Tag: sleep

The Worm Moon is coming and experts say it could disrupt your sleep

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There is something undeniably magical about a full moon rising. The glow feels brighter, the night air sharper, and for many of us, sleep suddenly feels just a little more elusive than usual.

This March, skywatchers will be treated to the arrival of the Worm Moon on March 3rd, traditionally marking the transition into spring in the Northern Hemisphere and accompanied this year by a rare total lunar eclipse. While the celestial event promises a spectacular sight, sleep experts warn that the beauty of a full moon may come with an unexpected downside: a restless night.

Research suggests lunar cycles can influence how well we sleep, with some studies indicating that sleep duration may decrease by as much as 30 percent during a full moon phase. Scientists have also observed that people often take longer to fall asleep, experience reduced deep sleep, and wake more frequently when the moon is at its brightest.

In other words, if you find yourself staring at the ceiling in the early hours without explanation, the moon overhead may be playing a subtle role.

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The worm moon on Tuesday March 3 can disrupt your sleep

Why the Worm Moon can affect your sleep

The Worm Moon has long been associated with seasonal change, historically signaling warmer weather and longer daylight hours. As winter fades and evenings grow lighter, our internal body clocks naturally begin adjusting to shifting light patterns, often leading to later bedtimes and altered waking routines.

According to sleep specialists, this seasonal transition alone can influence circadian rhythms, but the brightness of a full moon introduces an additional factor.

A full moon reflects significantly more sunlight toward Earth than any other lunar phase, increasing nighttime light exposure even indoors. This matters because light directly impacts melatonin production, the hormone responsible for signaling to the brain that it is time to sleep.

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You may feel restless during the worm moon

When melatonin levels drop, falling asleep can take longer and restorative deep sleep may become harder to maintain.

Many people also report feeling unusually alert or emotionally heightened during a full moon. Experts believe this may be partly biological and partly psychological, as cultural associations with lunar cycles can heighten awareness of sleep disturbances, creating a feedback effect that makes wakefulness feel more pronounced.

Combined with seasonal clock changes that occur around early spring, the Worm Moon can subtly shift sleep patterns even in those who usually rest well.

How to protect your sleep during the Worm Moon

With the lunar event approaching, sleep expert and CEO of Happy Beds Rex Isap shares practical strategies designed to minimize disruption and support deeper rest during brighter full moon nights.

Create a darker sleep environment

Even minimal ambient light can interfere with melatonin production. Isap explains that optimizing darkness is one of the simplest yet most effective adjustments.

“Even small amounts of light can make it harder to fall into deep sleep,” he tells HELLO! “Using blackout curtains or minimizing light entering the bedroom can help the body transition into sleep more easily.”

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Try a few simple strategies to ensure a good night’s sleep

Closing blinds fully, reducing hallway lighting, and limiting glowing electronics can all help recreate the darkness the brain associates with nighttime rest.

Step away from screens before bed

Modern technology already challenges healthy sleep habits, and during a full moon, the impact may feel amplified.

“Technology emits blue light that tricks the brain into thinking it is still daytime,” Isap explains. “This suppresses melatonin production, and when combined with increased lunar brightness, sleep disruption can become more noticeable.”

Experts recommend establishing a technology cutoff at least one hour before bedtime, replacing late-night scrolling with calming rituals such as reading or gentle stretching to signal to the body that sleep is approaching.

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Resist the urge to check the clock

Keep your sleep schedule consistent

As evenings grow lighter, it can feel tempting to stay awake longer, yet fluctuating sleep and wake times can confuse the body’s internal clock.

Maintaining consistent bedtimes and morning wake-ups helps stabilize circadian rhythms and promotes deeper, more restorative sleep, particularly during seasonal transitions.

Regularity, experts say, remains one of the most powerful tools for improving sleep quality year-round.

Resist the urge to check the clock

Anyone who has woken at 3 a.m. knows how quickly anxiety can follow once the clock comes into view. Calculating lost sleep often increases stress hormones, making it even harder to drift off again.

“If you wake during the night, try not to check the time,” advises Isap. “If you’ve been awake for more than 15 to 20 minutes, engage in a calming activity such as reading until sleepiness returns.”

Removing visible clocks from bedside tables can help prevent this cycle of nighttime worry.

Invest in a sleep-supportive environment

Comfort also plays a crucial role in how easily the body relaxes into sleep. Supportive mattresses and breathable bedding can help regulate temperature and reduce nighttime movement, both of which encourage deeper rest.

Isap recommends choosing sleep surfaces designed to promote comfort and airflow, including breathable cushion tops, gel-infused layers, or memory foam that contours gently to the body.

A calm, cool and supportive bedroom environment allows the body to make the most of sleep even during naturally disruptive lunar phases.

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The moon will be very bright on Tuesday

A gentle reminder beneath the moonlight

While the science surrounding lunar sleep disruption continues to evolve, experts agree on one reassuring point: occasional restless nights during a full moon are entirely normal.

Rather than fighting wakefulness, understanding how environmental light, seasonal change, and psychological expectation interact can help remove unnecessary anxiety around sleep fluctuations.

So when the Worm Moon rises this March, illuminating the night sky in spectacular fashion, it may be worth closing the curtains, switching off devices a little earlier, and embracing a slower evening routine.

After all, while the moon may influence our sleep, a few thoughtful adjustments can ensure its glow remains something to admire rather than blame for tomorrow morning’s fatigue.

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Faye James

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February 26, 2026
This Habit Could Majorly Boost Liver & Metabolic Health

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As the researchers explain, the release of these proteins can be influenced by a number of lifestyle factors, including things like shift work. But especially, and perhaps most importantly, what time you eat. And when that rhythm gets disrupted? It spells bad news various health metrics, including obesity—which is, of course, linked with a number of other health issues.

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February 23, 2026
Study Finds How You Breathe At Night Impacts Memory Consolidation

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We all know that sleep serves a number of functions for our bodies, our minds, and our overall well-being. One of those functions is memory consolidation—and according to research published in the journal Nature1, those memories get consolidated, in part, thanks to our breath.

