Are you always waking up in the middle of the night? How does a warm bedroom prevent good sleep?
There’s one factor that majorly influences sleep quality: the environment of your bedroom. In Sleep Smarter, Shawn Stevenson looks at two changes you can make to your sleep environment: sleeping temperature and bedroom air quality.
Discover how to make the perfect bedroom environment for good sleep.
Sleeping Temperature
Stevenson suggests that keeping your bedroom slightly cold is one way to create a bedroom environment for good sleep. This is because your body naturally cools down as you prepare for sleep, so if your body temperature is too warm, your body will remain in a state of wakefulness. By making your surroundings cooler, you’re thus making it easier for your body to enter a restful state.
The ideal temperature for the room you sleep in is 60 to 68 degrees Fahrenheit (15 to 20 degrees Celsius). If the temperature in your bedroom is too far outside of this range—either too high or too low—you’ll likely have trouble sleeping. In addition to changing the settings on your thermostat, there are products such as cooling mattress pads that can help you keep your body at the ideal sleep temperature.
(Shortform note: Biologists have found that most mammals, including mice, cats, and chimpanzees, engage in thermoregulation—behaviors that maintain an ideal body temperature during sleep. These behaviors include building insulated nests, curling up into a ball, and huddling for warmth with other members of the species. Likewise, humans have been shown to subconsciously adjust skin exposure (rather than the thermostat) to maintain a consistent body temperature throughout the night, going under the covers to warm up and sticking out an arm or a leg when needing to cool down.)
Bedroom Air Quality
Stevenson states that the quality of air in your bedroom can also affect your ability to sleep well. He argues that you sleep better when breathing air that’s rich in negatively charged ions. These ions eliminate toxins and allergens such as mold, chemical gasses, dust, and pollen. The negative ions themselves also energize your body for higher performance of its regular chemical processes. However, when air sits around in a stuffy, enclosed environment, the ions in the air naturally lose their negative charge. Therefore, you can ensure the bodily health you need to get a good night’s sleep by circulating airflow, either through a fan or open window, to keep ions from losing their negative charge.
Finally, keeping some houseplants in your bedroom can improve its air quality. Many common houseplants absorb toxic chemicals and release oxygen. (Shortform note: Negative ions are atoms or molecules that have gained one or more electrons, giving them a net negative electrical charge. They are formed in nature by UV rays from the sun, thunderstorms, or the collision of water and air, such as in waterfalls or tidal spray. They can also be produced artificially through an electric ionizer. However, research into their health benefits has produced mixed results. Studies support Stevenson’s claim that ionization reduces particulate matter in the air. However, research has not found a strong link between ionization and improved respiratory health overall. More research is needed to conclusively understand their effects.)
