It's night time with Dan.
I'm telling you easy, all right. Thank you very much.
Al as we head into our ten o'clock hour, and I'm delighted to welcome back tonight'side doctor Sandra Dalton Smith. She's an author, speaker and a board certified physician. We had her on a couple of weeks ago and I really enjoyed the conversation with her, and she brings great energy to the show. And I hope some of you are interested enough to call him because I brought it back so she can talk to my listeners.
Welcome back, doctor Sondra Dalton Smith. How are you tonight?
I am doing great.
Thank you well, Thank you so much for coming back. You were talking about to again. The headline is recover your life, renew your energy, and restore your sanity with sleep. Rest can no longer remain optional. This is your book, correct? Yes?
My book title is Sacred Rest, Recover your life, renew your energy, restore your sanity, and it focuses on my research on the seven types of rest and how rest differs from sleep.
Okay, so let's let you use an acronym for rest, which has recognize your risk, evaluate your current position, science and research in today's application, What are the seven types of risk that we're talking about?
Here? Are we talking about cat naps?
Uh?
You know what?
What?
What?
What should we be doing to maximize our sleep and and what can we do? There are a lot of people, I'm sure who are listening tonight who have sleep problems, and I assume if they call, you'll be able to maybe give them some hints as to how they can break whatever bad sleep.
Patterns they have.
Yeah, so one of that, well, let me start with answering the question on the seven types of rest, because that's really the issue I feel for a lot of people most of the world is saying that they're exhausted all the time and they're tired, but even when they get eight hours in the bed, they're waking up still exhausted. And so what we're helping people realize is that there's different types of fatigue, there's different ways that they can
be exhausted. And so those seven types of rest include physical, mental, spiritual, emotional, social, sensory, and creative. And so sleep falls into that physical type of rest, the pasive form of physical rest, and for some people, the reason they're not getting high quality sleep is because they have a rest deficit in one of these other areas. For example, someone with a mental rest deficit may lay down at night and their mind they're
thinking of all the things. They're thinking of their to do list or conversations they had that day, and it's keeping them from actually going into the deeper levels of non rim sleep because they haven't addressed the mental rest problem so that they can get better physical rest.
Okay, that is my problem. That is my problem.
I can wake up at three o'clock in the morning and my mind is going, how do you shut that mind off?
Yeah, So mental rest shows up in a lot of different ways. One is the one I just mentioned was the inability to kind of turn it off before you go to bed. For some people, they're experiencing mental rest deficits and the fact that they can't concentrate during the day or they find it hard to recall information. So, if the problem is the ruminating thoughts, you're exhausted, you're thinking all the things before you go to bed, a couple of different ways you can do that. I'll start
with just one example. Many people benefit from what we call brain dumping. In other words, if you are ruminating over a thought, thinking of it over and over again, your brain has a tendency to want to hold on to that information. Ruminations the same process we do when we study for a test. So as long as you're ruminating, your brains thinking, oh, this is important, I have to hold on to it. When you jot it down on something concrete like a notepad or a piece of paper,
it's as if you took the test. So the brain recognizes that that information now is somewhere secure and it's no longer the brain's job to hold on to the information, which then allows it to be released and you can go into deeper levels of sleep. Other things that can add to that is if you are, for example, if you have a tendency to ruminate over let's take conversation instead of writing down kind of what the conversation was about.
Sometimes it's necessary to process what emotions the conversation stirred up, which then goes over into emotional rests. Because sometimes some of the emotional processing we do is at night time. We and so those emotions have to be processed whether we are cognitively aware of how we're processing them. Sometimes that's the way we process at night time, we think and mole over it sociating.
So if you're talking about mental rest, what you're saying is if something if I'm hearing you correctly, if something's bothering you, before you lay your head down on your pillow, write it down on a piece of paper because there's something that you'll probably deal with the next day. Is I think what I'm hearing you say? Is that an accurate summary?
That's exactly right? Do what we call a brain dap. You're going to put it on something concrete so that you can let it go.
Okay.
So in terms of emotional let's assume that you have a disagreement with I don't know someone in your life who's important, whether it's a friend, you know, a family member, and you're replaying that in your mind and preventing you from getting.
Good good as good sleep.
What is the same process You write it down and you say in the morning, you know in the morning you're going to still have that emotional thought that in your minds.