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February 20, 2026
Why sleeping more than 9 hours could actually be damaging your health

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Sleep is one of the most important factors for our well-being, and many of us worry that we’re not getting enough, but is there such a thing as too much sleep? According to experts, the answer is yes.

Regularly sleeping more than nine hours a night can not only increase your risk of various mood disorders or metabolic issues, but it can also mess up your circadian rhythm. The occasional lie-in or early night isn’t going to cause any issues, but what does it mean when you frequently feel that the recommended average of eight hours of sleep isn’t enough to help you feel rested and restored?

To get all the answers to our sleep-related questions, we caught up with Dr Jeffrey H. Chester, a physician and Medical Director at The Ohana Luxury Addiction Treatment Center, and it might make you rethink those lazy weekend lie-ins…

What is the optimal amount of sleep for adults?

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Adults are recommended to sleep for seven to nine hours a night

Firstly, it’s good to understand how much sleep you actually need each night to best support your well-being. Dr. Chester explains: “For most adults, there is an optimal range. And that range is between seven and nine hours a night.

“This amount of sleep is associated in clinical studies with optimal cognitive function, physical health, and emotional regulation. It’s okay to be a little outside of that range.”

Can you sleep too much, and what happens when you do?

According to the doctor, it is possible to oversleep, and it will do more than simply make you feel a little groggy. “It is possible to sleep too much. Oversleeping, which is consistently sleeping more than nine or ten hours a night, has been associated with mood disorders, fatigue, and brain fog. There is also a higher risk of conditions like metabolic issues and heart disease,” he says.

“Many people think that excessive sleep would be deeply restorative. However, it actually interferes with the body’s natural circadian rhythm. This can impact energy levels and cause fatigue.”

When to be concerned

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If you’re still feeling tired after a long sleep or need to sleep more, it may be worth seeing your doctor

So, what is the difference between catching up on sleep every now and then, or a cause for concern? “If a person is consistently sleeping nine or ten hours a night or more, then it’s a good idea to talk to a doctor or healthcare provider,” Dr. Chester shares.

He adds that sleeping a little longer is normal if you’re recovering from illness, but you should seek expert advice if you’re regularly oversleeping or feel like you are much more tired than usual. “Occasionally sleeping longer, such as after being ill, is fine. But if a person is consistently sleeping more than nine hours a night, it’s time to talk to a doctor.”

Support for a healthy sleep routine

As a health and wellness coach, I’ve learned that establishing a sleep routine can be incredibly beneficial for your well-being and even improve the quality of your sleep, meaning you will likely feel less need to lie in or oversleep to catch up on rest. Simply set a regular time that you go to bed and wake up each day, even on weekends, and your circadian rhythm will start to naturally wind down and prepare for sleep ahead of this time on an evening, and help you wake more easily in the mornings.

You may also be surprised to learn that seeing more daylight can also impact your quality of sleep. Exposure to bright natural light – particularly in the early morning and late afternoon – can help to influence the release of the sleep hormone melatonin, and prepare your body for restful, quality sleep.

Your evening routine is incredibly important, too. Introducing some relaxing rituals can go a long way to supporting your sleep, taking you out of fight-or-flight mode when you’re feeling stressed, and activating your parasympathetic nervous system so you fall asleep more easily. This is a topic I’ve covered in detail in my book, Good Evening Rituals, with examples including meditation, journaling and simply being more mindful while doing your nightly skincare routine or brushing your teeth.

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Chloe Couchman

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February 11, 2026
Researchers Are Basically Inceptioning Lucid Dreamers With Brain Teasers

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Have you ever credited your dreams or a good night’s sleep with helping you find the solution to one of life’s many problems? Well, as it turns out, research out today backs up the idea that our slumbering hours can truly spark sudden new insight.

Neuroscientists at Northwestern University recruited lucid dreamers for a “dream engineering” experiment. They found it was possible to nudge people into dreaming about puzzles they failed to solve while awake; what’s more, those who dreamt about these puzzles were more likely to solve them when they woke up. Though the findings alone don’t yet prove the concept of sleep-fueled inspiration, the team’s novel technique could help scientists start to unravel the many remaining questions about dreaming and sleep.

“The results of their study demonstrate the potential of altering dream content with experimental manipulations such as this one,” Philip Gehrman, an associate professor of clinical psychology at the University of Pennsylvania who was not affiliated with the study, told Gizmodo.

The dream weavers

For years, Northwestern researchers led by cognitive neuroscientist Ken Paller have been working to expand the boundaries of dream research.

The team’s previous experiments showed that people can be trained to have lucid dreams, even with something as simple as a phone app. Even more impressive, they’ve seemingly communicated with sleeping people using external sensory cues, typically sounds or smells. These cues are intentionally paired to memories of words or concepts intended to be reinforced during people’s sleep, particularly their REM sleep, the stage associated with dreams and memory consolidation. The process is called targeted memory reactivation (TMR).

The researchers have been studying various applications of trained lucid dreaming and TMR, including pairing it with therapy as a way to reduce people’s nightmares. One such use, they argue, would be allowing scientists to empirically test assumptions about the nature of sleep, including the idea that we often work out problems while dreaming.

“A big reason that it’s difficult to causally claim that dreams help people solve problems is because most of the time, people dream about problems that were already on their mind for a while. They probably thought about that problem while awake, and while falling asleep, and processed it unconsciously during non-REM sleep, before they had a dream that provided them with insight,” lead study author Karen Konkoly, a postdoctoral researcher at Paller’s lab, told Gizmodo. “All these processing steps beforehand make it difficult to isolate the specific contribution of our dreams in REM sleep for creative problem solving.”

The team’s answer to this particular conundrum is something they’ve coined as “dream engineering,” or more plainly, “interactive dreaming.”

Dream puzzle solving

This latest experiment involved 20 people with past experience in lucid dreaming.

The volunteers were brought to the lab and asked to solve intentionally perplexing puzzles, each with a three-minute time limit, before tucking in for the night under close observation. All of the puzzles were paired with sound cues, and many went unsolved before bed. When the volunteers reached periods of REM sleep, the researchers played cues from 50% of the unsolved puzzles (the selection of the puzzles was randomly determined), and the volunteers were told to try solving a puzzle in their dream if they heard its cue.

