Sleep Knowledge Articles

Deep-dive explainers on sleep science and method. New pieces added regularly.

Which Exercise Helps You Sleep Best? A Study of 1,348 People Ranked!

A 2025 BMJ network meta-analysis of 22 RCTs ranks the most sleep-friendly exercises: yoga > tai chi > walking/jogging — plus the brain mechanisms and a practical exercise-for-sleep plan.

The Sleep Revolution: Rethinking Your Sleep

A faithful, section-by-section breakdown of Nick Littlehales' book — the 8-hour myth, 90-minute sleep cycles, a fixed wake time, chronotypes, pre/post-sleep routines, caffeine, alcohol, naps, and a practical action checklist.

Why We Sleep — A Deep Dive: Matthew Walker's Core Arguments

A faithful, section-by-section breakdown of Matthew Walker's Why We Sleep — the two-process model of sleep (circadian rhythm and adenosine), NREM/REM architecture, the costs of sleep deprivation on brain and body, the emotional and creative functions of dreaming, three modern threats to sleep, and 12 practical sleep tips.

Asleep on the Couch, Wide Awake in Bed? The Science of Conditioned Arousal

Why you nod off on the sofa in minutes yet lie awake in your proper bed — explained through Richard Bootzin's stimulus control theory and conditioned arousal: how the bed gets mis-trained as a wakefulness cue, why the couch carries no "must sleep" pressure, and the 6 stimulus-control rules to rebuild the bed–sleep link.

What Is Insomnia, Really?

From the 38.2% insomnia rate in the 2023 China Sleep Big Data Report: prevalence, causes (the 2025 Lancet Public Health review by Academician Lu Lin — biological / lifestyle / social / environmental), consequences, diagnostic criteria (chronic / short-term / other), the 7-dimension PSQI assessment, and self-tracking with a sleep diary.

The Science of Sleep, Explained: A Definitive Guide

A comprehensive knowledge map based on Wallace B. Mendelson's The Science of Sleep — the physiology of sleep (NREM/REM stages, the 90-minute cycle, homeostatic pressure and circadian rhythm), the functions of sleep (memory, emotion, immune repair), sleep disorders (the 3P model of insomnia, apnea, narcolepsy, restless legs, circadian and parasomnia), the history and risks of sleeping pills, the truth about melatonin, the science of dreams, sleep across the lifespan, and sleep hygiene with CBT-I.

More articles coming soon — each one written to pair with a Restcalc tool.