We can all have a bad night of sleep and that's perfectly normal, but how could we try to improve both the quantity and the quality of our sleep?
每個人都有睡得不好的經驗, 這是很正常的事, 但我們要怎麼做才能 同時改善睡眠的時數和品質?
[Sleeping with Science]
【科學睡眠】
(Music)
(音樂)
Here are six scientifically grounded tips for better sleep.
這裡有經過科學證實 能幫助你一覺好眠的六個祕訣。
The first tip is regularity. Go to bed at the same time and wake up at the same time. Regularity is king, and it will actually anchor your sleep and improve both the quantity and the quality, no matter whether it's the weekday or the weekend or even if you've had a bad night of sleep. And the reason is because deep within your brain, you actually have a master 24-hour clock. It expects regularity and works best under conditions of regularity, including the control of your sleep-wake schedule. Many of us use an alarm to wake up but very few of us use a to-bed alarm, and that's something that can be helpful.
第一個祕訣是規律。 定時上床睡覺、定時起床。 規律是王道, 規律能夠幫你的睡眠打基礎, 同時改善睡眠的時數與品質, 不管是在週間、假日, 或甚至是睡得不太好的那一晚。 這是因為在你的大腦深處 有一個 24 小時運轉的精密時鐘。 這個時鐘期待規律, 而且在有規律的情況下 能發揮得最好, 規律也包含了 你睡覺和清醒的時間安排。 很多人會用鬧鐘叫醒自己, 但很少人會用鬧鐘提醒自己上床, 要是有這種鬧鐘會很有幫助。
The next tip is temperature. Keep it cool. It turns out that your brain and your body need to drop their core temperature by about one degree Celsius or around two to three degrees Fahrenheit in order to initiate sleep and then to stay asleep. And this is the reason that you will always find it easier to fall asleep in a room that's too cold than too hot. So, the current recommendation is to aim for a bedroom temperature of around about 65 degrees Fahrenheit, or a little over 18 degrees Celsius. It sounds cold but cold it must be.
另一個助眠祕訣是溫度。 保持涼爽。 其實你的大腦和身體 都需要降低核心溫度大概攝氏一度, 或是華氏兩到三度, 來開始睡覺,並保持沉睡。 這也是為什麼你會發現 在太冷的房間比太熱的房間 更容易入睡。 目前建議 把臥房溫度調整在 大約華氏 65 度, 也就是比攝氏 18 度高一點。 聽起來可能有點冷, 但確實有這個必要。
The next tip is darkness. We are a dark-deprived society and, in fact, we need darkness specifically in the evening to trigger the release of a hormone called melatonin. And melatonin helps regulate the healthy timing of our sleep. In the last hour before bed, try to stay away from all of those computer screens and tablets and phones. Dim down half the lights in your house. You'd actually be quite surprised at how sleepy that can make you feel. If you'd like, you can wear an eye mask or you can have blackout shades and that will help best regulate that critical sleep hormone of melatonin.
下一個祕訣是暗。 我們的社會缺乏黑暗, 但我們其實需要暗,尤其是在傍晚, 暗能幫我們釋放一種 稱為褪黑激素的荷爾蒙。 褪黑激素幫助調節睡眠的最佳時機。 上床前的一小時 儘量遠離所有的電腦螢幕、 平板電腦和手機。 把屋裡的燈亮度減半。 你會意外發現 自己有多想睡。 如果你願意還可以戴上眼罩, 或裝上遮光窗簾, 這些方法能幫你大大調整 重要的睡眠荷爾蒙:褪黑激素。
The next tip is walk it out. Don't stay in bed awake for long periods of time. And the general rule of thumb is if you've been trying to fall asleep and it's been 25 minutes or so, or you've woken up and you can't get back to sleep after 25 minutes, the recommendation is to get out of bed and go and do something different. And the reason is because your brain is an incredibly associative device. The brain has learned the association that the bed is this trigger of wakefulness, and we need to break that association. And by getting out of bed, you can go and do something else. Only return to bed when you're sleepy. And in that way, gradually, your brain will relearn the association that your bed is this place of sound and consistent sleep.
下一個祕訣是下床。 不要醒著待在床上太久。 根據經驗法則, 如果你曾嘗試入睡, 但過了 25 分鐘左右都還沒入睡, 或是你醒來之後再也睡不著, 過了 25 分鐘, 建議你下床去做點別的事。 因為你的大腦是 非常擅於連結的裝置。 大腦學會了 床就是會引起失眠這樣的連結, 我們必須切斷這個連結。 你下床之後可以去做點別的事情。 睏了才回到床上。 這樣一來, 你的大腦就會漸漸 重新學會這個連結, 也就是你的床是 用來長時間熟睡的地方。
The fifth tip is something that we've actually already spoken about in detail in this series, which is the impact of alcohol and caffeine. So, a good rule of thumb here is to try to stay away from caffeine in the afternoon and in the evening and certainly try not to go to bed too tipsy.
第五個祕訣我們其實在 這個系列的其他單元已經提過, 也就是酒精和咖啡因的影響。 這裡有個不錯的經驗之談: 儘量在下午和晚上避免攝取咖啡因, 也絕對不要在上床前喝得太醉。
The final tip: have a wind-down routine. I think many of us in the modern world, we expect to be able to dive into bed at night, switch off the light, and we think that sleep is also just like a light switch, that we should immediately be able to fall asleep. Well, unfortunately, sleep isn't quite like that for most of us. Sleep, as a physiological process, is much more similar to landing a plane. It takes time for your brain to gradually descend down onto the firm bedrock of good sleep. In the last 20 minutes before bed or the last half an hour, even the last hour, disengage from your computer and your phone and try to do something relaxing. Find out whatever works for you and when you have found it, stick to that routine.
最後一個祕訣: 建立讓自己放鬆的慣例。 在這個現代化的世界裡, 很多人都希望能在夜裡跳上床、 關燈, 以為睡覺就像關燈, 我們應該可以馬上入睡。 可惜睡覺對大部分的人來說 不是這麼一回事。 睡覺這種生理過程 比較像是飛機降落。 要花點時間讓你的大腦慢慢下沉 到良好睡眠的穩固基礎。 上床前 20 分鐘或半小時, 甚至是一小時, 放下你的電腦和手機, 試著做點能放鬆的事。 找出適合自己的方式, 找到之後就把這件事變成慣例。
The last thing I should note is that if you are suffering from a sleep disorder, for example, from insomnia or sleep apnea, then these tips aren't necessarily going to help you. If I was your sports coach, I could give you all of these tips to improve your performance, but if you have a broken ankle, it's not going to make a difference. We have to treat the broken ankle first before we can get back to improving the quality of your performance. And it's the same way with sleep. So, if you think you have a sleep disorder, just go and speak with your doctor. That's the best piece of advice.
我最後該提醒各位的事情是, 如果你受睡眠障礙所苦, 例如失眠或睡眠呼吸中止症, 那麼這些方法不見得會幫得上你。 如果我是你的健身教練, 我可以教你所有能夠 增強體能的方法, 但是如果你的腳踝受傷了, 這些方法就無法帶來改變。 我們得先治好受傷的腳踝, 之後我們才能回來增強體能。 睡眠也是同樣的道理。 如果你認為自己有睡眠障礙, 去找醫生談談。 這是最好的建議。
Where do we stand, then, in all of this conversation about sleep? Well, I think the evidence is clear. We can think of sleep almost like a life-support system. In fact, some may even call sleep a super power.
談這麼多睡眠對我們來說又怎樣? 我認為證據很明顯。 我們可以把睡眠看成是生命維持器。 其實有人甚至會稱睡眠為超能力。