The team was successful at priming some volunteers to have specific dreams, though not everyone reported having a lucid or cued dream during the night. Overall, three-fourths of people reported having dreams linked to any of the unsolved puzzles, and 12 participants reported having more puzzle-related dreams specifically linked to the sounds played during the night. Some even communicated their awareness of the cue during their lucid dream, with previously agreed bodily signals like sniffing.

The researchers found that when people reported incorporating a puzzle in their dreams, they were better able to solve that puzzle once they woke up (a 42% solve rate vs. 17% of non-incorporated dreams). And among the 12 dreamers who had more cued dreams, they had an easier time solving puzzles that were reactivated during their slumber (a 40% solve rate compared to non-cued puzzles). A few people also reported having non-lucid dreams that nonetheless were still linked to the sound cues.

“Interestingly, even though individuals in this study rarely thought of the solutions during their dreams, even just having a dream incorporating aspects of the puzzle made them more likely to solve it the next morning,” Konkoly said.

The team’s findings were published in the journal Neuroscience of Consciousness.

The future of dream research

As fascinating as this study is, both the authors and Gehrman are quick to caution we still can’t definitively say that our dreams let us tackle the questions that haunt our waking lives.

“The results point in the direction of a link between REM and creative problem solving, but are far from conclusive,” Gehrman said. “One issue is not knowing whether what you find in lucid dreamers is applicable to non-lucid dreamers.”

That real caveat aside, Konkoly and her colleagues are optimistic about using the combination of TMR and interactive dreaming to help solve the many mysteries surrounding our dreams. For her next immediate project, she plans to explore why people can only sometimes respond to cues during sleep but not others.

“There are so many hypotheses about how dreams may help us, from processing emotional memories to helping us derive meaning from what we learned so we can apply it in the future,” she said. “By using new methods to influence dream content in real time, we can start to test these hypotheses and move towards a more unified understanding of the functions of dreaming.”

In the meantime, if you’re ever dealing with a vexing question, it just might be worthwhile to try sleeping on it.

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Ed Cara

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February 5, 2026
Why You Should Warm Up Your Feet Before Bed

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Getting cold feet is inconvenient in many situations—including when you go to bed.

“Our body temperature leads our sleep cycle,” says Kenneth Diller, a professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Texas at Austin who has researched thermoregulation. “Your body does best when the central area is cooler, and the peripheral is warmer.”

Decades of research suggest that people with warm hands and feet fall asleep faster than those whose extremities are cold. Here’s why—plus the best ways to put it into practice.

The science behind it

When you’re getting ready for sleep, your body needs to cool down to signal that it’s time to rest. Ironically, warming your hands and feet helps that happen, because your body uses them as heat-release zones, Diller says. When your extremities are warm, blood flows more easily to the skin, allowing excess heat from your core to escape. As your core temperature drops, your brain gets the message that it’s time to fall asleep. If your hands and feet stay cold, however, that heat can’t escape as well—making it harder to drift off.

Read More: The Best Way to Treat Insomnia

Warming up your hands and feet “leads your body very effectively into sleep,” Diller says. Otherwise, “you just lie there feeling miserable.”

The best warming techniques

Years ago, Diller’s wife came up with a rule. “There was an absolute law within our family that when I have icicle hands and feet, there’s a virtual impenetrable barrier between the two sides of our bed,” he says. Fortunately, you can warm up your hands and feet before going to bed in a variety of ways.

One of the most obvious: taking a hot shower or bath. Diller usually works out in the evening, then jumps in the shower. At the end, he “cranks the temperature up to where initially it’s a little bit painful, but you get used to it,” he says. (Do not, however, exceed 111°F, which he points out is the threshold for thermal injury.) “I was getting a shower one night and I looked down at my hands, and they were red,” he says, which signaled that blood was traveling to the AVAs, or specialized blood vessels in the hands and feet that open wide to release heat. “I thought to myself, ‘I may have made a remarkable discovery.’”

Read More: Sleep Doctors Share the 1 Tip That’s Changed Their Lives

Diller also enjoys heating pads. One night, as he was investigating which heating techniques worked best, he slipped one underneath his pillow; when he and his wife turned in, they read for a while as he heated up the area overlying his cervical spine, which helps control the body’s temperature. “It’s like holding a match under the thermostat. It changes the operation of your thermal regulation,” he says. “Remarkably, my hands and feet very quickly, in short minutes, were toasty warm.”

Of course, if you don’t feel like overly complicating your bedtime routine, you can simply slip on your favorite fuzzy socks. No matter how you approach it, the goal is to remove one of the body’s biggest barriers to sleep. Cold hands and feet keep the nervous system on alert; warmth helps it stand down.

“As long as I’ve got cold hands and feet,” Diller says, “I’m not going to be doing a good job of falling asleep.”

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Angela Haupt

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February 4, 2026
Playing ‘pink noise’ sounds, like rainfall, to fall asleep may harm REM sleep

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It’s common for people to play continuous wave sounds and other gentle nature noises on their phones to lull themselves to sleep. But this type of “pink noise” may actually be backfiring, a new Penn Medicine study suggests.

The Sleep Foundation‘s definition of pink noise is a bit technical: “noise frequencies that decrease in power with each higher octave to create a lower pitch.” But it’s often compared to nature sounds like steady rainfall, wind or waves.

MORE: Birth center coming to Germantown aims to fill void left by closure of Bryn Mawr’s

Health experts sometimes prescribe pink noise for people who have trouble sleeping or to promote relaxation, because it has been found to be more gentle than white noise, which has a higher pitch and sounds similar to static from an untuned radio or TV.

But researchers from the University of Pennsylvania found pink noise interferes with restorative rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and sleep recovery. Wearing earplugs is a more effective way to block out traffic noise, the study found.

“REM sleep is important for memory consolidation, emotional regulation and brain development, so our findings suggest that playing pink noise and other types of broadband noise during sleep could be harmful — especially for children whose brains are still developing and who spend much more time in REM sleep than adults,” said Dr. Mathias Basner, the study’s lead author.

