WEBVTT - Sleep and Nature 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:02.920 Kitty. Do you remember our last camping trip? 0:00:03.520 --> 0:00:06.320 Oh, let me think about that. No, because Adam, we 0:00:06.400 --> 0:00:09.840 don't camp. So do you mean the last time the 0:00:09.960 --> 0:00:11.240 power was out of the house. 0:00:11.600 --> 0:00:15.120 Yes, Like I said, camping exactly. And you hear people 0:00:15.200 --> 0:00:18.000 talk about getting back to nature, but in this modern 0:00:18.200 --> 0:00:20.320 world that we are in, what you and I need 0:00:20.360 --> 0:00:24.520 are practical ways to sleep more naturally, and we would 0:00:24.560 --> 0:00:27.000 like to know would this improve our lives? 0:00:27.200 --> 0:00:30.639 This is a super important episode because come on, it's like, 0:00:30.640 --> 0:00:34.159 if we can be more connected to nature and actually 0:00:34.159 --> 0:00:36.000 connected to each other, I don't know. I have a 0:00:36.040 --> 0:00:39.280 feeling that it's going to help us stay healthy, including 0:00:39.400 --> 0:00:40.360 having healthier sleep. 0:00:40.840 --> 0:00:41.280 Exactly. 0:00:41.560 --> 0:00:44.559 I'm Katie Low's and I'm Adam Shapiro and this is 0:00:44.680 --> 0:00:48.879 Chasing Sleep, a production of Ruby Studios from iHeartMedia in 0:00:49.000 --> 0:00:52.280 partnership with Mattress Firm. 0:00:52.479 --> 0:00:56.520 In this episode, we're exploring the bare naked truth about 0:00:56.520 --> 0:01:02.120 our big, beautiful world, our sleep, and how it's all connected. 0:01:02.560 --> 0:01:06.080 In fact, Adam, we've been trying to connect our sleep 0:01:06.200 --> 0:01:08.760 more to the world outside by seeing if we can 0:01:08.800 --> 0:01:14.440 sink our bodies natural rhythms to the sunrise and sunset rise, sunset. 0:01:15.120 --> 0:01:17.960 That's right, you and I have been using these sunrise. 0:01:17.400 --> 0:01:19.960 Alarm clocks and we're really into them. 0:01:20.080 --> 0:01:21.080 I think it's been amazing. 0:01:21.240 --> 0:01:24.000 Our guests today are going to help us understand the 0:01:24.080 --> 0:01:27.720 relationship between nature and health and getting good sleep. 0:01:27.920 --> 0:01:28.440 Yeah. 0:01:28.480 --> 0:01:32.480 With us today is doctor Jade Wu. Doctor Wu is 0:01:32.480 --> 0:01:37.479 a brilliant sleep psychologist, a Board certified behavioral sleep medicine specialist, 0:01:37.560 --> 0:01:40.759 a sleep advisor to Mattress Firm, and I just always 0:01:40.800 --> 0:01:44.440 find her insights fascinating when she's here on Chasing Sleep. 0:01:44.560 --> 0:01:44.880 Thank you. 0:01:45.400 --> 0:01:47.199 Also, let's welcome Richard Louve. 0:01:47.560 --> 0:01:51.560 He has away with words and a reverence for nature. 0:01:52.080 --> 0:01:55.280 He's a journalist and an author of several books that 0:01:55.320 --> 0:01:59.480 have inspired people around the world to reconnect with nature. 0:02:00.080 --> 0:02:01.480 Welcome to Chasing Sleep. 0:02:01.800 --> 0:02:02.160 Thank you. 0:02:02.760 --> 0:02:04.880 We love the title of your book, Last Child in 0:02:04.880 --> 0:02:08.600 the Woods, Saving our children from nature deficit disorder. 0:02:09.160 --> 0:02:11.880 Can you just explain what is nature deficit disorder. 0:02:12.560 --> 0:02:16.320 It's not a known medical diagnosis. Maybe it should be, 0:02:16.400 --> 0:02:20.600 but it's a way to look at the disengagement of 0:02:20.680 --> 0:02:23.600 children and adults because children happen to grow up from 0:02:23.760 --> 0:02:27.679 the natural world. That's happened really very quickly, particularly in 0:02:27.720 --> 0:02:31.040 the last few decades. There's some particular reasons, and it's 0:02:31.080 --> 0:02:33.920 not so much a measure of illness as it is 0:02:33.960 --> 0:02:36.720 a way to talk about what happens when you take 0:02:36.760 --> 0:02:39.520 the good stuff of nature away from kids and the 0:02:39.560 --> 0:02:40.079 rest of us. 0:02:40.440 --> 0:02:45.040 Is there an effect of nature deficit disorder on sleep? 