What the experts say<\/p>\n
Despite the out-of-this-world sleep reported by Artemis II, sleep deprivation and excessive daytime fatigue are commonly reported by astronauts. A study<\/a> led by Dr. Laura Barger, who\u00a0monitored astronauts during spaceflight missions, found that astronauts averaged only about 5.96 hours, despite attempting to sleep for, on average, 7.35 hours. The same study revealed that 78% of crew members reported taking sleep-promoting\u00a0medications during spaceflight.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a few obstacles that they\u2019re up against when trying to catch those extraterrestrial ZZZs: circadian rhythm<\/a> can be disrupted (they experienced up to 16 sunrises and sunsets daily!), and artificial lighting can be disorientating. The absence of gravity also impacts the natural temperature regulations, which are necessary for deep sleep.<\/p>\n Dr. Lara Aillon-Sohl, a psychiatrist and sleep expert at Headspace<\/a> explains: \u201cWhile propping your limbs up to simulate weightlessness can certainly take the pressure off your lower back and help open up those airways, as a mere human on planet Earth, your biology cares far more about your internal clock than your physical \u2018altitude.\u2019\u201d The \u201creal magic,\u201d Dr. Aillon-Sohl outlines, happens when you honor your circadian rhythm<\/a> by maintaining disciplined, consistent sleep hours. She also recommends prepping your body with a hot shower to trigger a rapid drop in core temperature.<\/p>\n Astronauts also have to get into compact, specially designed sleeping bags with rigid mattresses, effectively tucking themselves in to stop floating around. It can take a bit of time, but after a while, they\u2019ll work out how they personally can get cozy and fall asleep fast. \u201cTo truly optimize your rest, you must train your behaviors to view the bedroom as a cool, dark, and quiet sanctuary rather than a place for scrolling,\u201d says Dr. Aillon-Sohl. \u201cUltimately, the \u2018optimal\u2019 position is whichever keeps you still, but it\u2019s a rigorous sleep routine\u2013not just a pillow under your knees\u2014that guarantees a restorative night.\u201d<\/p>\n In a state of microgravity, there\u2019s no up or down: therefore, astronauts can choose to sleep in any direction that\u2019s comfortable\u2014like a bat or otherwise. \u201cWe all move approximately\u00a080 times in and out of different positions during our sleep at night, but we spend the majority of our nights in one of three positions: stomach, back, or side,\u201d explains Dr. Rebecca Robbins, a sleep expert to Oura Ring<\/a> and sleep scientist at the Brigham and Women\u2019s Hospital. Side sleepers, Dr. Robbins, says,\u00a0are more common than back or stomach sleeper positions\u2014but it is possible to change\u00a0your position. \u201cIf you would\u00a0like to stay on your side instead of on your back, there are a number of devices, ranging from pillows to wearables, that you can buy that are designed to achieve this,\u201d Dr. Robbins says. One cost effective at home remedy is putting a tennis ball in a fanny pack and spinning the fanny pack around to your back to keep you on your side. \u201cWe do fall asleep and better maintain sleep when we are sleeping in our preferred sleeper position,\u201d Dr. Robbins adds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What the experts say Despite the out-of-this-world sleep reported by Artemis II, sleep deprivation and excessive daytime fatigue…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":387667,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[85,46,141,4788,558],"class_list":{"0":"post-387666","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-il","9":"tag-israel","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-sleep","12":"tag-wellness"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=387666"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387666\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/387667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=387666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=387666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=387666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}