For the study, published Monday in the journal Sleep, researchers had 25 adults spend their nights for an entire week in a sleep lab. The participants were not in the habit of using noise to help them sleep and had no sleep disorders.

The researchers exposed the participants to aircraft noise, pink noise, aircraft noise with pink noise and aircraft noise with earplugs. Researchers then used different methods each morning to test the participants’ sleep quality, alertness and other health effects.

They found exposure to aircraft noise overnight led to a 23-minute drop in the deepest stage of REM sleep, but wearing earplugs essentially blocked out the air traffic sounds.

Pink noise by itself, equivalent to “moderate rainfall,” was linked to a loss of 19 minutes of REM sleep. And pink noise combined with aircraft noise led to “significantly shorter” time spent in deep sleep and REM sleep compared to nights without any type of noise.

Participants also reported that their sleep felt lighter, that they woke up more frequently throughout the night and that their overall quality of sleep was worse when they were exposed to aircraft or pink noise. But using earplugs against pink noise and aircraft noise improved their overall quality of sleep.

The effects of pink noise, white noise and other types of broadband noise — used by 16% of Americans at night — need further study, the researchers concluded.

“Overall, our results caution against the use of broadband noise, especially for newborns and toddlers, and indicate that we need more research in vulnerable populations, on long-term use, on the different colors of broadband noise, and on safe broadband noise levels in relation to sleep,” Basner said. 

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Courtenay Harris Bond

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February 3, 2026
Bon Charge Blue-Light-Blocking Glasses Review: 2026

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My sleep scores are higher than ever,

To be clear, I’ve been wearing my Bon Charge glasses for months now, but I noticed an impact the very first night. I’d been suffering from a bout of Oura scores in the high 70s and low 80s, and that night my score shot up to a 91.

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January 31, 2026
The Best Natural Sleep Aid: How to Use Herbs for Sleep – Garden Therapy
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Getting a good night’s sleep is easier said than done. With all of the stresses and responsibilities of our busy lives buzzing about our heads late at night, it can be tough to get the restful slumber that our bodies and minds need to function at their best. Here’s how to use common herbs for sleep – and you’ll be resting easy in no time.

If you’re anything like me, it can be quite challenging to turn off all the stimuli and get a good night’s rest. I’ve been there! Thankfully, I’ve discovered the best natural sleep aid…herbs!

There are two things that made the biggest difference for me: creating an evening routine and incorporating some of these natural sleep aids.

Using these herbs for sleep can do wonders for your sleep schedule, and in turn, your whole life. Trust me, EVERYTHING seems easier after a good night’s sleep!

Creating a Bedtime Routine: an Easy Natural Sleep Aid

Before we get into the list of herbs for sleep (and how to use them), let’s first chat about the importance of building healthy sleep habits and creating good sleep hygiene (yes, it’s a thing!).

Building up healthy sleep habits can be difficult at first, but it is one of the most important things we can do for ourselves. Creating a regular nightly routine of calming activities about an hour before bed helps to wind down at the end of the day so that your body and mind are calm and ready to head into a restful slumber once your head hits the pillow.

Quick Tips for Healthy Sleep Habits

The phrase “sleep hygiene” refers to creating a series of healthy sleep habits. These habits will help improve your ability not just to fall asleep, but also to stay there. Just as showering and brushing our teeth is a part of our personal hygiene, these healthy sleep habits should become part of our daily routine.

Here are some quick tips for good sleep hygiene:
- Keep your sleep schedule consistent. Try to go to bed and wake up at the same time every single day of the week…yes, even the weekend! This will help your body create a consistent schedule and find its rhythm. If you have kids and pets you know they don’t switch their sleep schedule for the weekend (as frustrating as that may be!).
- Get at least 7 hours of sleep each night. This is a tough one, especially if you have a hectic life and/or small children. Prioritize your sleep over everything else wherever you can to get that good, restful sleep.
- Eat well. Yes, a poor diet can affect your ability to sleep. Take care of yourself and your body will follow suit.
- Exercise regularly. Getting regular moderate exercise is important to tire out your body enough that it can rest. No need to hop on the treadmill before bedtime, that could stimulate you more! Being sedentary can also affect the quality of your sleep. Even when you are feeling unwell, try to get up and do something that gets your body moving so you can rest well at the end of the day.
- Limit exposure to bright light 30 minutes to an hour before bed. Blue light right before bed can be disruptive to your sleep. This means you should turn off the television, and yes…even your phone right before bed. If you have to use either, try using blue light blocking glasses to see if they help.
- Relax. Allow your body to relax fully, especially if you have tension or pain. A herbal bath using bath salts or tub teas makes all the difference for me, as the Epsom salts helps to ease muscle pain and even Restless Leg Syndrome.
There are many more helpful tips and tricks you can use to build good sleep hygiene. There’s a good list from the CDC with tips for getting better sleep.

Best Herbs for Sleep

Now…let’s talk herbs for sleep! Incorporating these natural sleep aids into your nighttime routine can help to relax you even more. The ritual of sipping a cup of herbal tea or taking a lavender-scented soak before bed can also become a central part of your wind-down routine.

These herbs are the ones to reach for when you are tossing and turning at night. It may take some trial and error to see what your body responds to best, but these plant-based remedies are an easy thing to start with. So put down the “To-Do” list, turn off your phone, and get started on a healthy herbal bedtime ritual with these natural sleep remedies.

Hops – Humulus lupulus

Hops contain methylbutenol, a chemical that induces sleep when consumed. You can brew hops into a natural bedtime tea to help you sleep. The tea is bitter, so you may want to add honey, stevia, or the sweetener of your choice. You can also blend it with other calming herbs such as mint and chamomile for a sleepy tea that tastes more appealing.

Simply smelling the aroma of hops also helps to calm and promote sleep, so another option is to make a small sachet filled with dried hops and slip it inside your pillowcase for sweet dreams.

Mint – Mentha

Although the bright scent of mint is often associated with energy and invigoration, mint is also a powerful herb to use at nighttime to get ready for bed. It makes a delicious, soothing tea that relaxes muscles. Mint also reduces uncomfortable bloating and stomach pain caused by gas, so if a sore tummy is keeping you up at night, reach for a cup of mint tea with honey.