0:02:45.400 --> 0:02:48.320 Doctor Woom probably knows more about that than I do. 0:02:48.919 --> 0:02:53.760 There's at least a couple studies that suggests that, particularly 0:02:53.760 --> 0:02:56.480 for men at over sixty five, which would include me, 0:02:56.639 --> 0:03:00.000 that spending more time outside helps us sleep better. 0:03:00.360 --> 0:03:02.760 Let's throw that over to you, Jade, I mean, does 0:03:02.800 --> 0:03:04.840 it affect good sleep? 0:03:05.120 --> 0:03:07.119 You know? How are these two related? Oh? 0:03:07.200 --> 0:03:09.560 Yeah, I definitely think so. So. First of all, just 0:03:09.600 --> 0:03:12.120 on a personal level, the time of my life when 0:03:12.160 --> 0:03:15.440 I slept the best by far, was when I was 0:03:15.480 --> 0:03:20.239 living in this Swiss organic farm and farming during the 0:03:20.320 --> 0:03:23.680 day and sleeping in this cabin by night. And I 0:03:23.760 --> 0:03:26.840 napped for about an hour every day and slept the 0:03:26.880 --> 0:03:28.720 best sleep of my life for about eight and a 0:03:28.760 --> 0:03:31.200 half hours at night every night. Part of it is 0:03:31.200 --> 0:03:33.200 because I was doing hard labor during the day, and 0:03:33.240 --> 0:03:35.400 part of it was because it was the freshest air, 0:03:35.880 --> 0:03:38.680 it was the best sunlight during the day. The freshest 0:03:38.680 --> 0:03:42.280 food I ever ate. Just being close to animals and 0:03:42.320 --> 0:03:45.160 being close to plants, and just going with the rhythm 0:03:45.200 --> 0:03:48.800 of the mountains around me. It was just magical. So absolutely, 0:03:48.880 --> 0:03:53.560 I strongly believe there's a correlation between being close to 0:03:53.680 --> 0:03:55.920 nature and sleeping well. And there's actually a couple of 0:03:55.920 --> 0:04:00.400 good scientific reasons for that. One is, we are diurnal animals. 0:04:00.440 --> 0:04:04.760 We really really need sunlight during the day and darkness 0:04:04.840 --> 0:04:08.000 at night for our circadian rhythms to function well. So 0:04:08.320 --> 0:04:10.320 if you get lots of sunlight during the day and 0:04:10.400 --> 0:04:14.120 not too much light at night, then your circadian rhythms 0:04:14.120 --> 0:04:16.440 are very happy. And when they're happy, they make you 0:04:16.480 --> 0:04:18.839 sleep well at night and wake well during the day. 0:04:19.120 --> 0:04:21.279 But I have to add I don't sleep well. I 0:04:21.320 --> 0:04:24.960 need to spend more time outside. And just because you're 0:04:25.000 --> 0:04:28.839 I live in a very natural area. There are mountain 0:04:28.880 --> 0:04:32.560 lions in our yard. But this morning I woke up 0:04:32.640 --> 0:04:35.920 because a woodpecker was banging outside of the house. 0:04:36.600 --> 0:04:40.000 So in that case, nature is not necessarily helping you 0:04:40.040 --> 0:04:42.520 sleep better when the woodpecker is pecking on the. 0:04:42.480 --> 0:04:43.200 Side of your house. 0:04:43.440 --> 0:04:47.080 Rich and doctor WU like, is there something about feeling 0:04:47.200 --> 0:04:51.400 connected to nature? Feeling connected to other species, how does 0:04:51.440 --> 0:04:53.000 that help us sleep better well? 0:04:53.000 --> 0:04:56.680 In addition to being diurnal animals, we're also pack animals, right, 0:04:56.920 --> 0:04:59.800 So a big part of sleeping well at night is 0:05:00.040 --> 0:05:03.720 also just feeling connected and feeling safe during the day. 0:05:04.200 --> 0:05:06.960 So if we have our social interactions with other people, 0:05:07.000 --> 0:05:11.520 and if we feel connected to the people and animals 0:05:11.520 --> 0:05:14.159 and nature around us, then we feel much more safe 0:05:14.279 --> 0:05:14.920 and calm. 0:05:15.000 --> 0:05:18.240 There's a great conversation going on all around us. In 0:05:18.320 --> 0:05:21.599 recent years, the