Establishing a Sleep-Friendly Environment
Sleep Like a Pro | Week 3
By Dr. David Feuz, DCN, CNS, LDN, BCHN
The Mission: Building the Sleep Cave
While metabolic integrity ensures your internal systems are stable, your brain is still a survival machine, constantly scanning your surroundings for "threats" or signals to stay alert. Once your internal biology is ready for rest, you must ensure your external environment doesn't sabotage that progress. If your bedroom is too warm, too bright, or cluttered with digital distractions, your nervous system will remain in a state of high readiness. This prevents you from entering the deep, restorative stages of sleep where your body and mind truly recover. Therefore, adjusting your surroundings to create a sleep friendly environmental is a key step in supporting sleep quality.
Optimizing Your Surroundings
To create an optimal sleep-friendly environment, you must address three specific factors:
Managing Sensory Input
Your bedroom should be optimized for silence and darkness. Even small amounts of light from streetlamps or electronics can penetrate your eyelids and suppress melatonin production (Chang et al, 2015; Nieva-Ramírez et al., 2025). Similarly, inconsistent noises can trigger a "startle response" that keeps you in light sleep. By using blackout curtains, earplugs, or a sleep mask, you minimize the sensory data your brain has to process, allowing your nervous system to stay quiet.
Initiating Sleep Mode
Your core body temperature must drop by approximately 2 degrees Fahrenheit to initiate sleep. A room temperature around 65 degrees Fahrenheit combined with a pre-bed warm shower can act as a powerful "cooling strategy." Taking a warm shower or bath (104–108.5°F) for just 10–15 minutes, roughly 1–2 hours before bed, triggers vasodilation, which sends blood to your hands and feet to dump core heat (Haghayegh et al., 2019; Sleep Foundation, 2025). This rapid cooling promotes sleep onset.
When you follow this with a predictable sequence of events, like dimming lights or light stretching, you create a conditioned response. This ritual acts as a trigger, signaling your body’s internal chemistry that it is time to shift from "alert" to "recovery" mode.
Implementing a Digital Blackout
Modern devices provide continuous cognitive stimulation that keeps your brain in an active, problem-solving state. While blue light is a factor, recent research emphasizes that the cumulative impact of extended daily use and specific bedtime usage is a primary driver of poor sleep quality (Şambel Aykutlu et al., 2024). Engaging with a screen within 1-2 hours of bed strains your eyes and keeps your cognitive engine revving. A digital blackout allows your mind to de-escalate from the day's stressors, transitioning from "active" mode to the "recovery" state necessary for deep, restorative sleep.
Self-Reflection Quiz
Evaluate your surroundings:
Is your bedroom usually warmer than 70 degrees Fahrenheit?
Is there light from the street, hallway, or electronics visible in your room at night?
Do you scroll on your phone or use a laptop within 60 minutes of trying to sleep?
Do you lack a consistent, predictable routine that you follow every single night?
If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these and struggle with sleep, your surroundings may be keeping your brain on high alert. It’s time to optimize your environment.
Understanding the "Why" is the first step, but the "How" happens in the app. This week, we are challenging you to establish a sleep-friendly environment.
Take control of your sleep hygiene over 28 days. By stacking small, repeatable actions, you can help achieve deeper sleep, better energy, and stronger days.
Join Eagles from across the nation, 01 - 28 MAY, as they take on the Eagle Fit: Sleep like a Pro Challenge.
David Feuz, DCN, CNS, LDN, BCHN
As a U.S. Coast Guard veteran with 8 years of experience in search and rescue and maritime security, David knows first-hand how sleep deprivation impacts performance.
Currently, David serves as the Academic Department Chair for Nutrition at Purdue University Global and the Director of Nutrition Education at Holistic Consulting, LLC. He holds multiple board certifications/licenses (Certified Nutrition Specialist, Licensed Dietitian Nutritionist, & Board Certified in Holistic Nutrition), a Doctorate in Clinical Nutrition, and a background in integrative health.
David is excited to help the Team RWB community optimize their health from the cellular level up by mastering the most critical pillar of performance: sleep.
References
Chang, A. M., Aeschbach, D., Duffy, J. F., & Czeisler, C. A. (2015). Evening use of light-emitting eReaders negatively affects sleep, circadian timing, and next-morning alertness. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 112(4), 1232–1237. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1418490112
Haghayegh, S., et al. (2019). Before-bedtime passive body heating by warm shower or bath to improve sleep: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Sleep Medicine Reviews. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2019.04.008
Nieva-Ramírez, D. G., Uribe, M., & Nuño-Lámbarri, N. (2025). Artificial Light at Night, Sleep Disruption, and Liver Health: Implications for MASLD Pathogenesis. International journal of environmental research and public health, 22(11), 1729. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph22111729
Şambel Aykutlu, M., Aykutlu, H. C., Özveren, M., & Garip, R. (2024). Digital media use and its effects on digital eye strain and sleep quality in adolescents: A new emerging epidemic?. PloS one, 19(12), e0314390. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0314390