle in for a long winter’s night in their Canadian home.
The important point to be made at this point is that transition in temperature can lead to quality sleep. Results from our sleep study indicates that this transition can be very effective – and it usually doesn’t cost much and is readily available for anyone.
Light and Dark
Level of light in our bedroom is another important element in our sleeping environment. We all know that it is best to sleep in a dark room. This is a well-established “fact.” Our Pathways to Sleep” survey reinforces this sleep axiom. A dark room is highly rated by most survey respondents. However, there is another side to this concern about light—as indicated by the high variability in survey ratings regarding level of light. Some of us have installed a night light or purchased a chunk of some mineral that is lite and provides a soft glow during the night. We even find that a softly lit room can make us feel more secure, especially if we frequently have to get up during the night for a bathroom break.
We might even leave our television on for our sense of comfort and continuity. As I noted above, many of us actually fall asleep watching late-night television. Is this a bad thing? Should we never allow ourself to remain in bed with the television still emitting light and sound. Maybe it is OK to sleep under this condition. Perhaps it is like falling asleep and remaining asleep in front of an African Savannah fire.
Or it might be like falling asleep while listening to a classical music concert or attending a play. We desperately try to stay awake during the concert or play. Unlike sitting in front of the fire, we are not expected to fall asleep during the dimly-lit concert or theatrical production. Maybe there should be social norms that allow us to sleep during a public performance—after all, we aren’t really that far removed from the African Savannah (Bergquist and Mura, 2005).
All of this goes against the scientific evidence. Light in a room apparently disrupts our sleep—even if our eyes are closed. However, what if we have a blanket tucked over our head or even wear a mask that blocks out the light. Does the mask obfuscate the whole reason to retain a light source in the room or does it enable us to easily control the light and darkness?
There is another matter of sight that is often ignored in recommendations made about high quality sleep. This has to do with the size of the room where we are trying to sleep. Is it a spacious room with high ceilings and wide walls? Are we sleeping instead in a small room with a low ceiling? I personally prefer the more intimate room and find it hard to sleep in a “palatial” room—such as I have occasionally been assigned (as a “bonus”) by clients with whom I am consulting. When working with the management of a hotel in Las Vegas I was provided with the room reserved for the “celebrities.” This was a large room with a massive bed and a large living area. I never had a worse night of sleep! I hope that true “celebrities” prefer or grow accustomed to sleeping in a BIG room. For me (and I suspect some other people) there is a preference for sleeping in a “womb” with four nearby walls and a nearby ceiling.
Sounds
There is another sleep axiom that accompanies the one about darkness. This axiom concerns sound in the bedroom. One should always fall asleep in a quiet room—as indicated by our sleep survey respondents. Block out as much noise as possible and turn off all TVs, radios, computers and mobile devices. Yet, the survey scores were quite variable when it comes to the use of music to stimulate sleep. After all, we sing to our children or put on a player that offers a lullaby. Furthermore, some of us like to fall asleep listening to classical music or other forms of relaxing music (including adult lullabies). Recently, there has even been vigorous promotion of “green” sounds that promote sleep.
Paradox also enters the picture. We easily fall asleep listening to a boring lecture—so why not find a lecture and play it in order to get a good night of sleep? Once again, it is when we try to stay awake that we are likely to fall asleep. It might also be a matter of the level of sound to which we are accustomed. As I already noted, many urbanities find it hard to fall asleep when spending a night in a remote, rural location, just as folks from the country find it hard to sleep when visiting a vibrant urban setting.