This natural sleep aid also has a more appealing taste than some of the other herbs for sleep on this list, so you may want to add some mint leaves to a tea of passionflower or hops if you want to disguise the taste without diminishing the effects of those herbs.

Chamomile – Matricaria chamomilla

Chamomile contains apigenin, a compound that releases a mild sedative and works to calm the nerves. Chamomile can also help to soothe an upset tummy, so chamomile can help to remedy discomfort from digestive problems while relaxing your body and mind. Chamomile and mint together make a relaxing before-bed tea that will also help with pain related to digestion.

Chamomile is a mild, gentle herb for sleep. Despite this, it’s surprisingly potent and effective! If you have pain at night that prevents you from getting a good rest, this can be one of the best natural sleep remedies to try.

Rosemary Gladstarr, the mother of modern herbalism, sites the power of chamomile in her book, Medicinal Herbs. She sites a clinical study in which 10 out of 12 people who drink chamomile tea instead of taking their normal pain medication went into a deep restful sleep within 10 minutes of retiring. Now that’s powerful!

Passionflower – Passiflora incarnate

Passionflower is a natural sleep aid that is calming and promotes deep, restful sleep. This herb for sleep is often used to reduce anxiety and induce sleep safely and naturally. Passionflower contains nerve-relaxing flavonoids, which calm the nerves and result in relaxation and reduce anxiety, which in turn allows us to fall into a restful slumber.

You can take passionflower in the form of tinctures, capsules, or tea. I recommend tea because just the ritual of drinking a hot mug of tea before bed is relaxing in itself.

Lavender – Lavandula angustifolia

Inhaling the fragrance of lavender calms the body and mind, and it has a mild sedative effect that can help to induce sleep. While you can certainly brew a lavender tea to help you wind down at the end of the day, a more effective way to use the lavender herb for sleep is through aromatherapy.

You can make a lavender sachet in seconds—simply stuff a small drawstring bag with dried lavender flowers and tie it closed. Pop the sachet inside your pillowcase for a restful slumber, or spritz some lavender pillow spray onto your linens.

I especially like to use lavender sachets when traveling because it is an easy way to make an unfamiliar sleeping situation feel homier. Plus, lavender has antibacterial and antifungal properties so you can rest easy, even on a hotel pillow that has been used by many others before you.

Another great way to use lavender for sleep is in the bath. Taking a hot soak before bed is a wonderful way to unwind and soothe any tension or sore muscles at the end of the day, and adding a little lavender to the bath will make it even more restful and get you ready to doze off afterward. Simply add a few drops of lavender essential oil directly to your bathwater, or try these DIY lavender bath melts or lavender bath salts.

Lemon Balm – Melissa officinalis

Lemon balm is a member of the mint family, and has all those good qualities of the mint plant, with a different flavor. If you don’t care for the taste of mint, give lemon balm a try! As the name suggests, fresh lemon balm tastes bright and citrusy, so fans of lemon will like it.

Steep a handful of lemon balm leaves in hot water to make a DIY natural sleep aid that comes right from your garden. I have found lemon balm to be incredibly useful and effective for a wide variety of other things, including attracting bees to your garden and combating stress and fatigue. Here’s a guide I put together with everything you need to know about growing, harvesting, and using lemon balm.

How to Add Herbs to Your Bedtime Routine
- Brew an herbal tea and drink it 30 minutes to an hour before bedtime. Here’s a handy guide on how to harvest and brew your own herbal tea. Combine drinking your mug of tea with another relaxing activity like taking a bath or reading a novel in bed (no screens, though).
- Take a hot bath and soak for at least 20 minutes. Add a few drops of essential oils to the water or make a tub tea with your favorite combination of the above herbs for sleep.
- Rub a relaxing essential oil blend on your feet. In the summer I use lavender and during cold-and-flu season I use a combination of lavender and Thieves oil to boost immunity. Giving yourself a foot massage before bed will relax muscle tension and calm your body, while the fragrance of the essential oils will relax your mind.
- Tuck lavender or hops sachets into your pillow so that you can benefit from these herbs’ sleep-inducing properties as you rest your head.
- Spritz your bed linens with lavender pillow spray to give your entire bed a relaxing scent.
More Herbal Projects You Might Like

A city girl who learned to garden and it changed everything. Author, artist, Master Gardener. Better living through plants.
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Stephanie Rose

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January 30, 2026
Can Creatine Improve Sleep Quality? What a New Study Suggests

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Interest in creatine is at an all-time high. Decades of data have shown this supplement is effective in helping people of all ages and fitness levels build more strength and muscle.* But that’s not all creatine can do. Researchers are now looking at how creatine supports cellular energy throughout the body (including the brain) and how that may influence cognition, recovery, and sleep.*

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January 29, 2026
Why Aren’t Your Eye Drops Working? 5 Hidden Triggers Making Dry Eye Worse

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“OTC eye drops, like artificial tears, may supplement tear film temporarily, but they do not treat the underlying cause of dry eye,” explains Ragha. So, you might find yourself reaching for those drops every hour, which can be tedious, Ragha points out. Many OTC products also have preservatives, which can cause eye irritation if you use them too often, according to Orr.

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January 26, 2026
mindbodygreen Magnesium Powder Review + Sleep Score Data

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If you obsessively check your sleep score every morning, then you know the frustration of watching those numbers stall. One week, your sleep quality, sleep latency, and deep sleep are in the green, and the next, you’re struggling to get just one metric right.

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January 20, 2026
Expert-Approved Bedtime Snacks That Won’t Spike Your Blood Sugar

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Bedtime snacks often get a bad rap, but healthy options certainly do exist. The key is looking for one that won’t spike your blood sugar right before bed, inhibiting precious sleep in the process. (Of course you won’t want anything with caffeine, and alcohol isn’t the best idea either). Instead, sleep specialists recommend opting for food groups that will satisfy your hunger, keep blood sugar levels steady, and provide some relaxing benefits to boot.