more research that's been done on how 0:05:21.839 --> 0:05:27.080 animals and trees communicate, sometimes between each other in the 0:05:27.080 --> 0:05:31.600 same species, sometimes across species, including with us. When we 0:05:31.640 --> 0:05:35.200 pay attention to that, we feel less alone and we 0:05:35.240 --> 0:05:36.600 feel calmed rich. 0:05:37.000 --> 0:05:42.279 You suggested something called green exercise. What does that look like. 0:05:42.720 --> 0:05:46.400 Well, some of the studies have shown that when people 0:05:46.480 --> 0:05:49.839 do the same exercise and in fact burn exactly the 0:05:49.880 --> 0:05:53.680 same number of calories in an indoor gym, for instance, 0:05:53.720 --> 0:05:58.120 on a treadmill, compared when they expend or burn the 0:05:58.200 --> 0:06:02.160 exact same number of calories they do it outside gardening 0:06:02.279 --> 0:06:06.000 or hiking or something like that, there's a significant difference. 0:06:06.160 --> 0:06:09.599 It's improvement in terms of well being and a number 0:06:09.600 --> 0:06:13.320 of other indicators. So some people call it green exercise 0:06:13.360 --> 0:06:16.159 and actually market it that way that there are green 0:06:16.240 --> 0:06:20.360 exercise groups, particularly in Europe. It's something that I think 0:06:20.480 --> 0:06:22.880 is caught on to a degree in the US. 0:06:22.920 --> 0:06:23.440 Really cool. 0:06:24.040 --> 0:06:28.200 I've heard of forest bathing, which is like a Japanese concept. 0:06:28.240 --> 0:06:30.799 Is that similar to what you're talking about. 0:06:30.600 --> 0:06:32.920 Well, that's a form of therapy in a sense. 0:06:33.160 --> 0:06:37.000 Can I ask what exactly is forest bathing? 0:06:37.400 --> 0:06:40.560 I think the Japanese name is shinin yoku. That's it, 0:06:40.800 --> 0:06:44.479 And I think it just literally means bathing in the forest, 0:06:44.640 --> 0:06:46.919 and it doesn't have to be very complicated. You just 0:06:46.960 --> 0:06:50.880 go into a forest and allow the trees to surround you. 0:06:50.880 --> 0:06:54.360 You experience the feeling of the soil under your feet 0:06:54.440 --> 0:06:57.599 as you're walking, the breeze on your face, and you 0:06:57.680 --> 0:07:01.440 hear the sounds of the forest. It gives us such 0:07:01.640 --> 0:07:06.320 rich material to really experience with our five senses, and 0:07:06.360 --> 0:07:10.120 that really slows down our heart rates. It decreases our 0:07:10.240 --> 0:07:14.400 blood pressures, our cortisol level goes down. The whole sympathetic 0:07:14.400 --> 0:07:17.000 nervous system, which is the fight or flight system, calms 0:07:17.080 --> 0:07:19.280 down a little bit. It's like you're telling your body 0:07:19.320 --> 0:07:22.320 that you're safe, that it's okay to let your guard down. 0:07:22.520 --> 0:07:24.360 There are a couple of reasons the way that's good. 0:07:24.480 --> 0:07:28.360 One is all the reasons that makes sleep better when 0:07:28.360 --> 0:07:33.400 they're in nature, but also because people bring their souls 0:07:33.480 --> 0:07:36.920 to nature in ways they don't usually. Our relationship with 0:07:37.040 --> 0:07:40.800 trees works on two levels. One is that some of 0:07:40.840 --> 0:07:46.040 the chemicals released by trees actually are calming to us. 0:07:46.160 --> 0:07:46.880 Oh wow. 0:07:48.160 --> 0:07:51.320 But the other reason is that people act different when 0:07:51.320 --> 0:07:54.640 they're around trees, and so force bathing. You go out 0:07:54.680 --> 0:07:57.560 there with a group and you have a therapist, you 0:07:57.840 --> 0:08:00.720 and we were asked to go out pick a tree, 0:08:00.800 --> 0:08:03.800 any tree. And I know this sounds like tree hugging, 0:08:03.800 --> 0:08:09.840 which is highly underrated. But pick a tree and spend 0:08:09.840 --> 0:08:12.320 some time with it, and then come back to the group, 0:08:13.160 --> 0:08:15.680 sit in a circle, and why did you learn? What 0:08:15.760 --> 0:08:16.880 did you feel in the tree? 0:08:17.000 --> 0:08:19.880 I want to do that immediately, Adam, I mean, it 0:08:19.880 --> 0:08:22.800 could really help us feel connected to nature and improve 0:08:22.840 --> 0:08:25.360 our sleep too. But for those of us who live 0:08:25.360 --> 0:08:28.480 in places like Los Angeles, it's not that easy to 0:08:28.480 --> 0:08:30.920 go forest bathing every day. I mean, Am I right? 