WHOOP Podcast

How To Sleep Better with Dr. Shelby Harris

Mar 19, 2025

Dr. Shelby Harris, a clinical psychologist and expert in behavioral sleep medicine, shares her insights on improving sleep quality. She debunks common sleep myths and discusses the significant impact of sleep on overall health, including mental well-being and weight management. Dr. Harris offers practical tips for creating a better sleep environment and emphasizes the importance of consistent sleep routines. She explains how sleep can be treated as a learnable skill and highlights the role of mindfulness and habits in enhancing sleep quality.

44:14

Episode guests

Shelby Harris

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

Prioritizing consistent sleep-wake times and optimizing your bedroom environment are crucial for enhancing overall sleep quality and health.

Understanding and addressing common misconceptions about sleep, such as the idea of catching up on lost rest, is essential for improving sleep habits.

Deep dives

The Critical Role of Sleep for Health

Sleep is essential for maintaining various bodily functions, including immune responses, cognitive capabilities, and overall physical performance. Lack of sufficient sleep can lead to severe health risks, including increased chances of stroke and heart attacks. Sleep serves as a cornerstone for the body’s recovery processes, impacting everything from metabolism to mental health. Without adequate rest, individuals are not only putting their health at risk but are also compromising their daily functioning and well-being.

Intro

2min

Unraveling Sleep Myths

9min

Enhancing Sleep Quality Through Consistency and Environment

2min

Navigating Sleep Hygiene and Blue Light Myths

8min

Sleep Strategies for Better Rest

16min

Understanding Sleep as a Learnable Skill

2min

Mindfulness and Sleep Quality

5min

How can you improve your sleep this month? On this episode of our How To Series, WHOOP SVP Research, Algorithms, and Data, Emily Capodilupo sits down with Sleep Psychologist, Dr. Shelby Harris, PsyD DBSM. Dr. Shelby Harris is a clinical psychologist, specializing in behavioral sleep medicine. Dr. Harris provides expert insights on optimizing sleep through better bedtime routines, adjusting lifestyle factors like screen time and diet, and creating an ideal sleep environment. She discusses how sleep affects immune function, metabolism, mental health, and weight management while offering practical solutions for common disruptions like nighttime awakenings, stress, and irregular schedules.

On this episode, Dr. Shelby Harris is helping WHOOP Podcast listeners learn how to get the best sleep of their life. Emily and Dr. Harris discuss Dr. Harris’s background (00:29), why sleep is important (01:18), misconceptions about sleep hygiene (02:05), how sleep is active (03:20), what habits are bad for sleep (05:58), and the effects of sleep apnea (08:20) and perimenopause (10:05). Dr. Shelby Harris shares the best habits to improve your sleep (12:29), why sleep hygiene involves more than just blocking blue light (15:25), and presents a valuable mental model for measuring normal sleep versus when it's time to seek help from a professional (24:59). Emily and Dr. Harris break down insomnia and how it can be treated (26:26), the importance of sleep during marathon training (30:00), where to start with sleep (35:40), and how WHOOP can help track sleep performance (40:16).

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