What if a few small changes to your bedroom and nightly routine could help you sleep better and wake up feeling more refreshed? In this episode we talk with a sleep expert about practical ways to optimize your bedroom—everything from choosing the right mattress size and an ideal bedtime window to items you should remove from your bedside. We also dive into the different habits people have about wearing shoes indoors, share our own shoe rules, and explain why those rules might seem odd to others. Finally, we indulge Sherry’s salt lamp obsession and report back after a visit to a local salt therapy room.
You can also find this episode on your favorite podcast app, including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, TuneIn Radio, Stitcher, and Spotify.
What’s New
- First, here are the salt lamps we have around our house and the salt lamp nightlights Sherry keeps plugged in the kitchen.
- Next up: salt therapy rooms. We researched several options and visited a local studio to try it for ourselves.
- During our research, a few salt room images stuck with us. One popular chain in Florida uses dramatic, lounge-style seating and low lighting to create a relaxing space.
- Another setup felt almost like a sauna, with a cozy, cave-like atmosphere.
- Here’s the local salt room we visited. The experience was less about the décor and more about the sensation of salt air—overall we enjoyed it and would go back.
- If you’re curious, the place we visited in the Richmond, VA area was a small independent studio offering timed sessions. We paid for our visit and were pleased with the experience.
- For those who enjoy other wellness experiments, we previously tried a float tank—listen to Episode #33 for that recap. It’s another experience we’d repeat.
Can We Just Talk About?
- Below is a photo of our small “mudroom” area where we keep our shoes. It works well for our household, though guests often leave shoes in front of the cubbies when there isn’t enough space.
- There’s a lot of variation in whether people wear shoes indoors. I found articles and surveys that suggest many Americans remove their shoes at home while others keep them on—opinions on cleanliness and comfort vary widely.
- We want to hear what you do. Please tell us whether you wear shoes inside, how you handle guest footwear, and any reasons behind your rules—cultural, practical, or otherwise. We’ll compile the responses to get a better sense of habits across listeners.
Sleep Book
- We discussed the book Sleep: The Myth of 8 Hours, the Power of Naps, and the New Plan to Recharge Your Body and Mind. It explores modern ideas about sleep duration, naps, and strategies to feel more rested.
- If you missed our earlier mention of new sleep habits, check Episode #128 for additional context on how we’re trying to improve our rest.
- Sherry tracks sleep with a Fitbit Alta while I use the AutoSleep app on an Apple Watch. These devices provide helpful trends and reminders, though the author notes that wrist-based trackers estimate sleep stages from heart rate and movement rather than measuring brain waves—the clinical standard for precise sleep stage detection.
- Using a tracker can still highlight patterns like total sleep time, consistency of bedtimes, and how lifestyle changes affect rest, which can be useful for making small improvements.
We’re Digging
- We love our white faux wood blinds. They’re installed on windows throughout our homes; in photos they often appear as bright slats, but they provide great light control and a clean look.
- When we installed the blinds at the beach house they introduced cordless versions, which we appreciate for both safety and aesthetics.
- On the reading list, Sherry highly recommends Liane Moriarty’s Nine Perfect Strangers. Moriarty also wrote Big Little Lies and other novels Sherry enjoys, such as What Alice Forgot and The Husband’s Secret.
If you want to revisit past recommendations, we keep a master list of everything we’ve been digging on our podcast notes page, as well as a running Book Club list of titles we’ve recommended over time.
Thanks to You Need A Budget (YNAB) for sponsoring this episode. You can sign up for an extended trial at their site to try the budgeting system we’ve found helpful.
Thanks for listening, everyone!
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