0:08:31.320 --> 0:08:33.199 Yeah, it would be ideal if you could get out 0:08:33.240 --> 0:08:35.040 to nature every once in a while, you know, like 0:08:35.080 --> 0:08:37.480 say on weekends if you can go hiking. But I 0:08:37.520 --> 0:08:41.439 think there are ways to maybe focus on the quality 0:08:41.600 --> 0:08:43.760 rather than the quantity as well, like even if you 0:08:43.800 --> 0:08:46.600 have a house plant, spending some time with your plants, 0:08:46.640 --> 0:08:48.680 with the little bits of nature that you do have, 0:08:49.280 --> 0:08:52.920 and being really mindful, being in the moment and allowing 0:08:52.960 --> 0:08:56.400 your senses to really experience whatever little bit of nature 0:08:56.400 --> 0:09:00.000 there is. And then maybe on a more logistical level, 0:09:00.800 --> 0:09:04.040 you know, have black house curtains at night to keep 0:09:04.040 --> 0:09:07.520 out the traffic lights and whatnot, and throw your windows 0:09:07.520 --> 0:09:09.800 wide open during the day for that sunshine and fresh air. 0:09:09.840 --> 0:09:12.960 If you can bring as much of the rhythms of 0:09:13.080 --> 0:09:15.120 nature to your home as possible. 0:09:15.360 --> 0:09:17.560 You know, I always wonder like, is it possible to 0:09:17.640 --> 0:09:21.800 use technology to replace nature in our homes? You know, 0:09:21.920 --> 0:09:25.760 like we'll do a little like bird sounds or ocean sounds. 0:09:26.080 --> 0:09:29.440 Can we trick our body in a way into feeling 0:09:29.520 --> 0:09:33.079 like that we're really in nature even though it's a 0:09:33.120 --> 0:09:34.240 computer generated sound. 0:09:34.679 --> 0:09:39.720 There is some evidence that technological substitutions can work a 0:09:39.760 --> 0:09:44.160 little bit like watching nature videos, but there's a limit 0:09:44.200 --> 0:09:47.520 to that. Better approach really is the town that I 0:09:47.600 --> 0:09:50.719 live in, Julia and California is a dark sky community. 0:09:51.080 --> 0:09:54.960 There's an organized effort around the country to commit to 0:09:55.520 --> 0:09:59.520 certain kinds of bulbs and turning off lights at night 0:09:59.720 --> 0:10:03.040 out side. Oh wow, my son came and visited and 0:10:03.080 --> 0:10:05.520 looked up at the sky and said it was the 0:10:05.559 --> 0:10:07.960 first time he could smell the stars. I mean, it 0:10:08.040 --> 0:10:12.240 was that vivid to him. But also within cities, conservation 0:10:12.360 --> 0:10:15.040 is no longer enough. Now we need to create nature. 0:10:15.880 --> 0:10:19.480 As strange as that sounds, and there are a lot 0:10:19.520 --> 0:10:23.200 of efforts around the world to change cities to have 0:10:23.880 --> 0:10:28.280 many more trees, not only for carbon sequestration, but for 0:10:28.440 --> 0:10:31.439 the kinds of things we're talking about, the health benefits 0:10:31.440 --> 0:10:35.480 of that connection of nature. We can find nature in cities. 0:10:35.240 --> 0:10:40.120 So how do we create nature inside the rooms we 0:10:40.240 --> 0:10:40.720 sleep in. 0:10:41.640 --> 0:10:46.320 There's something called biophilic design and biophilic architecture. It's based 0:10:46.360 --> 0:10:51.960 on the biophilia hypothesis of EO. Wilson at Harvard, which 0:10:52.000 --> 0:10:56.120 holds that we are hardwired genetically for an affiliation with nature, 0:10:56.120 --> 0:10:57.760 and when we don't get enough of it, we don't 0:10:57.800 --> 0:11:03.040 do so well. Biophilic architecture actually brings plants into the workplace. 