Wake up every morning well and rest, we’ll all be in for it. Unfortunately, in practice, we sometimes wake up broken from a bad night’s sleep. How can we prevent this in the future? We asked neurophysiologist and sleep expert Leo van Woerden for the secret.
Leo van Woerden is a neuroscientist, sleep expert, and founder of minds. We talked to him about the effect of cadence on your sleep at night, how many hours of sleep is ideal and what is necessary for a good evening routine.
In conversation with neurophysiologist Leo van Woerden
Rhythm has a huge impact on our sleep, says Liu. It doesn’t sound illogical of course, and you probably already know it in the back of your mind, but it turns out that this is very difficult for many people. Some key questions.
How big is the effect of rhythm on our sleep?
“We can say that rhythm is one of the most important things for our quality of life. Life is about rhythm. We have tides, the world revolves around the sun, and there is rhythm everywhere in nature. The better the rhythm, the more power you get from it. If you sleep in At about the same time every day, it will make your sleep more efficient. As a result, you sleep much deeper, and with this you can eventually shorten your sleep hours. It also works in the opposite direction: if you always sleep at different times, you sleep much less deeply. This way it becomes Your sleep is less efficient, and as a result you need more hours in bed.”
How about nighttime vomiting on the weekend?
“People often have a varying rhythm during the weekend, wanting to go to bed sooner and sleep longer, but in the end this is not good for your rhythm and therefore the quality of your sleep. The more you sleep at the same time, the better you notice it in your body” .
Doesn’t that make life a little boring?
In addition to being a sleep expert, I’m also a musician. That’s why I always say: If you know where the musical notes are, it doesn’t mean you’re composing a beautiful song. The song becomes beautiful when you go groove. This means that sometimes you have to dance around the beat to get back to the top at a later time. This is how you work in life. You also have to do fun things, and sometimes you have to get out of that rhythm for a while, but knowing your own rhythm helps a lot.”
Does it matter how long we sleep?
“Waking up at the same time every morning is very easy these days, because we have an alarm clock for that. But the moment you need an alarm to wake up, you often suffer from sleep deprivation. Then maybe your body needs more sleep. So it has to be Focus on going to bed. After a while, you notice that you automatically wake up at the same times, at the end of your dream sleep.”
How do you recognize the lack of sleep in yourself?
You can recognize lack of sleep, of course, by exhaustion, but also by weak resistance, poor memory and emotional imbalance. People often try to twist themselves in all sorts of ways to get more energy. we drink some coffee Or start the morning with exercise. But if you suffer from accumulated sleep deprivation, it is best to work on that first. So we often try “biohacking” nowadays, but if you don’t start dealing with your sleep at night, in my opinion it carries water to the sea. People often underestimate that.”
Does a daytime nap help?
“If you are sleep deprived, you definitely suffer Interest in power nap. If you perform these power naps at set times, you will become more efficient again. Your sleep cycle continues to count when you’re awake. So, if you go to bed late once and want to get some extra sleep the next day, keep counting 90 minutes past your usual bedtime. So this power nap is the most efficient.”
What advice do you have for people who want to build rhythm?
“There are many tips and tricks for building a routine for a good night’s sleep, but people often make the mistake of not wanting it enough. This causes people to drift off and start doing things that they enjoy most in that moment, like watching a movie. So, the more people understand the importance of Getting enough sleep and finding their own motivation, it becomes easier to build a new routine and go to bed at that designated time.”
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interview | 7 sleep questions for a neurophysiologist