I have the honor of talking to Dr. Michael Breus today! Dr. Breus is the author of The Power of When, and his latest book is called Energize. He is a double board-certified Clinical Psychologist and Clinical Sleep Specialist. He is one of only 168 psychologists in the world to have taken and passed the Sleep Medicine Boards without going to Medical School.
After completing his undergraduate studies in psychology, Dr. Breus did all of his pre-meds in one year. Then he went to the University of Georgia to do a P.h.D. in Clinical Psychology. He wanted to do a sports internship at the University of Mississippi Medical Center after getting his P.h.D., but he could not get into the program. They were offering graduate students a sleep track, so he decided to do that initially and then get into the sports internship program through the back door. However, things did not end up working out quite how they thought they would!
Most people do not think much about sleep until they experience sleep problems. In this episode, Dr. Breus shares his background and explains how he pivoted into becoming a sleep specialist. He talks about the impact of chronotypes and genetics. He discusses how movement and other lifestyle strategies can influence our chronotype and talks about melatonin and other hormones, including cortisol, serotonin, dopamine, leptin, and touches on biohacking and intermittent fasting. He cautions us about orthosomnia and discusses how napping can influence sleep scores. He also talks about some of his favorite items for sleep modalities.
I hope you enjoy this thought-provoking podcast as much as I did!
IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN:
- Dr. Breus tells his story and explains how he became The Sleep Doctor.
- How he managed to take and pass the Sleep Medicine Boards without going to Medical School.
- When he began doing chronotype research and personalizing it as part of his brand and work.
- Looking at the four chronotypes and what Dr. Breus refers to as chrono-longevity.
- Dr. Breus talks about melatonin and shares his thoughts on melatonin supplementation.
- Dr. Breus explains his concept of body habitus.
- Intermittent fasting is the best way to supply the body with clean energy.
- Dr. Breus discusses the five different types of energy and describes his movement program.
- Dr. Breus unpacks sleep tracking, the physiology of sleep, the sleep stages, and REM sleep versus deep sleep.
- What is orthosomnia?
- How does the quality of our sleep affect our hormonal balance?
- Dr. Breus is a fan of naps. (Unless you have insomnia.)
- Why is a good pillow vital for a good night’s sleep?
- Some devices provide a solution for snoring.
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