0:11:03.080 --> 0:11:05.559 For example, can be your home or school, as well 0:11:05.840 --> 0:11:11.160 your plants climbing inside walls or outside walls, outside the windows. 0:11:11.600 --> 0:11:15.280 And what the biophilic architecture is revealing in the research 0:11:15.520 --> 0:11:20.000 is that people who work in biophilically designed workplaces are 0:11:20.040 --> 0:11:24.440 far more productive. Sick time goes down, turnover gets better, 0:11:24.840 --> 0:11:25.840 everything gets better. 0:11:26.480 --> 0:11:28.280 That's fascinating, doctor Wu. 0:11:28.640 --> 0:11:31.280 How do you bring nature into your bedrooms? You have 0:11:31.320 --> 0:11:33.000 suggestions and advice. 0:11:33.840 --> 0:11:37.400 Sure, so, I'm very lucky to live in a pretty 0:11:38.000 --> 0:11:40.560 green neighborhood. We all have big trees in our yards 0:11:40.600 --> 0:11:42.800 and whatnot, and it's pretty quiet at night, so I 0:11:42.840 --> 0:11:47.920 open the windows and I let the night sounds and 0:11:47.960 --> 0:11:50.960 the fresh air come in. And in fact, I personally 0:11:51.000 --> 0:11:54.680 feel a huge difference when the windows are open versus not. 0:11:54.880 --> 0:11:57.240 So there are seasons of the year when I sleep 0:11:57.280 --> 0:12:00.560 worse or better depending on whether the weather allows me 0:12:00.640 --> 0:12:03.640 to open the windows, and I make my room very 0:12:03.720 --> 0:12:07.240 very dark, I blackout curtains. Yeah, those are sort of 0:12:07.280 --> 0:12:09.800 my main ways of doing it. If I had more 0:12:09.840 --> 0:12:11.880 where withal and I didn't have a one year old 0:12:11.880 --> 0:12:14.079 and three year old, I definitely have a lot more 0:12:14.120 --> 0:12:18.760 plans as well, But for now that's what we've got. 0:12:19.320 --> 0:12:21.920 This is a fascinating discussion and we are not done 0:12:21.920 --> 0:12:27.480 more to come. Welcome back to Chasing Sleep. We are 0:12:27.520 --> 0:12:30.640 learning about nature's connection to sleep with author and journalist 0:12:30.800 --> 0:12:35.360 Richard Louve and sleep specialist doctor Jade Wu. You know, 0:12:35.400 --> 0:12:39.720 we're talking about getting close to nature, but nature around 0:12:39.800 --> 0:12:44.240 us is changing drastically with climate change. How is that 0:12:44.920 --> 0:12:47.480 affecting the way that we sleep? 0:12:47.880 --> 0:12:49.600 This is something that my colleagues and I in the 0:12:49.600 --> 0:12:53.480 sleep community are very concerned about. There's the obvious one, 0:12:53.640 --> 0:12:57.720 which is that when temperatures get hotter, it's harder to sleep. 0:12:57.880 --> 0:13:00.400 Our bodies do need to cool down during the night 0:13:00.440 --> 0:13:04.360 in order to sleep well, so your body temperature stays higher. 0:13:04.760 --> 0:13:07.640 That's the obvious one. But then there are also less 0:13:07.640 --> 0:13:13.040 obvious ones, like the stress from mass migration events and 0:13:13.360 --> 0:13:17.080 people losing their homes to extreme weather events, and people 0:13:17.120 --> 0:13:21.360 losing their jobs and their lives being upended from you know, 0:13:21.480 --> 0:13:25.560 the economic and social disruptions from climate change, and of 0:13:25.679 --> 0:13:29.880 course the nature that is destroyed and the human communities 0:13:29.920 --> 0:13:33.280 that are destroyed by climate change just adds every layer 0:13:33.320 --> 0:13:37.080 of stress possible to body, mind, spirit, emotional well being. 0:13:37.280 --> 0:13:40.600 So yeah, we are actually quite concerned about climate change. 0:13:40.640 --> 0:13:43.160 And what it will do to every aspect of health, 0:13:43.559 --> 0:13:44.959 but sleep in particular. 0:13:45.360 --> 0:13:49.360 Yikes, who stands to you know, have their sleep most 0:13:49.400 --> 0:13:51.080 disrupted by climate change? 