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January 20, 2026
If Your Magnesium Supplement Isn’t Cutting It, Try This Instead

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Magnesium is one of the most essential minerals necessary for the body to function at its best—and yet, many of us aren’t getting enough of it. As a result, you may have started supplementing magnesium in the hopes of sleeping better, feeling more relaxed, or just getting your levels where you want them.

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January 14, 2026
How Olympians think about success and failure, and what we can learn from them

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If winning gold medals were the only standard, almost all Olympic athletes would be considered failures.Video above: Amber Glenn opens up about mental health, coming out and her figure skating journeyA clinical psychologist with the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee, Emily Clark’s job when the Winter Games open in Italy on Feb. 6 is to help athletes interpret what it means to be successful. Should gold medals be the only measure?Part of a 15-member staff providing psychological services, Clark nurtures athletes accustomed to triumph but who invariably risk failure.The staff deals with matters termed “mental health and mental performance.” They include topics such as motivation, anger management, anxiety, eating disorders, family issues, trauma, depression, sleep, handling pressure, travel and so forth.Clark’s area includes stress management, the importance of sleep and getting high achievers to perform at their best and avoid the temptation of looking only at results.”A lot of athletes these days are aware of the mental health component of, not just sport, but of life,” Clark said in an interview with The Associated Press. “This is an area where athletes can develop skills that can extend a career, or make it more enjoyable.” The United States is expected to take about 235 athletes to the Winter Olympics, and about 70 more to the Paralympics. But here’s the truth.”Most of the athletes who come through Team USA will not win a gold medal,” Clark said. “That’s the reality of elite sport.”Here are the numbers. The United States won gold medals in nine events in the last Winter Games in Beijing in 2022. According to Dr. Bill Mallon, an esteemed shoulder surgeon and Olympic historian, 70.8% of Winter and Summer Olympic athletes go to only one Olympics.Few are famous and successful like swimmer Michael Phelps, or skiers Mikaela Shiffrin or Lindsey Vonn.Clark said she often delivers the following message to Olympians and Paralympians: This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Focus on the process. Savor the moment.”Your job is not to win a gold medal, your job is to do the thing, and the gold medal is what happens when you do your job,” she said.”Some of this might be realigning what success looks like,” she added. “And some of this is developing resilience in the face of setbacks and failure.”Clark preaches staying on task under pressure and improving through defeat.”We get stronger by pushing ourselves to a limit where we’re at our maximum capacity — and then recovering,” she said. “When we get stressed, it impacts our attention. Staying on task or staying in line with what’s important is what we try to train for.” Kendall Gretsch has won four gold medals at the Summer and Winter Paralympics. She credits some of her success to the USOPC’s mental health services, and she described the value this way.”We have a sports psychologist who travels with us for most our season,” she said. “Just being able to touch base with them … and getting that reminder of why are you here? What is that experience you’re looking for?”American figure skater Alysa Liu is the 2025 world champion and was sixth in the 2022 Olympics. She’s a big believer in sports psychology and should be among the favorites in Italy.”I work with a sport psychologist,” she said without giving a name. “She’s incredible — like the MVP.”Of course, MVP stands — not for Most Valuable Person or Most Valuable Player — for “Most Valuable Psychologist.””I mean, she’s very helpful,” Liu added. American downhill skier Vonn will race in Italy in her sixth Olympics. At 41, she’s coming off nearly six years in retirement and will be racing on a knee made of titanium.Two-time Olympic champion Michaela Dorfmeister has suggested in jest that Vonn “should see a psychologist” for attempting such a thing in a very dangerous sport where downhill skiers reach speeds of 80 mph.Vonn shrugged off the comments and joked a few months ago that she didn’t grow up using a sport psychologist. She said her counseling came from taping messages on the tips of her skis that read: “stay forward or hands up.””I just did it myself,” she said. “I do a lot of self-talk in the starting gate.” “Sleep is an area where athletes tend to struggle for a number of reasons,” Clark said, listing issues such as travel schedules, late practices, injuries and life-related stress.”We have a lot of athletes who are parents, and lot of sleep is going to be disrupted in the early stages of parenting,” she said. “We approach sleep as a real part of performance. But it can be something that gets de-prioritized when days get busy.”Clark suggests the following for her athletes — and the rest of us: no caffeine after 3 p.m., mitigate stress before bedtime, schedule sleep at about the same time daily, sleep in a dark room and get 7-9 hours.Dani Aravich is a two-time Paralympian — she’s been in both the Summer and Winter Games — and will be skiing in the upcoming Paralympics. She said in a recent interview that she avails herself of many psychological services provided by the USOPC.”I’ve started tracking my sleep,” she said, naming Clark as a counselor. “Especially being an athlete who has multiple jobs, sleep is going to be your No. 1 savior at all times. It’s the thing that, you know, helps mental clarity.” Clark agreed.”Sleep is the cornerstone of healthy performance,” she added.

If winning gold medals were the only standard, almost all Olympic athletes would be considered failures.

Video above: Amber Glenn opens up about mental health, coming out and her figure skating journey

A clinical psychologist with the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee, Emily Clark’s job when the Winter Games open in Italy on Feb. 6 is to help athletes interpret what it means to be successful.

Should gold medals be the only measure?

Part of a 15-member staff providing psychological services, Clark nurtures athletes accustomed to triumph but who invariably risk failure.

The staff deals with matters termed “mental health and mental performance.” They include topics such as motivation, anger management, anxiety, eating disorders, family issues, trauma, depression, sleep, handling pressure, travel and so forth.

Clark’s area includes stress management, the importance of sleep and getting high achievers to perform at their best and avoid the temptation of looking only at results.

“A lot of athletes these days are aware of the mental health component of, not just sport, but of life,” Clark said in an interview with The Associated Press. “This is an area where athletes can develop skills that can extend a career, or make it more enjoyable.”

The United States is expected to take about 235 athletes to the Winter Olympics, and about 70 more to the Paralympics. But here’s the truth.

“Most of the athletes who come through Team USA will not win a gold medal,” Clark said. “That’s the reality of elite sport.”