What's the solution for that one?
If if writing down a brain dump, writing down that problem that you got to deal with the next day, what do you do in terms of that when you when you're you're not getting your emotional rest.
Yeah, emotional res is a lot more complicated because it requires that we actually process.
Through the emotion.
So writing it down is just kind of a holding space for it. But really with emotional res you need opportunity so that you can actually share and process through the emotion. For a lot of people, this works better if you're processing with another person. It can be a counselor to be a therapist, a trusted friend. For some people, emotional rest and the experience when you have opportunities just
to be real and authentic. So that could be anything from journaling, just kind of journaling whatever the whatever the emotions were, maybe there isn't any one you feel safe to share that with, but having a place for you to process through it. And you know, I went to medical school in Nashville, So if I'm thinking about just music in general, particularly country music, a large part of it is someone's emotional rest. You hear all of those
someone you know, did me wrong type wrong. It's someone processing through their emotional and that's really at the core of emotional rest. It's not just those arguments we have with our family. Sometimes it's professional emotional rest. If you're a business owner and you had to let go a lot of people, you know, during COVID or during right now, during the changes of the economics, and you let go of a lot of employees, you may feel some some
professional emotional stress. Relate it to that, and so just realizing those things have to be processed because otherwise they create their own level of stress.
Okay, we're gonna pause. I gotta do a couple of commercials here, my.
Guest this hour, and I do invite people to call and join and talk with and ask questions of doctor Sandra Dalton Smith. You said you did your medical work in Nashville. Is that Vanderbilt that you went to.
I went to my Harry Medical College?
My Harry. Okay, fine, another great school. Nashville is a great city. I need to spend more time there. Her book is Sacred Rest Recover your life, renew your energy, and restore your sanity. We will continue our conversation, but I want to open up the phone lines. If you're having trouble sleeping. Sleeping it does a number on you, it really does. And there's so many distractions for all of us. I know, and I may ask you when we come back on the other side, Doctor Dalton Smith.
I do a talk show. I'm on the air from eight until midnight. I generally am able to get to sleep, but it's tough to go from doing a talk show and your your mind is going one hundred miles an hour trying to deal with whatever issues you're talking to. Shut it down and go to sleep quickly. If I can get to sleep within an hour, I feel I'm doing pretty well. Because if I don't get to sleep within an hour, then I'm sure changing myself. When the
world starts to wake up the next morning. We'll get to that, and I want to hear from all of you as well. Six one, seven, two, five, four, ten thirty six one seven, nine, three, one ten thirty My guest, doctor Sandra Dalton Smith. Her book Sacred rest Recover your Life, Renew your energy and Restore your sanity. Pretty good menu of things to accomplish. Back on nights Side with Doctor Dalton Sandra Dalton Smith. Right after this, now back to Dan Ray the Window World.
Night Side Studios on WBZ News Radio.
We're talking about your sleep.
Yeah, you get if you're getting that great out by the way, we will talk about how much sleep people need, and we're gonna cover this all, I promise you. My guest is doctor Sondra Dalton Smith her book Sacred Rest Recover your Life, Renew your Energy, Restore your Sanity. When we broke for the commercial and doctor Sondra, doctor Dalton Smith, I talked about people like myself who work late. I work to midnight every night, Monday through Friday, and it's tough.
It's tough to kind of wind out. Most people who work a nine to five or ten to six job, they go home, they have dinner, maybe they have a drink, or maybe they sit down and they watch on television. I'll listen to Nightside and get relaxed. Then they go to bed.
What advice do you.
Have for people like me who you know I don't want to stay up till three in the morning because I got to be up in the morning by eight o'clock in order to start my next day. Except on Saturday, I can sleep in. What can people in our position, the late workers of the world, what.
Can they do?
Yeah?
I love this question because I actually live in an area where we have a lot as factory workers who do third our shifts and so one of the things that you have to keep in mind when you are kind of forcing the body to function contrary to the normal circadian rhythm is that you have to build in some type of rhythm. The body likes to function in patterns, and so the normal circadian rhythm is you wake up when the suns up, you wind down when the sun
goes down. When you accelpt that, what happens is you kind of automatically inject some disharmony with just how the hormones work. So you want to kind of create that as best you can in your own environment. So, for example, when you are awake, whether it's dark outside or not, have your house as or your workstation or wherever you're at it's brightly lit as you possibly can have it.
