It had been months since health and fitness influencer Helen Leland had enjoyed a good night’s sleep. She would wake up exhausted every morning, which increased her stress levels as the day wore on and resulted in setbacks in her personal and professional life. The reason turned out to be her habit of breathing through her mouth while sleeping which led to snoring. So, she began taping her mouth to enjoy a hassle-free sleep. “I used to be a mouth breather. It was apparent in the shape of my face and my tired energy level every morning. Then I started mouth taping in the night. Three years later, it is something I will never stop doing,” she says.
Like Leland, numerous other influencers are extolling the virtues of practices believed to enhance one’s sleep. Health and wellness coach Akshay Satija advocates taking magnesium supplements orally or applying it as a spray, oil or lotion. Dr Darshan Shah, a board-certified surgeon and founder of Next Health, recommends the use of a wearable sleep tracker device to monitor your sleep cycle, aiming for 7+ hours every night.
Though everyone aspires for a good night’s sleep, these influencers and sleep aficionados are taking things up a notch with ‘sleepmaxxing’. This trend, largely popularised on social media, encourages people to strive for perfect sleep by eliminating any potential distractions or obstacles. Driven by the belief that optimal rest is crucial for overall wellbeing, these people use avant garde products and practices to enhance sleep.
“Sleepmaxxing is a deliberate approach to optimising sleep. This trend has particularly captured the attention of high-performing individuals —executives, athletes, and professionals — who view optimal sleep as essential to achieving peak performance in both their personal and professional lives,” explains Dr Mukesh Batra, founder and chairman of Dr Batra’s group.
Dr Batra points to research linking insufficient or poor-quality sleep to numerous health issues including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, and weakened immune function.
Indians, in particular, fare poorly on a healthy sleep scale. According to a survey conducted by polling platform LocalCircles, 61 per cent of Indians sleep for fewer than six hours per night without interruption, with 23 per cent struggling to get even four hours of uninterrupted sleep. Further, fitness tracking company Fitbit’s 2019 survey spanning 18 countries, concluded that Indians were the second-most sleep-deprived globally, with Japan leading the pack. Researchers at the Centre for Consciousness Studies, NIMHANS found that one-third of Indians were victims of varied sleep disorders.
Tired of struggling to sleep well every night, Swati Gupta, founder of Esme Luxury Silk turned to the bio-hacking community for a solution. Here, people DIY unconventional experimental biotechnology by using everyday items or recycled equipment to find solutions to problems. She found that many issues had to be addressed to maximise sleep quality.
Hence, she turned to silk to enhance her sleep as the fabric is known to regulate body temperature, reduce wrinkles and hair tangles, and provide a hypoallergenic sleeping environment. Gupta explains, “For any new innovation or habit to work, an individual’s lifestyle habits are important. Silk is anti-bacterial and has many beauty benefits that have stood the test of time.”
Dr Sreeragh Haridas, the wellness director at Six Senses Fort Barwara points out that mouth tapes, chin straps and magnesium supplements are mere hacks which have no backing by major scientific studies or evidence. “All these may offer temporary relief, but they are not advisable as long-term consistent solutions.”
Instead, he advocates following a healthy routine for better sleep quality, which includes an optimal workout, a balanced meal intake, proper work-life balance, avoiding excessive screen time, creating a healthy sleep environment at home, and leaving a gap of three hours between dinner and sleep to allow the natural bio clock to work.
Get Sleepmaxxing
Mouth Tape
Strips of adhesive tape to be placed over the mouth to improve breathing, prevent snoring, stop mouth dryness and enhance the shape of the jawline.
Magnesium Oil / Lotion / Spray / Supplements
Magnesium encourages deep and healthy sleep. It can be used in a variety of ways including as oral supplements or application-based lotions, sprays and oils.
Sleep Tracker Devices
Smart bands or rings that track the number of hours one sleeps at night, as well as the quality of the sleep.
Chin Strap
A cloth strap that is fastened around the head with a Velcro to hold the chin tight and mouth closed while sleeping. It reduces mouth snoring by stabilising the jaw and encouraging natural breathing through the nose.
Sleep Mocktail
A drink made to consume before bed containing magnesium or melatonin supplements, cherry juice and soda to enhance the flavour of the drink.