0:13:51.360 --> 0:13:53.720 We already have plenty of studies showing that the amount 0:13:53.760 --> 0:13:57.240 of green space in a neighborhood is directly correlated to 0:13:57.280 --> 0:13:59.920 how many hours people sleep, Like they did studies with 0:14:00.080 --> 0:14:03.640 satellite imagery to count up what percentage of the neighborhood 0:14:03.679 --> 0:14:07.520 is green, and that directly relates to how many hours 0:14:07.679 --> 0:14:11.079 people are sleeping and how often people having sleep problems. 0:14:11.440 --> 0:14:15.240 You know, it's things like walkability of your neighborhood. So yeah, 0:14:15.280 --> 0:14:18.280 it's the people who have less control over their environment. 0:14:18.600 --> 0:14:22.400 So folks who are lower income, who are in less 0:14:22.560 --> 0:14:27.040 affluent areas older people. Yeah, it's the people who are 0:14:27.120 --> 0:14:29.480 least privileged who will be most affected. 0:14:29.800 --> 0:14:35.600 Are these the things rich that bring on the solestalgia? 0:14:36.400 --> 0:14:36.920 Did I do it? 0:14:37.040 --> 0:14:37.240 Rich? 0:14:37.600 --> 0:14:41.960 Solistalgia is a term that was created by an eco 0:14:41.960 --> 0:14:47.720 philosopher in Australia and Glenn albrit And basically, when you 0:14:47.800 --> 0:14:55.320 feel solistalgic, you're feeling a kind of intense homesickness for 0:14:56.000 --> 0:15:01.080 the home around you. The nature is being destroyed. It's 0:15:01.120 --> 0:15:04.320 not for the past. It's for the present that is 0:15:04.560 --> 0:15:09.040 changing so quickly and the loss of nature. I think 0:15:09.080 --> 0:15:11.120 a lot of us suffer from that. One of the 0:15:11.160 --> 0:15:15.560 reasons also psychologically, and this is connected to climate change 0:15:15.840 --> 0:15:21.160 and biodiversity collapse, which go together, is the fact of 0:15:21.240 --> 0:15:24.960 the growing amount of eco anxiety. It's called different things 0:15:25.000 --> 0:15:28.920 ecological depression. But it's no accident that as the pandemic 0:15:29.040 --> 0:15:33.720 began to ease, the trailheads were packed with people. 0:15:33.960 --> 0:15:37.960 Yes, the parks were overwhelmed, some of them by the 0:15:38.040 --> 0:15:42.120 number of people that were Yes, finally rediscovering nature. Folks 0:15:42.280 --> 0:15:47.000 are really worried about that and the healthcare professions. Jade 0:15:47.000 --> 0:15:50.640 said in communities that have a lot less than nature 0:15:51.240 --> 0:15:55.040 that taking nature away from people is a life and 0:15:55.120 --> 0:15:56.360 death issue. 0:15:56.840 --> 0:15:59.520 And doctor Wu, do you have any thoughts on how 0:15:59.680 --> 0:16:06.400 this sort of eco depression that is probably collectively happening, 0:16:07.120 --> 0:16:11.040 how that's affecting our sleep, how we can try to 0:16:11.120 --> 0:16:11.720 combat it. 0:16:12.600 --> 0:16:15.680 Yeah, it's definitely related to sleep. I think often people 0:16:15.840 --> 0:16:19.840 may not consciously realize that when they're having insomnia or 0:16:19.880 --> 0:16:24.800 having difficulty sleeping that it's related to this. They just say, Oh, 0:16:24.840 --> 0:16:27.400 I just can't shut off my mind, or I just 0:16:27.440 --> 0:16:30.800 can't relax. Just something's bothering me and I can't really 0:16:30.840 --> 0:16:33.280 put my finger on it. And I think there is 0:16:33.400 --> 0:16:40.000 some longing for connection or simplicity or just I always 0:16:40.000 --> 0:16:43.680 start with mindfulness of just take what you do have 0:16:43.920 --> 0:16:45.800 in terms of nature and connect with that. 0:16:46.200 --> 0:16:49.200 Yes, clearing the mind is what it's all about, all right. 0:16:49.360 --> 0:16:52.200 Adam and I want to share a little experiment we've 0:16:52.200 --> 0:16:56.440 been conducting. We have a new alarm clock that projects 0:16:56.560 --> 0:16:59.400 light during the day and at night. It is dark. 0:16:59.240 --> 0:17:02.560 Blue light, and the color of the light changes and 0:17:02.600 --> 0:17:05.920 it kind of gives us a wouldn't you say, Katie, 0:17:05.960 --> 0:17:08.080 It's like a sped up sunset. 