To reenact the the to kind of always took the brain into differs daytime, even though it might be midnight, and usually if you're if you're working, you're going to be in some place that's brightly lit. However, when you are ready to start winding down so you get home, don't come home and have every light in your house off just because you're awake, start actually winding down the body takes about an hour to deep kind of defuse.
And so when you come home, you're driving home, but probably in the middle of the day when the sun is out and and bright, you know, for some of these workers who are working thirty hour shifts. When you walk in, when you get into your home, actually start have blackout curtains, start darkening your house even before you go into the bed. So the same is when I'm walking around my house at ten o'clock at night, I have the lights dimmed. I'm kind of shutting down the brightness.
In my home.
Do the same thing, even though it may be eight am that you're about to turn in. Okay, so you want to try to recreate that.
Let's start to work some callers in here. I don't want people to have to wait long. My first caller for my guest, doctor Sandra Dalton Smith, or a book Sacred rest Recover your Life, Renew your energy, Restore your sanity is Shazade Shazzad.
I hope I pronounced your name correctly. Is that correct?
Yes? That is correct?
Well, welcome. I don't believe whether they had the pleasure of you as a caller before.
No, this is the first time calling.
Oh we want to give you a.
Round of a pause in our digital studio audience. Shous that you're wrong with doctor Dalton Smith. What's your question?
Go right ahead.
My question is that sometime if I somebody save me something, you don't look good, or you have this, or some somebody say to.
Me you.
You didn't do wrong, you did you did wrong this one, or sometime if I I try to fix the car sent some time I couldn't fix the car, or some school doesn't open all night or every night. I'm just thinking thinking about that, and I tried to sleep it. I couldn't forget anything that people say to me, and that I try to turn off the light, I try to make the massad music or lax music, and it's still sleep doesn't come out.
Are you.
Shazad?
What you're saying is someone criticizes you for something and you're you must be a sensitive guy. A lot of people that rolls off their back. You hang on at that criticism, whether it's how you look, how you appear, how you're working.
Is that what you're saying.
Okay, let's see, let's see if doctor Dalton Smith has a suggestion. I'm sure that there's a lot of people like Shazad, doctor.
Dalton, yeah and the.
Yeah excellent questions Shazade. And the type of rest deficit that that boils down to is an emotional rest deficit, because serences are when the person says that to you. To stay at a level of professionalism, you probably don't respond back to them or you you know, just kind
of take it in the moment. And that's what a lot of people do, and it's where this emotional professional emotional labor comes into play now to undo that, there has to be a time when you're processing through not just what they said, but how what they said made you feel. And so for a lot of people, they they basically when they talk to someone about this, if there's a friend or someone that you share these experiences with, you're probably sharing what the person said or you know,
those kind of things. But real emotional rest comes when we actually share not what they said, but how what they said made us feel. What was the emotion that was in So whether it was a feeling of rejection or a feeling of insecurity or abandonment or or whatever the emotion is, whatever it is that pops up actually having some place safe to discuss that and to share that feeling and so that you can process through it, because otherwise you're going to process through it in the
middle of the night. Some things to keep in mind also is that rumination. If you just think about the conversation over and over again, you create these, for lack of a better word, mental tangle. And it's even if you keep thinking about it, it's harder to let it go, so that you have to shift from repeating what was said to actually kind of processing through what the emotions were that were awakened from that remark or conversation.
Yeah, on me, I tried numerous time to forget that thing, but it's still keep coming in my heart, to keep coming in my eyes. So then I especially when I go to the bag, and it's keep keep coming, keep coming.
I tongue off the light and I do everything, I put the massage music, but it.
Still keep coming up, keep coming up. I try to ignore it, do not to remember it, but it's still sometimes this happens.
Yeah, let me ask you a question without being personal. How old are you?
Are you?
Young, middle aged or older?
Yeah, I'm like park ep forty three.
Okay, I think and this is I'm not doctor Dalton Smith. I think sometimes friends of mine have said, you know, you consider the source. If someone's a jerk and they say something to you that is either intended to be harmful or is unintentionally hurtful.
Consider the source, Chazette, let it roll.
I know it's easy for me to say, but just consider the source and realize that that person is not worth the time you spend on the you know, formulating their criticism.
