A Wellbeing Entrepreneur Says His Gravity Blanket Is His New Favorite Sleep Hack
Welcome to Sleep Diaries, where interesting people share a week’s worth of late-night habits. They’ll tell you, the reader, how they wrap up their day, how they get to sleep, stay asleep or fall back asleep, and how they feel when they wake up in the morning. Why? Because sleep is America’s Most Wanted thing. We chase after it like an elusive elixir that'll make us look younger and feel less stressed. (Maybe because it will.) We thought by getting people to share what works for them-and doesn’t-it might help you find better ZZZs. Or at least give you something entertaining to read. This week, we have Brett Kaufman, founder of Kaufman Development and the Gravity Project, a collection of apartments and work spaces with all the components to mental wellbeing-like therapy, acupuncture, yoga, and more-built into the design.
I am always working on closing my gaps, and optimizing my mind, body and spirit. I started Gravity as a way to figure out how to surround myself and others with the resources to be well more easily, more readily. More and more research seems to be coming out regarding disease being connected, to processed, low-quality foods, and even though we are socially-dependent beings, we are increasingly lacking a sense of connection and isolating ourselves through technology. So now I’m trying to figure out how we can trigger social connection, mental health recovery and physical wellness by creating intentional spaces. The creation of Gravity is my own experiment with building spaces that take care of us, soothe our nervous systems, and inspire us to be healthier.
For my sleep schedule, I have started to use a number of tools to make sure I get good, quality sleep. I travel a ton for work, but when I’m home, I use a gravity blanket, which is my new favorite sleep hack. It’s both weighted and cooling. And I am devoted proselytizer of CBD. I use Plant Alchemy CBD. It’s the best I’ve found in terms of quality, since it’s biodynamically farmed, and it tastes great. It helps me let go of the day, and gets my system back into pre-sleep state. I use the Whoop app to track my sleep to measure how I’m doing, and to make sure I’m making up for sleep in a busier week. I have three teenage boys, and so home life is beautifully full and rich, and requires flexibility in everyone’s schedule. I do meditate every day, and I have for about 20 years. I got trained in Transcendental Meditation, and it has been a lifesaver. It rescued me from my mind. I can’t imagine what I would be like without meditation as my cornerstone practice. I’d be lost in my neuroses, and I definitely wouldn’t be sleeping enough.
Saturday: A relaxing night at home
A total of 6 hours and 48 minutes-a great night of sleep. If I’m getting close to 7 hours, I’m good. My wife, Katie and I stayed home, which we don’t usually do. We had a daytime wedding and decided to stay home and hang out with (supervise) our kids. We had a bunch of kids in our swimming pool for a while, and we were up watching the NBA finals. When it’s a home night, we tend to stay up until curfew, until everyone is back, and the kids have come back from wherever they’ve been, and checked in with us. The alarm is on, and we are comfortable calling it a night. On the weekends, Katie and I both stay up until lights out. Then, I can sleep in until my Sunday morning tennis game.
Sunday: A crowded bed
A total of 6 hrs 13 minutes-a little light. Sleep is a little harder in the summer time with high school age boys. I was up a few times in the middle of the night, probably as a result of a heavy Sunday night dinner, and a few cheats at dessert time. I’m being very careful not to eat carbs or sugar before bed, and I gave up drinking. All of that interrupts my sleep, and so tonight, I’m off my wellness routine, and my sleep suffers. Also, my youngest found his way into our bed, which makes things a little crowded. I totally embrace it, because I know this phase is fleeting. This won’t last much longer, having him at the sweet age when he still wants the comfort of his parents. So even sleep takes a back seat to the experience of raising a family. My family is always #1, and the experience of being with them, I will always choose over a little extra sleep.
Monday: Bonus ZZZs
I watched the NBA finals with my sons. I always make exceptions at the right times-sometimes fun is more important than sleep. Definition of balance: Don’t be too far to one direction for too long, but sometimes it’s OK to be heavy on the fun. And in this case, the universe took care of me, since my yoga instructor canceled my morning session, and I got an extra hour of sleep, which I really needed. When the yoga instructor cancels, it’s like a snow day for adults.
Tuesday: A low-point for sleep
Not one of my better nights. Less than 6 hours of sleep. I still got an hour of deep sleep, but will need an extra espresso to make it through. Busy week of travel and pre-vacation, so it’s a bit hard to fit it all in sometimes. I did opt for early wake up to make sure I got my full mediation in and that I worked out today. Can’t let that slide too much, constant balance and listening to my body.
Wednesday: Playing catch-up
Seven hours and 7 minutes of sleep. Traveling and on West Coast time, and so getting into bed at 10 p.m. and sleeping until 6 a.m. really helps. It’s amazing how much better you feel with a good 7+ hours of sleep. Ideally you have that feeling every day, but that’s just not where I am in life right now. It’s a busy week prior to leaving for vacation. Lots of significant opportunities and challenges running a business popping up right before vacation, which is always how it goes. And it’s perfect, I’m so blessed, it’s fun and so sleeping a little less isn’t a problem. It’s how you are with things that matters, not so much the thing itself. So be careful with the data, with the tools. When you get the 5-hour nights, don’t make it wrong. When you get a 7-hour night’s sleep, embrace the relief, don’t get too attached. It’s all perfect, and feeling the perfection, choosing gratitude, joy, compassion, love and light is always more powerful!
Thursday: Melatonin FTW
Another decent night of sleep: 7 hours and 22 minutes. Often, when I’m on the road, I’ve learned to be especially disciplined about what I eat, drink (or in this case, hydrate, since I’m in Arizona heat right now) and what time I go to bed. It’s usually a little more restless in a new surrounding, a hotel, different mattress, no gravity blanket, etc. Last night I took a melatonin to help me settle into some deep sleep. I ate a light meal, and went to bed at a decent hour. My internal clock is still on EST, so it wants to get up early which happened right on schedule. But rather than making it wrong, or spend time getting frustrated, I just settled into it softly and found myself able to fall back asleep. I don’t check the phone in those moments. I don’t get upset that I woke up. It makes it much harder to settle the mind and body. Then, when I get that extra few hours, it makes a world of a difference.
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