Sleep Doctor giving Keynote Speech at Wellness Festival | Events

Walker is a former psychiatry professor at Harvard Medical School and is now a professor of neuroscience and psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. He is also the founder and director of the Center for Human Sleep Sciences at the University of California, Berkeley. Walker is the author of the New York Times bestselling “Why We Sleep,” and said in a press release, “A provocative new vision for sleep in the modern world-solving our greatest public health challenges. Ends with “what you want” What you are facing now is the global sleep deprivation epidemic. “

In an interview with Mountain Express, Walker said sleep is one of the most effective ways a person can reset brain and body health.

“The body has no major physiological system. From learning, memory, attention, creativity, and emotional regulation, there is also no single principle of the main actions of the mind. Not enough.”

“As a result,” he added. “It’s not surprising that many of the illnesses that kill people in developed countries have significant links to sleep deprivation, some of which are causal.”

These diseases include depression, anxiety, certain forms of cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, and hypertension, Walker said.

So how can I get more sleep? Walker provides five guidelines. The first is regularity.

“It goes to sleep at the same time, whether it’s a week or a weekend, and wakes up first,” he said.

The second consideration is room temperature.

“We recommend that you lower your core body temperature by two to three degrees Fahrenheit,” Walker said at bedtime. “Set the temperature in the bedroom to 65-67 degrees. It seems to be cold. Wear socks if you need it, but you need to do it if it’s cold.”

The third condition that provides restful sleep is darkness.

“We are a dark and deprived society in this modern era,” Walker said. “It takes darkness to release the hormone melatonin, but I’m always on the light and looking at the screen. For the last hour before going to sleep, turn off the lights in your house and stay away from the screen. It helps promote the release of melatonin.”

The last two concerns are coffee and alcohol.

“Avoid caffeine after noon,” Walker said. “It’s a stimulant, it has a half-life of 5-6 hours and a quarter-life of 12 hours. Keep away from noon. Alcohol fragments your sleep and your dream sleep Block too many drinks in the evening. Alcohol is a sedative and sedative is not sleep.”

Sleeping, dreaming, and dreaming are one of the best things about sleep, Walker said.

According to Walker, dream sleep, or rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, is important for at least two functions.

“REM sleep seems to provide overnight treatment,” he said. “It removes the sharp edges from the difficult experiences we have and provides a nocturnal healing bond to make us feel better about those experiences the next day. It’s “time to heal all wounds”. But not during REM sleep and dreams, it’s time to bring about emotional recovery, which I call overnight therapy. “

Walker said there is no medical evidence to support the idea that some dreams are more beneficial than others. He said naps are good for those who aren’t suffering from lack of sleep.

“A short 17-minute nap can be beneficial,” he said. “But if you take it too late, you can get out of your drowsiness. If you have a hard time sleeping, don’t take a nap in the daytime and store all your drowsiness. Or a nap in the afternoon is enough. Do not exceed 20 minutes.”

Walker has authored over 100 research publications, is an internationally recognized speaker, and is invited to speak at the Royal Academy of Arts and the Royal Society of Arts in London. Smithsonian of the United States offers an on-air discussion on this topic. Provides sleep to popular radio outlets such as BBC World Services and NPR as well as BBC and CBS.