Get to know Dr. Michael Breus, Purple’s first chief sleep science advisor
At the beginning of May, Purple officially welcomed Dr. Michael Breus, Ph.D. Board-certified Sleep Specialist as Purple’s first-ever chief sleep science advisor. Because of his expertise on sleep and wellness, partnering with Purple was a natural fit. Dr. Breus will work closely with Purple’s innovations team to develop and test new comfort innovation products, taking meaningful steps forward in measuring sleep performance in the years ahead. Purple’s sleep research will focus on developing and implementing sleep studies to identify innovations that optimize for the best night’s sleep possible.
Dr. Breus, known as “The Sleep Doctor,” has a simple mission: to change people’s lives with sleep. He has 20+ years of clinical experience seeing patients, is a Diplomate of the American Board of Sleep Medicine, and is one of only 168 psychologists in the world (that’s right, the world) to have passed the Sleep Medical Specialist board without going to medical school.
“My mission aligns perfectly with that of Purple’s, which is to improve people’s lives with sleep,” says Dr. Breus. “People can truly live a better life through better sleep, and Purple is a company whose mission, values, and products all adhere to that promise.”
Dr. Breus is passionate about sleep for a simple explanation: It changes lives. “If you change someone’s sleep, you can change their life, it’s really that simple”
Sleep advice
If there’s one piece of advice Dr. Breus would give to people about sleep, it’s to wake up at the same time every single day. Yes, even on the weekends.
“Every day I wake up at 6:13 am on the dot, no alarm needed,” he says. “My circadian rhythm is used to waking up at that time and ideally, it’s best for people to be circadian aligned. While you might not be at the point where you can wake up at the same time every morning without an alarm, start by trying to make your wake-up time regular.”
“As far as winding down, I have a pretty specific routine which I call the power-down hour. I take the hour before I go to bed and chop it up into three segments,” Dr. Breus says. “The first twenty minutes is administrative tasks you need to get done (getting backpacks together, tidying up, etc.), the next twenty minutes is used for hygiene, (taking a shower, brushing teeth) and the final twenty minutes are for relaxation (meditation, prayer, etc.).”
As for a morning routine, Dr. Breus follows the Rule of 15s:
“I take 15 deep breaths to wake up my respiratory system, I drink 15 oz of water immediately, and I get 15 minutes of sunlight which turns off the melatonin faucet in my brain.”
There are five main things people can do to improve quality of sleep:
1. Wake up at the same time every single day
2. Stop consuming caffeine by 2pm.
3. Be conscious of alcohol consumption.
4. Don’t exercise right before bed.
5. Adopt a morning Routine of 15s.
Looking for more ways to learn from Dr. Breus? Check out the below articles.