0:17:08.160 --> 0:17:10.439 What I think about it is that at least in 0:17:10.480 --> 0:17:13.239 the midst of this Los Angeles concrete jungle that we 0:17:13.280 --> 0:17:16.840 live in, we've been experimenting with this alarm clock and 0:17:16.880 --> 0:17:18.959 I like it. I really do. 0:17:19.400 --> 0:17:20.360 He love it. 0:17:20.560 --> 0:17:25.560 Yeah. So, there's research showing that having light in the mornings, 0:17:25.640 --> 0:17:28.760 even when you're still sleeping your eyes are closed, about 0:17:28.840 --> 0:17:31.880 ten percent of the light goes through your eyelids. So 0:17:32.160 --> 0:17:34.560 if you have a light that's kind of gradually getting 0:17:34.600 --> 0:17:37.840 brighter and brighter, some of that light is going through 0:17:37.840 --> 0:17:41.200 to your brain and giving it sort of a gentle forewarning, 0:17:41.359 --> 0:17:44.200 like okay, adam, it might be time to get up soon, 0:17:44.400 --> 0:17:46.200 and you know, you get a bit of a warning 0:17:46.280 --> 0:17:48.960 and your brain likes that, right. And also as a 0:17:49.040 --> 0:17:52.240 night owl, the best way to shift your circadian phase, 0:17:52.800 --> 0:17:55.399 as in, you know, make yourself more of a morning person, 0:17:55.880 --> 0:17:57.879 is to have bright light first thing in the morning. 0:17:58.320 --> 0:18:00.960 And so if you're starting that even before you open 0:18:01.000 --> 0:18:05.359 your eyes, that can actually make your sleep inertia a 0:18:05.359 --> 0:18:08.360 little bit better. And sleep inertia is that draggy feeling 0:18:08.440 --> 0:18:10.800 that like the half hour an hour that it takes 0:18:10.800 --> 0:18:13.200 for you to fully wake up, like you're sledging through mud. 0:18:13.800 --> 0:18:17.120 That gets better if you have that light wake you up. 0:18:17.359 --> 0:18:18.520 That's great to know. 0:18:19.359 --> 0:18:24.399 Rich thoughts about such clock, these clocks that are being 0:18:24.440 --> 0:18:27.800 offered these days that have birds and ocean sounds and 0:18:27.840 --> 0:18:31.359 a light that goes like a sunset at night down 0:18:31.359 --> 0:18:34.680 to blue and can put on a sort of sunrise. 0:18:35.000 --> 0:18:36.679 What are your opinions on such clock? 0:18:37.119 --> 0:18:39.280 If it works, it's great, And that sounds like it 0:18:39.320 --> 0:18:42.320 works for you. I have a woodpecker I can loan 0:18:42.400 --> 0:18:47.080 you too for waking up, you know, during the pandemic, 0:18:48.000 --> 0:18:50.919 and I wrote a piece for the like times about this. 0:18:51.200 --> 0:18:54.520 People started looking out their windows when they were in seclusion, 0:18:55.440 --> 0:18:57.920 and they were noticing that there were birds out there. 0:18:58.800 --> 0:19:01.159 Now they knew they were out there already, but they 0:19:01.160 --> 0:19:05.600 didn't really know. And they started connecting with those birds, 0:19:05.640 --> 0:19:08.800 their kids did, and they did not feel so alone. 0:19:09.960 --> 0:19:15.120 They felt a sense of solace and connection. And that 0:19:15.200 --> 0:19:19.280 has to do with this the loneliness epidemic. The medical 0:19:19.280 --> 0:19:23.520 community is really quite worried about loneliness as a source 0:19:23.560 --> 0:19:27.600 of disease. It turns out many of the same diseases 0:19:27.680 --> 0:19:32.880 that are associated with obesity and with smoking happened when 0:19:32.920 --> 0:19:36.879 people are extremely lonely, when they're very isolated. And many 0:19:36.880 --> 0:19:40.800 of the reasons that are given for this happen to 0:19:40.800 --> 0:19:45.000 be exactly the same ones that keep kids indoors too much, electronics, 0:19:45.200 --> 0:19:48.719 cities that are designed for cars, not for nature for people, 0:19:49.200 --> 0:19:52.960 and the list goes on. I would add another factor 0:19:53.040 --> 0:19:56.800 to that list of causes for the extreme epidemic and 0:19:56.880 --> 0:20:00.840 human isolation all over the world, particularly in in countries 0:20:00.920 --> 0:20:04.680 like ours, which is species loneliness. I think that deep 0:20:04.720 --> 0:20:08.280 within this is a deep desire to not feel alone 0:20:08.520 --> 0:20:09.280 in the universe. 