Here are the numbers. The United States won gold medals in nine events in the last Winter Games in Beijing in 2022. According to Dr. Bill Mallon, an esteemed shoulder surgeon and Olympic historian, 70.8% of Winter and Summer Olympic athletes go to only one Olympics.

Few are famous and successful like swimmer Michael Phelps, or skiers Mikaela Shiffrin or Lindsey Vonn.

Clark said she often delivers the following message to Olympians and Paralympians: This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Focus on the process. Savor the moment.

“Your job is not to win a gold medal, your job is to do the thing, and the gold medal is what happens when you do your job,” she said.

“Some of this might be realigning what success looks like,” she added. “And some of this is developing resilience in the face of setbacks and failure.”

Clark preaches staying on task under pressure and improving through defeat.

“We get stronger by pushing ourselves to a limit where we’re at our maximum capacity — and then recovering,” she said. “When we get stressed, it impacts our attention. Staying on task or staying in line with what’s important is what we try to train for.”

Kendall Gretsch has won four gold medals at the Summer and Winter Paralympics. She credits some of her success to the USOPC’s mental health services, and she described the value this way.

“We have a sports psychologist who travels with us for most our season,” she said. “Just being able to touch base with them … and getting that reminder of why are you here? What is that experience you’re looking for?”

American figure skater Alysa Liu is the 2025 world champion and was sixth in the 2022 Olympics. She’s a big believer in sports psychology and should be among the favorites in Italy.

“I work with a sport psychologist,” she said without giving a name. “She’s incredible — like the MVP.”

Of course, MVP stands — not for Most Valuable Person or Most Valuable Player — for “Most Valuable Psychologist.”

“I mean, she’s very helpful,” Liu added.

American downhill skier Vonn will race in Italy in her sixth Olympics. At 41, she’s coming off nearly six years in retirement and will be racing on a knee made of titanium.

Two-time Olympic champion Michaela Dorfmeister has suggested in jest that Vonn “should see a psychologist” for attempting such a thing in a very dangerous sport where downhill skiers reach speeds of 80 mph.

Vonn shrugged off the comments and joked a few months ago that she didn’t grow up using a sport psychologist. She said her counseling came from taping messages on the tips of her skis that read: “stay forward or hands up.”

“I just did it myself,” she said. “I do a lot of self-talk in the starting gate.”

“Sleep is an area where athletes tend to struggle for a number of reasons,” Clark said, listing issues such as travel schedules, late practices, injuries and life-related stress.

“We have a lot of athletes who are parents, and lot of sleep is going to be disrupted in the early stages of parenting,” she said. “We approach sleep as a real part of performance. But it can be something that gets de-prioritized when days get busy.”

Clark suggests the following for her athletes — and the rest of us: no caffeine after 3 p.m., mitigate stress before bedtime, schedule sleep at about the same time daily, sleep in a dark room and get 7-9 hours.

Dani Aravich is a two-time Paralympian — she’s been in both the Summer and Winter Games — and will be skiing in the upcoming Paralympics. She said in a recent interview that she avails herself of many psychological services provided by the USOPC.

“I’ve started tracking my sleep,” she said, naming Clark as a counselor. “Especially being an athlete who has multiple jobs, sleep is going to be your No. 1 savior at all times. It’s the thing that, you know, helps mental clarity.”

Clark agreed.

“Sleep is the cornerstone of healthy performance,” she added.

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January 11, 2026
Aiming for a healthier year? A doctor shares the 5 science-backed habits that matter most

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(CNN) — Was that you I spotted at that New Year’s Day group class at my local YMCA? If not, don’t worry. It’s not too late. The start of a new year is a natural time to think about health and make resolutions for science-backed habits that make a difference over months and years.

Rather than extreme diets or complicated regimens, decades of research point to a handful of simple behaviors that are consistently tied to better long-term health.

To start the year right, I wanted you to know the most important things you can focus on this year to improve your current physical and mental well-being and have it pay off for decades to come. And yes, I know how hard it can be to realistically follow through when motivation is low or life gets busy.

I asked CNN wellness expert Dr. Leana Wen to break down five practical, evidence-based actions that can make a real difference in 2026 and beyond. Wen is an emergency physician and adjunct associate professor at George Washington University. She previously served as Baltimore’s health commissioner.

CNN: For your first tip, you said to prioritize regular exercise. Why does exercise matter so much for health?

Dr. Leana Wen: Regular physical activity is one of the most powerful tools we have for preventing chronic disease and improving quality of life. It benefits virtually every organ system in the body. Even short bouts of moderate exercise, such as brisk walking, can lower blood pressure, improve cholesterol levels, boost mood and strengthen the heart.

For adults, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity per week plus muscle-strengthening activities on two or more days. Even if you can’t hit those recommendations, some activity is better than none. If you do not currently exercise, start with a 5- or 10-minute brisk walk once a day; if you already walk regularly, try adding a few extra minutes at a time and increasing your pace.

CNN: Your second tip is to get checkups at least annually. Why is that so important?

Wen: Periodic checkups with a clinician are essential because many high-risk conditions develop silently. Hypertension, or high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes, for example, often have no obvious symptoms until they have already caused significant damage to the heart, kidneys and blood vessels. Detecting and treating these conditions early dramatically lowers the risk of heart attack, stroke, kidney disease and other serious complications.

A checkup gives you a chance to assess risk factors like cholesterol, glucose levels, body mass index and lifestyle habits. You also can establish monitoring or treatment plans with your provider before problems become severe. Timely treatment through lifestyle changes, medication or both can slow or even reverse disease progression.

These visits also pose an important opportunity to review vaccinations. Recommendations and public messaging from federal health agencies may change, but your clinician can help you understand which vaccines are appropriate for you based on your age, health conditions and personal risk. Staying up to date on routine vaccines — such as flu, Covid-19 and others recommended for your situation — remains one of the most effective ways to prevent serious illness and protect both individual and community health.

CNN: Your third tip is to get adequate sleep. Why does sleep matter as much as diet or exercise?

Wen: Sleep is not optional; it’s a biological necessity that affects nearly every aspect of health we care about. Without adequate sleep, your body has trouble repairing tissues, regulating hormones and managing energy balance.

