Sleep, just like exercise and nutrition, is vital to our overall health and well-being. Getting a night of uninterrupted sleep is critical for your body to recharge and prepare you for your day. Failure to get a quality night’s rest on a regular basis has been medically linked to:

• High blood pressure

• Heart disease

• Loss of libido

• Depression

• Stroke

• Diabetes

• Impaired cognitive function

So, what controls how often we get a night of quality, uninterrupted sleep?

The bedroom environment has a significant influence on sleep quality and quantity. Several variables combine to make up your sleep environment which includes light, noise, and temperature. By being aware and in control of these factors you can set yourself up for the best possible sleep.

Scientists have learned that trying to sleep when you’re too hot or cold is difficult because the your body craves a certain ideal temperature for sleep. Researchers recommend sleeping in room temperatures between 60-68 degrees Fahrenheit, depending on your sleeping habits. If you use more blankets when you sleep, you should have a lower temperature. If you use less blankets, then opt for the higher end of this range.

During the course of a normal day, your body temperature rises and falls. This pattern is tied to your sleep cycle, also known as circadian rhythm. As your body prepares for sleep, your temperature goes down, reaching its lowest level around 5:00 a.m., and then climbs slightly as morning begins. If the temperature is too hot, it may interfere with your body's natural cooling and make you more restless through the night. Each of us has a slightly different optimal temperature for sleep, so being able to experiment will help you find what makes you most comfortable.

Studies also show that body core temperature rises right before we wake up, helping to create feelings of alertness in the morning. Instead of waking up to the startling sound of an alarm clock, which can cause prolonged drowsiness, SleepCanvas can increase the temperature of the canopy (at a time you select) in order to aid in increasing your body’s core temperature in the morning. This bio-hack wake up time helps to alert your mind and body that it’s time to start the day by engaging our natural circadian rhythm.

Pitch black darkness is essential for the body to fall asleep. Our brain produces a hormone called melatonin, which sends our body a ‘time to sleep’ signal. This includes feeling lethargic, muscle relaxation, and a drop in body temperature. In a dark environment, the levels of melatonin automatically increase and continue to do so throughout most of the night, peaking around 3:00 am.

In addition to regulating our melatonin levels, sleeping in complete darkness helps maintain a balanced mental and emotional well-being. A study published in 2014 in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism explained that living out of sync with the rising and setting of the sun can lead to various health issues.

Light is a major extrinsic factor that has a deep impact on the quality of your sleep. Warm light simulates the sunset and helps you wind down as you read and relax. Bright light simulates daylight and exposure to this light in the morning excites the mind and body, promoting feelings of alertness, energy, and thus wakefulness.

Daylight is the key to keeping rhythms in check. “Every day when you get up, you are resetting the biological clock,” explains Mariana G. Figueiro, program director at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Lighting Research Center. A type of light-sensitive eye cell called, ‘intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells’ (ipRGCs), have nothing to do with vision. They absorb light in order to properly set your circadian clock.

Light is a powerful wake-up call, enhancing alertness and activity. Its effect is controlled by a group of photoreceptor cells in the eye that make the light-sensing pigment melanopsin. These cells, which work separately to the rods and cones needed for vision, are thought to help reset your circadian rhythm. That’s why morning light, which is richest in high-intensity blue wavelengths, is most important to maintaining our circadian rhythm. During sleep, our melatonin levels peak as our core body temperature bottoms out. At this point, ideally sometime around 5am, sunrise provides a melatonin-suppressing dose of blue light that eases the body towards wakefulness and syncs it with the local time. That’s why, if we wait until noon to throw open the shades, getting on-schedule becomes more difficult. “If we give light at the wrong time, it’s bad,” says Figueiro, “[But] if we don’t get enough light during the day, we’re also going to be cranky."

Also, light exposure elicits numerous effects on human physiology and behavior, such as better cognitive performance and mood. Research data indicates that exposure to an artificial morning dawn simulation light improves subjective well-being, mood, and cognitive performance.

Warm lighting feels more natural for us in the evenings. As part of our natural human circadian rhythm, warm light seems to relax us and help us wind down and get ready for sleep.

More info coming soon