I don't know how Shazade might be able to do that, doctor Dalton Smith.
Shuzade sounds like a great guy who takes things very seriously, and it probably is a really good friend and a really good worker. And he's a pretty sensitive guy here. What can he do to kind of toughing him up, toughing himself up.
A little bit?
Yeah, I think that's a great statement that you just mad as far as kind of evaluating who's making the statement. And you know, whenever someone says something that is different, in other words, I'm sure you don't do yourself the way this person is viewing you, Shazad, So when someone else is saying something about you that is different than how you do yourself, it can be how help just
to remind yourself of what's actually true about you. Usually when someone's saying that, it's someone who actually doesn't know you. They are judging based off of one time experiences or something of that nature, but they actually haven't taken the time to get to know you. So Jess, I'll also kind of reminding yourself of what is actually true that is usually the contrary to what that person says.
Shuz that. I hope that helps a little bit.
And I'll tell you if you want, shazzatte you should read some of the emails I get from people. It's like you, I hate you, I hate your show. I listen every night, but I hate everything about your show. But I listen every night. I I made you laugh and I'm happy about that. Do be a favorite call the show more often. You have friends here.
Okay, thank you very much.
Indeed, thanks Jazzat.
We take quick break for news at the bottom of the hour. Yeah, you should read some of my emails. And it's always the anonymous stuff. You know what people call you on the phone doctor A Dalton Smith. I say that in all honesty. I mean, no matter what you say on the radio. When you're a talk show host, for as long as I've been. You're gonna please some people and upset others, and you've got to learn to let it roll off your back or I'd be so
totally crazy anyway. Sixty six, one, seven, nine, ten thirty. We're trying to help you tonight, So we're we're grateful by the very gracious presence of doctor Sandra Dalton Smith. Her book is Sacred rest Recover your life, renew your energy, and restore your sanity. I do believe that the mind is the most powerful muscle that any of us exercise
in our body. And when you're not square with your mind, your mind is gonna gonna give you all sorts of problems trying to sleep, which is then gonna have physical ramifications for you. And that is why doctor Saundra Dalton Smith is with us tonight. That's what her book is about. If you have a specific question like shazade does Shazade? Thanks for having the courage to call in with that.
I'm sure there are a lot of people like you out there who also you were speaking on behalf of a lot of people, So feel free to join the conversation. And ladies, don't let the men dominate the calls here. We'll be back on Nightside right after this news break at the bottom of the hour of My name is Dan Ray. This is Nightside. If you miss any of our broadcasts, you know over the weekend, you can check out Nightside on demand. We had some great shows this week.
You can listen to our podcast coming back on Nightside.
It's night Side with.
Boston's News Radio.
I don't know about you, but I missed the Old Man of the Mountain. Every time we drive up Rude Hurt ninety three and to look over and realize the Old Man of the Mountain has dropped away. That's pretty disappointing. My guest is doctor Sandra Dalton Smith, her book Sacred Rest Recovery your Life, Renew your energy, and Restore your sanity. None of us, none of us fully appreciate how important sleep is. Real quick question for me, Doctor Dalton Smith. Then I want to get back to.
The phone calls.
Is eight hours of sleep? Does one size fits fit all? I mean, they're saying that President Trump functions on like four hours of sleep a night. Don't know how anyone can do that, but many of us can't get eight hours a night. Does sleep vary with age or gender, or or is it a one size fits all phenomenon.
It's definitely not a one size fit all, but it's not as regimented as being specific to an age or gender either. It really just is a personal I find that some patients can do very well on five hours of sleep. Rarely do I see some one do well with four hours. But I have a squad of people who do really well with five hours.
But those people also tend.
To get very high level sleep, and I find that that's really more of the issue than it is the number of hours in the bed. You know, a lot of the gadgets now, whether it's like your fitbit or your Apple watch or a ring, all these different things crack our sleep, and the thing that is really tracking is our level of deep sleep, the level the amount of deep stage three and four non rim sleep when you're into those data delta brain weighs and you're really
just in the level of sleep where restoration happens. That is really where I'm finding is what the difference is. So someone who says I do great for five hours came to also have very high levels of deep sleep percentages, where someone else may say it takes me eight hours. Well they may it may take them eight hours to actually enough deep sleep for them to fill rested.
