Have you ever wondered if counting sheep before sleep actually works? How about sleeping naked? Or how much sleep should a teenager get? We got your burning questions answered through an interview with Dr. Rochon, biopsychologist from EngineeringSleep.

Dr. Rochon has a master’s in neuroscience and cognitive science with a doctorate specializing in sleep and different stages of consciousness. Studying both biology and psychology, he became a biopsychologist, finding sleep as the perfect link between these disciplines.

“For me, the link between biology and psychology is represented by sleep. Sleep is the most accurate way to touch biological or psychological problems,” says Dr. Rochon.

1. What is the circadian rhythm and why is it important?

The circadian rhythm is the most important part of sleep that people aren’t familiar with. It is a clock inside of your brain that dictates how your body works. Synchronizing this clock with the outside world is critical. The circadian clock is actually in the middle of your brain, controlling your eyes, absorbing light from the sun as well as managing your habits.

Take the example of social jetlag. Social jetlag is when your circadian rhythm is a little bit later. This is when people wake up later during the weekend, which means they have access to light later, desynchronizing their circadian rhythm. For instance, if you see the light at 10am today, then your body will prepare you to see it at the same time tomorrow, instead of earlier. So this is why you are tired on Mondays since your body follows what you told it to do the day before. Therefore, it is best to stick to the same wake-up schedule every day.  

2. Does sleeping naked help with your sleep?

For some people, I think it’s a good idea, but it depends. Chinese medicine actually talks about it since when people sleep naked they can make their surroundings warmer. But again, it’s about lowering your body temperature and the easiest way to cool down is to take off your clothes. I think it’s more linked with the psychology of habits. So if you like to do it, you should do it.

3. When should an average teenager go to sleep? How much sleep should they get?

Teenagers have a circadian rhythm a little bit later than normal people. That means biologically, they are already pushed to go to bed later and wake up later. Why? This is due to melatonin, which is a hormone that tells you it’s dark outside. Melatonin secretion is common for teenagers, so naturally, teens would go to sleep later. And their late social events add to this phenomenon.

What we need to do as teens is to be sure that we wake up at the same time every day instead of sleeping in. Thus, it’s not about how long we sleep, it’s more about how we sleep and wake up. So even if we don’t get enough sleep, we can recover later through naps.

4. Does counting sheep work?

This idea concerns the psychological aspect. Counting sheep is not a bad idea but it works differently for different people. So, the more you can visualize in your head, it’s easier to fall asleep. Yet if you count the sheep just for the sake of counting, it doesn’t work because you will go into sleep control thinking. This is where one story leads to another and another, making it difficult to sleep. It’s also true that if you can relax your muscles through a breathing technique, it’s easier to sleep.

If you have any additional questions or concerns, get in touch with Dr. Rochon!

Website: engineeringsleep.com

WeChat: sleep-cognition

Images: Unsplash, Canva, Pexels, Dr. Rochon

At some point in our youth, most of us wondered how great it would be if we never had to go to school again. Extended holidays? Wearing PJs and eating snacks all day? It sounded like the perfect life, but now that kids are actually faced with the reality of being home, is it really as great as we had imagined?

We chatted with three students from AISB School – Hope International to get their thoughts on whether they actually enjoy spending all this time at home, what they’re looking forward to most when they return to school, and their eye-opening realizations that arose from this whole experience.

Meet Ben S. A Grade 3 student from Indonesia.

Do you miss going to school or are you enjoying e-learning at home more?
I like e-learning better than regular school because I can wake up an hour later than normal school days. I can study at my own pace, and I can have a break time whenever I feel tired.

What’s your favorite e-learning class? Why?
I like art class the most because I can do free drawing before I finish my project, while at school we must finish our project first before we can do free drawing.

What do you miss the most about your school?
PE class & recess time.

What are you looking forward to doing the most when school resumes?
Sports’ Day!

Has this e-learning experience taught you anything unexpected either about your teachers, peers, or parents?
I feel sorry for my homeroom teacher because she has to look at her laptop all the time. There are 20 students in our class, and she needs to check each student’s work. She is also pregnant now. It must be hard for her to work and take care of herself.