Research suggests that chronic insufficient sleep is linked to greater risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and mood disorders. One reason may involve hormonal regulation: Sleep deprivation increases hunger hormones and decreases satiety hormones, which can promote overeating, especially of high-calorie foods.

Sleep also affects immune function and cognitive performance, so consistent rest helps us to better respond to stress and supports memory, attention and emotional regulation. Most adults benefit from seven to nine hours of sleep per night, and prioritizing regular sleep schedules can improve quality over time.

CNN: Your fourth tip centers on diet quality, in particular cutting out ultraprocessed foods. Why is working toward a healthier diet so important, and what steps can people take to improve nutrition?

Wen: What you eat influences your health in important ways. Ultraprocessed foods have become a dominant part of the American diet, accounting for more than half of total calories in many age groups. These foods, which include sugary drinks, packaged snacks, fast food, ready meals and sweetened cereals, are generally high in added sugars, unhealthy fats and sodium, and low in fiber, vitamins and minerals.

High consumption of ultraprocessed foods is linked to obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and even depression and mental health conditions. Replacing ultraprocessed items with whole or minimally processed foods (vegetables, fruits, whole grains, lean proteins, legumes and nuts) supports both physical and mental health and helps stabilize energy, blood sugar and appetite.

CNN: Your fifth tip may surprise some people: Consider social connection a core part of staying healthy.

Wen: Human beings are social creatures, and our relationships have direct implications for our health. Strong social connections with family, friends, colleagues and community groups are associated with lower rates of anxiety and depression, better immune function, and reduced risk of chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes. Conversely, social isolation and loneliness have been linked to increased risk of cardiovascular disease, cognitive decline and early mortality.

Social connection motivates healthier behaviors and provides emotional support during stress, and it encourages engagement in physical activity and other positive habits. Simple acts, such as going for walks with friends, regular catch-up phone calls, shared meals or other group activities, are good for short-term mental health. These interactions also represent a long-term investment in your mental and physical health.

CNN: What advice do you have for people trying to follow these five tips in real life?

Wen: The most important thing is to concentrate on consistency. These habits do not need to be done perfectly to have an impact. Small, repeated actions add up. For instance, walking most days is far better than exercising hard once a month. Going to regular checkups is crucial, rather than waiting until something feels wrong. Improving sleep by even 30 to 60 minutes a night can make a meaningful difference.

It also helps to remember that these five areas are deeply connected. Getting enough sleep makes it easier to exercise and eat well. Regular physical activity improves sleep quality and mood. Social connection supports motivation and resilience, making it more likely that people stick with healthy routines. So instead of treating these as separate goals, think of them as reinforcing one another.

Finally, give yourself permission to start where you are. Health is not built in January alone, and it is not derailed by a bad week or a missed goal. The aim is consistent progress. Choosing habits that feel realistic and sustainable, and returning to them when life gets busy, is what makes these five tips work over the long run.

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Katia Hetter and CNN

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January 6, 2026
Brain Health Challenge: Test Your Knowledge of Healthy Habits

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Welcome to the Brain Health Challenge! I’m Dana Smith, a reporter at The New York Times, and I’ll be your guide.

To live a healthy life, it’s crucial to have a healthy brain. In the short term, it keeps you sharp and firing on all cylinders. In the long term, it can reduce your risk of cognitive decline, dementia and stroke.

Practicing basic healthy behaviors, like eating nutritious food and getting regular exercise, is the best way to enhance your brain power and protect the longevity of your neurons. These types of lifestyle habits can benefit the brain at any age. And while they won’t guarantee that you’ll never develop dementia or another brain disease, several clinical trials have shown that they can improve cognition or slow decline.

Every day this week, you’ll do an activity that’s good for your brain, and we’ll dig into the science behind why it works. Some of these activities can provide a small immediate cognitive benefit, but the bigger reward comes from engaging in them consistently over time. So along with the neuroscience lessons, we’ll include a few tips to help you turn these actions into lasting habits.

To keep you accountable, we’re encouraging you to complete this challenge with a friend. If you don’t have a challenge buddy, no problem: We’re also turning the comments section into one big support group.

There are so many fascinating ways your daily behaviors affect your brain. Take sleep, for example.

Lots of studies have shown that getting a good night’s rest (seven to eight hours) is associated with better memory and other cognitive abilities. That’s because sleep, especially REM sleep, is when your brain transfers short-term memories — things you learned or experienced during the day — into long-term storage.

Sleep is also when your brain does its daily housekeeping. While you rest, the brain’s glymphatic system kicks into high gear, clearing out abnormal proteins and other molecular garbage, including the protein amyloid, which is a major contributor to Alzheimer’s disease. A buildup of amyloid is one reason experts think that people who routinely get less sleep have a higher risk of dementia.

What other behaviors play a big role in brain health? For today’s activity, we’re going to test your knowledge with a quiz. Share your score with your accountability partner and in the comments below — I’ll be in there too, cheering you on.

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Dana G. Smith

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January 4, 2026
Ready To Actually Sleep Better This Year? 5 Easy Steps To Follow

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Good sleep can be frustratingly hard to come by. Even though you may feel tired, the act of getting into bed, closing your eyes, drifting off, and staying asleep somehow isn’t a smooth process. Sleep challenges may stem from stress, feelings of anxiousness, or even not-so-good habits developed over the years (it’s well known that staring at screens too long at night is not good, yet how many of us still do it?).

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January 3, 2026
I Tested eXciteOSA With Sleep Apnea — My Honest Results

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Earlier this year, I was having trouble sleeping. I couldn’t fall asleep, stay asleep and woke up tired everyday almost as if I never went to bed in the first place. I tried taking melatonin supplements, doing mindfulness meditations, not going on my phone before bed. But I still couldn’t sleep.

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December 31, 2025
Research Says These Sleep Habits Can Reduce Mortality Risk

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When it comes to the factors that influence longevity and mortality, lifestyle essentials like regular exercise and a healthy diet are generally top of mind. Another essential? Getting enough sleep. And according to research published in the journal Sleep, getting into a good sleep schedule is just as important as how much of it you’re getting. Here’s what to know.

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December 22, 2025