Let me get back to phone call six one seven, two, five four ten thirty six one seven, nine three one ten thirty. We will have the pleasure of having doctor Sandra Dalton Smith with us until eleven o'clock again her book Sacred Rest Recover your life, renew your energy, and Restore your sanity. Next up, Michael is in Boston. Michael, you were next on Nightside with doctor Dalton Smith. Your question, no comment, Michael, go right ahead.
While there doctor and Dan, how are you doing great? I was just my I had two issues though. One was President Trump just listening to the ten o'clock news. What he did today is amazing. What he does every day is amazing. Where does he get this energy to fly from coast to coast and to make speeches one after the other and so forth. And I was wondering, I heard three hours sleep sleep Dan in his first term.
Well, I'll tell you, they do have beds on Air Force one. Okay, so it's he's not flying coach. If you know what I'm saying.
In his constitution, that's not in other people's that he's able to run like the ever ready battery. They used to advertise, the ever ready Bunny.
Yeah right right, Well let's let's let's get doctor doctor Dalton Smith and on that, doctor Dalton Smith without commenting on you know what, what you might feel about, you know, President Trump's politics or anything like that.
He seems to have an abundant amount.
Of energy, particularly to someone who is now believe he's seventy eight years of age. Are the people who are able to do what he clearly is able to do or is he truly the exception? No.
I do as an internal medicine position. Most of my patients are older, and so I am always amazed when I see someone who is seventy eighty. I have patience who are in their ninety who go out and do two mile walks every single day and play pickleball. So I think that it's just really a matter of kind of the underlying self care that the person is doing. Because those same people are also eating very high quality food.
In other words, they're they're reading like they're eating a lot of green vegetables and things that have a lot of high nutrients. They also send to be people who don't know what.
Doctor Sudras, doctor Dalton Smith. Uh, President Trump. I think his idea of fine dining is is a is a McDonald's drive through.
Yeah, but try.
I don't know.
He is not the norm.
That's the case. Not the norm.
It's true, by the way, just to keep it non part. Bill Clinton also enjoyed McDonald's a lot, too, So maybe that's what. Maybe that they have some sort of special sauce there at McDonald's that that keeps them going.
I don't know, Michael, don't. I don't have an answer for that. Okay, how's your sleep? Do you feel you do well sleeping? Michael?
Tell us about your circumstances.
Oh, I don't want to talk about me. I'll put it in the form of the question. Though. If somebody doesn't sleep well during the night, periodically or all the time, can that be made up during the day? I have read No.
I'm a big believer in power and napps. So let's see what doctor the expert, doctor Dalton Smith's believes. I can do a fifteen minute power nap and I get recharged at about quarter seven.
Interest.
That's one of my secrets that I'm ready for on Radio.
No, there's a lot of science related to time maps, you know, those entire countries that are based around taking naps in the middle of the day. So the problem is, though, you do need to get some extended period of sleep. So I would hope you're getting some type of sleep at night time, some decent level of sleep, and then you supplement that with power naps and other types of restorative practices during the day.
No, I do, and I suspect Michael does as well. Michael, thank you so much for your call. Thank you, talk to you soon.
Connect.
I gotta take a quick break, going to be back with more phone calls. Everybody's now calling in, which is great. We'll get you in. Everyboney's going to pick the pace up a little bit. We go one segment left with doctor Sandra Dalton Smith her book Sacred Rest Recover your Life, Renew your energy and Restore your Sanity. Back on Nightside right after this. Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World Nightside Studios.
I'm WBZ News Radio.
My guess, doctor Saundra Dalton Smith. We're talking about your sleep. Let's go next to Susan in Bellingham. Susan next the night Side welcome.
Yes, Hello, Hi Susan.
Yes, I have a question about when I go to bed. I'll wake up within one and a half to two hours just about every night, and I was just wondering if you had any idea. You know, it seemed I've looked up online and talked to you know, different people, and nobody seems to have a real solution. And I just wondered. It's not to go to the restroom or anything, you know.
Okay, that was my first thought. But that's okay.
So let's let's see what I know that.
Let's see we wake up and then I'll say, well, I may as well go to the bathroom.
Right, Let's let's see what doctor Dalton Smith says. Doctor what time you go to bed normally, Susan?
Too late? Twelve thirty one am.
I know that after you listen to Nightside and you you turn off the radio when you go to try to go to bed.
