Sleep optimization: Emerging trends for better sleep in 2024

How often do you wake up feeling refreshed from a great night’s sleep? 

According to the NHS, many British citizens would answer a resounding ‘No’ to this question as sleeping disorders such as sleep apnoea, insomnia, and restless legs syndrome are on the steady increase. 

Addressing these issues is paramount to improving sleep, immunity and well-being and fortunately, with just a few small tweaks to our everyday routine it is very possible to see great improvements.

Much has been done by way of research and technology to assist people who desire better sleep. A great deal of it is common sense, but some of it is refreshingly original. However, for any of it to make a positive difference to our sleep, there has to be personal buy in. Hopefully this blog will serve as motivation if you are one of those people needing to make changes..

Sleep Hygiene:

Sleep hygiene is all about putting yourself in the best position to sleep well every night.

Focusing on the environment: Obviously, for each person the ideal will be different. However, when it comes to optimising your bedroom, the small things are the big things. Your sleep can be enhanced by ensuring you have the ideal temperature, the right amount of darkness or light, and the least amount of noise. It also helps to have the most comfortable pyjamas, mattress, pillow, and bedding material.  

Focusing on the routine: It helps to keep to a schedule of going to bed and waking up at the same times. This will set your body clock so that having shaped the habit over time, the habit will shape our readiness to sleep. Other helpful tips include what we do during the day – enjoying sunshine and fresh air, exercising, cutting out alcohol and caffeine, eating smaller meals at night and not too late. And then there are the routines you follow at night before going to bed. Ideally, you should reduce your screen time at least an hour before bed, using that time to wind down with soft music, and/or gentle yoga stretches, and/or some form of meditation – all geared to settle you down inwardly and outwardly.

Some people also derive great benefit from keeping a sleep journal for diarising how they slept each night and which factors proved beneficial and which did not.

Sleep Technology:

Flowing out of the different factors mentioned above, new technology designed to help people sleep better is evolving all the time.  

Sound and Light Gadgets: Advanced alarm clocks, like the “Hatch Restore” offer both noise masking technology (white noise/pink noise/green noise), as well as a simulated sunrise wakeup light to help maintain the individual’s circadian rhythm. People of all ages are benefitting, from the newborn to the elderly.

Wearable Sleep Trackers: Devices like the Apple Watch, Fitbit, and the Oura Ring continue to provide users with sleep related data, such as heart rate, restlessness and stages of sleep. Accompanying apps such as “Sleep Cycle” use algorithms to suggest individualised adjustments to sleep patterns. These apps are able to be integrated into smart homes, syncing with lights and thermostats to create an optimal sleep environment based on users’ sleep data.

Smart Mattresses: The Eight Sleep Pod smart mattress uses sensors to monitor sleep movements, adjust the temperature of the bed, and even move to reduce snoring. Advanced versions of this product even feature vibration alarms that promote a more natural wake-up experience by waking the sleeper at the lightest stage of their sleep cycle.

With all these new advances, people may wonder how they ever fell asleep before.

Sleep Trends:

Along with the introduction of new sleep technology, we see a rise in original behaviours that are fast becoming sleep trends.

Sleep Divorce: According to sleep specialist, Dr Wendy Troxel, in her book, “Sharing the Covers: Every Couple’s Guide to Better Sleep,” more and more couples are considering the merits of the use of two separate bedrooms to maximise their sleep quality (a “sleep divorce”). This push for the normalisation of individual sleep spaces highlights the delicate balance between intimacy and personal space. Objective measures may well indicate improved sleep when alone, but subjective preferences often prioritise the emotional comfort of a shared sleeping space.

Sleep Tourism: as the quest for holistic wellbeing continues to transform the global tourism industry, there appears to be a growing interest in sleep-focused retreats and vacations. Many travellers are now seeking destinations that include specialised programs that include sleep rejuvenation. For example, the Global Wellness Institute reports that at RAKxa Integrative Wellness Retreat in Thailand, they offer a Thai Deep Sleep & Skin Radiant Therapy, which focuses on enhancing sleep quality and integrating traditional Thai Medicine and CBD oils. Sleep tourism promises to be a vital component of wellness travel in the future.

Sleep well:

Better sleep need not necessarily be left to fate. Should you so desire, you can take advantage of traditional habits of sleep hygiene and combine them with cutting-edge sleep technologies, and even experiment with emerging sleep trends, in order to establish your own personalised sleep solutions. Sleep well!