0:20:09.400 --> 0:20:11.440 Wow beautifully said in terms. 0:20:11.160 --> 0:20:14.600 Of climate change and the eco anxiety which keeps a 0:20:14.600 --> 0:20:17.320 lot of people away. We need something that I call 0:20:17.440 --> 0:20:21.000 imaginative hope. I think we need to begin to imagine 0:20:21.119 --> 0:20:23.800 what would it be like to have a nature rich 0:20:23.840 --> 0:20:26.080 home that would help us leave better. I just wanted 0:20:26.080 --> 0:20:28.040 to add that there's a lot of good news. In 0:20:28.119 --> 0:20:31.280 twenty ten, I was asked to give thee to the 0:20:31.280 --> 0:20:37.160 American Academy of Pediatrics, about five thousand pediatricians their annual meeting. 0:20:37.760 --> 0:20:42.040 And at first I thought, why me, nature deficit disorder. Really, 0:20:42.520 --> 0:20:44.879 it's not even a known medical diagnosis. And I was 0:20:44.920 --> 0:20:48.200 nervous before I went up to San Francisco to give this, 0:20:49.080 --> 0:20:51.520 and my wife, who is a nurse practitioner, took my 0:20:51.600 --> 0:20:53.960 face in her hands. They said, listen to me, Rich, 0:20:55.040 --> 0:20:58.120 pediatricians are different from other doctors. They're really nice people. 0:20:58.440 --> 0:21:06.320 Oh except for doctors like Jade. And so I led 0:21:06.359 --> 0:21:09.200 with that line and I was off to a good 0:21:09.200 --> 0:21:14.240 start with the pediatricians. I suggested, how about if you guys, 0:21:14.359 --> 0:21:20.280 men and women begin to prescribe nature, literally write prescriptions. 0:21:20.280 --> 0:21:22.800 There was a little of that going on already, and 0:21:22.840 --> 0:21:24.800 they went back many of them and started doing that. 0:21:25.119 --> 0:21:29.040 There's a guy named doctor Robert Tzar from Washington, d C. 0:21:29.240 --> 0:21:33.280 Who went back. He literally started writing prescriptions to his 0:21:33.359 --> 0:21:36.880 families for spending time on the side of nature. Then 0:21:36.920 --> 0:21:39.840 he's got the other pediatricians in DC to do it, 0:21:40.080 --> 0:21:41.879 and then they took the next step. They created a 0:21:41.960 --> 0:21:44.920 database of all the parks and open spaces in d C. 0:21:45.119 --> 0:21:48.520 So the doc could not only write the prescription literally, 0:21:48.560 --> 0:21:51.199 but could turn to the computer and say, there's a 0:21:51.240 --> 0:21:53.280 park a block and a half from your house. Here's 0:21:53.280 --> 0:21:56.080 what you can do there. I was puzzled by that. 0:21:56.240 --> 0:21:59.080 Why that happened with the pediatricians, and it was later 0:21:59.160 --> 0:22:03.280 explained to me that pediatricians are so deeply frustrated. They 0:22:03.320 --> 0:22:09.000 see mortalities every day, morbidities every day among children that 0:22:09.080 --> 0:22:12.600 they can't deal with. Not only that, but every day 0:22:13.240 --> 0:22:17.359 they write prescriptions to pharmaceuticals. So they already have a 0:22:17.440 --> 0:22:20.720 sense that somehow we're missing the boat in so many ways, 0:22:20.720 --> 0:22:22.600 and they're frustrated. So they took to this. 0:22:22.800 --> 0:22:23.840 That's amazing. 0:22:24.640 --> 0:22:27.000 So there's lots of things happening. 0:22:27.160 --> 0:22:30.359 Yeah, collectively, I think we could probably use some of 0:22:30.400 --> 0:22:34.080 that imaginative hope to help us to sleep more peacefully 0:22:34.080 --> 0:22:34.399 at night. 0:22:34.680 --> 0:22:36.240 Well, that is very hopeful. 0:22:36.359 --> 0:22:39.280 I appreciate that as a parent and as the host 0:22:39.720 --> 0:22:40.760