Okay, we try to listen to the news right when we're in when we're in Massachusetts. Now we're in Florida, so we listened to the Florida news. But but we're not We're only there half the year.
So wait, you calling tonight from Flora? Are you calling tonight from Florida or from Bellingham?
No, from Florida?
Whereabouts in Florida?
Are you?
If I could ask the villages?
Has cold there? How cold is it?
And cold? Yes? It has been for Florida.
There's a lot of people in Massachusetts down there and a lot of people in the villages.
Uh.
And I almost got to go and speak at the villages. So if you ever want me to come down to the villages, they speak to my listeners.
You let me know.
Okay, okay, Yeah, that's let's get Let's get doctor. Let's get Dalton doctor Smith, Dalton Smith to address your question. Go ahead, doctor Dalton Smith.
Yeah, So it really just depends on what's causing you to wake up or what kind of what's happening when you wake up. When you put it that way, are you hot? Are you cold? Is your mind raising? Is there something like when you wake up? Is there something specific that's bringing you out of sleep?
Yeah?
I don't think so. To be honest with you, I don't know. It's how long has this been going on? It probably is a good question, because I'm not really sure. I'd say at least a year I'm almost seventy nine years old, so you know it's fairly new. But I'm not sure. So it's a tough question.
I know that, but I just are you how quickly do you are you able to get back to sleep after you wake up?
Yeah? I'd say half the time I can. I can kind of keep myself in that drowsy, real drowsy state, but almost half the time I can't go back to sleep. So I'll take a half of a sleeping pill and that usually works and I'll wake up within maybe four hours or so, four and a half at the most.
But Susan, I'm not the doctor here, but one of the things, have you talked to your own medical doctor about this, because he would know you best and.
Know if you know, if there's something that I did.
She just said, no, that's, you know, fairly common problem. But I don't think it's that common. But no, she wasn't that concerned, you know.
Okay, Well that's that should put your mind at rest, doctor Dalton Smith. I got a couple other calls I got to get to before we let let Susan go about any final comment.
For Susan, Yeah, I think the main thing is just to dald In on what you're feeling when you wake up, because that'll actually help your doctor. Do you feel like you're short of breath, do you feel like your leg are hurting? Or if there's something specific you're feeling that will help them then be able to look into what.
Might be confident right, right, and Susan, you might also try to pick up the book Sacred rest Recover your Life, Recover, do your energy, and restore your sanity. That might give you some insights as well. I'm sure it's available in bookstores in the villagers.
Okay, okay, yeah, we have still we have a big Barnes and Noble here. Yeah, all right. It really is a great place. But anyway, thanks so much.
I hope to see in the villages sometime.
Okay, all right, thank you.
I have a lot of friends who live down in the villages, believe it or not. Sometimes I can talk to you privately and I can hook you up with some people from Massachusetts.
Okay, oh yeah, but I like to still be there half the year up in Massachusetts.
Absolutely got to get the summertime, all right, thank you, all right, Okay.
I got two calls and I got two minutes for each let's do Let's go to Christine and debt him first. One of my favorite callers. Hey, Christine, you were on with doctor Sandra Dalton Smith.
Yes, my problem is my mom this past a few months now has gone in Sundrosing home as a German home, and now I'm alone at night. I have like couble of sleep And that's why I love you you keeping the company and I just I have troubles still, like kind of settle down, like I always think, like I hand noises and I just like I just don't know, like what else I could do or like to relax myself at night and kind of go to sleep.
Yeah, yeah, if you're sensitive to it. To background sounds, some people really do well with what some of us called white noise or filtered noise. But using something like the sound of rain in the background, just so that you're not hearing every little thing that happens in the house can be very helpful as well. It kind of tricks your brain into kind of focusing on kind of the background hum of that white noise rather than all of the other sounds.
The rain works for me.
I'll tell you, Christine, on a summer day when it's raining out for real on a Saturday or Sunday. I put my head down and I've gone for three or four hours. Thanks Christine, I got to get a.
Couple more in Okay, thank you, thank you, Thanks Christine.
Talk to you soon, Tina. Tina, we're really tight on time.
I got you in here.
Tina is in Hudson, Massachusetts.
Go ahead, Tina, So hopefully this will be a quick question for the doctors who had mentioned that part of how much sleep you need has to do with getting the deep sleep. Is there anything we can do to impact.