Do you feel spending this much time at home with your parents has taught you anything you didn’t previously know about them? If so, what?
The best thing is I can spend more time with my grandma from my dad’s side. We usually stay longer in my mom’s hometown and only three or four days in my dad’s hometown. So, I’m not too close with my grandma from my dad’s side. This time, we can spend almost two weeks together with her. We traveled to other cities and watched movies together in the cinema. I just knew that she used to enjoy watching movies with her mother when she was young.

Meet Helen O., a Grade 12 student from Korea.

Do you miss going to school or are you enjoying e-learning at home more?
I am actually really enjoying my e-learning at home. I am a person who focuses better at night than morning. Since I can schedule my day with an e-learning program, I feel like I am doing my work more efficiently compared to my normal school days. Moreover, it gives me more time to do my hobbies and time to spend with my family. Except for the fact that I don’t get to see my friends, I am very content with my e-learning.

What’s your favorite e-learning class? Why?
My favorite e-learning class is AP Macroeconomics. I feel like it is a subject that fits more with the e-learning than the real class. Every day, my teacher uploads the lecture videos, and it is really helpful for me that I can always go back to the video and watch it again when I don’t get the concept. I can also control the speed of the video, so when I take notes, I can make the video slower so that I don’t miss his words.

What do you miss the most about your school?
One thing that I miss the most about my school is my friends. I miss my friends so much. This is my last year and last semester of high school, and I can’t believe that I don’t get to see my friends until the Coronavirus is gone. I had so many plans to do as a senior with my friends, but so far, I haven’t got to do any of them. I hope we all can go back to our normal school life soon.

What are you looking forward to doing the most when school resumes?
I have been staying at home for more than two weeks. If the school resumes, I want to eat my lunch outside under the sun. Then I want to make some good memories with my teachers and friends. China is not our home country so once we graduate from this school, we will be all over the world, and it will be very difficult for us to meet again. This is why I want to make good memories and enjoy my last semester of high school with them.

Has this e-learning experience taught you anything unexpected either about your teachers, peers, or parents?
It is kind of childish thinking, but I always thought that teachers are good at everything. However, after we started our e-learning, I realized that teachers also have things that are new to them. Our school hasn’t done any e-learning program before, so teachers had to learn how to do things online with the students. It is an obvious thing, but I did not expect that.

Do you feel spending this much time at home with your parents has taught you anything you didn’t previously know about them? If so, what?
I realized something new about my parents. Currently, I am staying in Korea, and here in my temporary house, there was no desk or chair. Usually, my parents don’t really care about my school work, so in the first week of e-learning, I had to study on the couch or on the dining table. I felt very uncomfortable studying on the couch, so I was going to go to a café or library from the next week. However, suddenly my parents bought me a new desk, chair, and a fancy desk lamp for me to use during the e-learning period. I was very surprised because I thought they don’t care about me and my school, but as I spend more time with them at home, I realized that they care a lot about my school work.

Meet Deborah I., a K5 student from Nigeria

Do you miss going to school or are you enjoying e-learning at home more?
I miss going to school.

What’s your favorite e-learning class? Why?
Art and PE. I like art because it gives me more time to paint. I like PE because I can have fun playing games.

What do you miss the most about your school?
I miss my teacher and especially the high-fives from her. I also miss my classmates. I miss my recess time to play outside.

What are you looking forward to doing the most when school resumes?
I look forward to hugging my teacher after every recess.

Has this e-learning experience taught you anything unexpected either about your teachers, peers, or parents?
You don’t know what would happen in the future. You can be preparing a gift for your friends and suddenly the virus came and you can’t go out to visit your friend.

Do you feel spending this much time at home with your parents has taught you anything you didn’t previously know about them? If so, what?
Yes. I didn’t know how to cook dumplings and I learned that it is simply by putting them in boiling water for a few minutes.

Photos: Courtesy of AISB School – Hope International, Unsplash