Our getting that deep sleep? Absolutely. One of the types of rests I talk about is called sensory rest, and most of us are exposed to a lot of sensory inputs from our devices, our phones all the same, and so starting to learn how to downgrade some of your sensory inputs, particularly a couple of hours before you go to bed, and I don't mean don't use your gadgets, you know, for the entire time, but being able to be starting to downgrade some of those inputs, turning off notifications,
using the white noise, things of that nature, and then just being really aware of the fact that a lot of us do better with sleeping when we don't have light facing us. So if your alarm clock is facing you, turn it away from you. That blue light actually can be enough to keep you from going into deeper sleep, and you wouldn't even be aware of it. It's just the circadian rhythm is sensitive to light, and that light can penetrate through and actually worthen your levels that do sleep.
Tina, I hope that helps. That was a great question, and I think a lot of people can identify with it. Thank you so much.
You're welcome.
Thank you.
I have a great night. Good night. I'm going to wrap it up here with is calling from the North End of Boston. Have y'all go right ahead.
Yeah, i live in the North End of Boston and I'm totally blind. I actually moved to the North End of Boston because I'm totally blind. But I have a wicked hard time sleep, and like, I worry about my physical health and it stresses me out so much. It gives me anxiety, and I'm worried that it's affecting my health in the long run. And then have you ever had any experience talking to totally blind people you know
about solutions for sleeping. I was I really wanted to get an answer on this when I heard you on here.
Yeah, whenever one type of sensory perception is lost, as you probably already know, other perceptions get heightened, and so there's a need to make sure that you're not allowing those heightened perceptions to interfere with the deeper levels of sleep, and so something to just.
Oh yeah, so like my high anxiety that I have about sleeping is probably actually affecting my sleep, like because I can't relax because I'm so nervous all the time. Because if you're totally blind, you feel like you don't fit in with society because you don't see like everybody else. You just don't have your it's just totally dark. So you're like, right now, I feel like I'm up.
For the day.
But it's weird for me to walk around the city at one am. You know what I mean.
I don't want to don't want to be Yeah, you don't want to be Habia. You do not want to be walking around the city at one am in the morning. I know the North End and it's a safe area and it's it's a congested area, but please remember at one o'clock in the morning. There are people out there who are looking for someone to take advantage of them.
So think about that, my friend. Okay, I mean that honestly when I say that to you, I wouldn't be walking around the North End at one o'clock in the morning. I wouldn't be walking anywhere in the city at one o'clock in the morning.
Yeah, thank you. Yeah. I live right next to Bovitch, so you can walk right in there, but the bust and please really, they'll tell you what are you doing? Are you crazy? And there's like four thousand shelter beds around it, so a lot of those people don't make it in the shelter. So if you're totally blind too, you you run into those people at night.
But yeah, all right, HOBBYA, I hope that helps. Have you you've never called my show before, have you?
No?
No, I never called. But I do know some people from West Roxbury who know you from the eighties. I met you as a kid in the eighties. Actually I know you through your family members.
All right, well, how you call any night? Okay.
There's a round of applause from our digital studio audience, and thank you.
Let me ask, say, I have you is this book that you have? Is there an audiobook version of this? Doctor?
There is, Yes, there's an audiobook version. I read it myself and for Havi here. Honestly, Jeff, making sure that you have someone work with you on the anxiety part of it, because the anxiety has to be treated separate from the sleeping.
All right, Hobby.
The anxiety is so bad that it causes you to get sick when you don't get sleep. That's part of being blind. But I'll let y'all go have a great night.
Haba, Thank you much. Call the show anytime, Hobby. If I can be of help to you, let me know. The book again is Sacred rest Recover your life, Renew your energy, Restore your sanity by doctor Sandra Dalton Smith, Doctor Dalton Smith. This excuse me, excuse me there. I'm having a little bit of a prog with my throat here. Great questions from the callers and great answers from you. Thank you so much for joining us. You more than exceeded my expectations for this hour. Thank you so much.
All it's a pleasure to be with you.
Thanks for having me, all right, Doctor Sandra Dalton Smith, staycred, rest, recover your life, renew your energy, and restore your sanity. Twentieth hour comes up on the other side. Stay with us right after the eleven o'clock news