Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams

Reviews

1. 

   David P – August 28, 2024

   Everything you need to know about your sleep
   This is a “must have” book for all health professionals! Matthew Walker delivers a thorough review of the latest research on sleep in a very readable and entertaining style. Mental health professionals can really improve their essential knowledge base with this book. There is so much to learn about circadian rhythm, light pollution, sleep stages, sleep hygiene, and sleep habits! You will be surprised at how much data is available. And you will quickly be influenced to be far more serious about getting a healthy. amount of quality sleep! I strongly recommend this book to anyone with a sleep disorder or anyone who helps others with mental or general physical health.

2. 

   Desmond Yuen – August 28, 2024

   Why We Need Sleeping?
   I got interested in this book because I want to know how I can sleep better. Did I get my questions answered? I would say most of them.The book was written in 4 parts. Readers can read each part individually without following the order. That was exactly what I did. Reading the book out of order and focused on topics interested me most – jetlag, sleeping pills, dreams, and healthy sleep etc.Part 1. This Thing Called SleepWhat I liked most about this book is how it dispelled the myths about sleeping. Let’s start with sleeping pills. Most of the sleeping pills on the market are based on Melatonin. Bascially, it helps regulate the timing of when sleep occurs i.e. it does not put you to sleep. Taking Melatonin for jet lag does not guarantee we will be able to sleep but the timing signal does significantly increase the likelihood of sleep. Another misconception is taking alcholic drinks before sleep will help us sleep better. It turns out that it has the opposite effect.Part 2. Why Should You SleepI used to hear stories about great people only sleep a few hours every day so they get a lot more things done versus the ordinary folks. However, even people such as Bill Gates is saying now having 8 hours of sleep is important. Sleep deprivation can be a serious problem. Workers will lose productivity if they do not get enough sleep and it may affect their health as their immune system will be weakened. A more serious scenario is when we do not have enough sleep and we are driving.Part 3. How and Why We DreamI always tried to interpret a dream especially the scary ones and find out what does it means. The author looked at dreams from a scientific standpoint. It’s almost like fortune telling when we try to figure out the meaning of a dream. However, with the experimental data collected, they were able to show that people get more creative and be able to solve tough problems during their dreams. He cited examples from well known people such Thomas Edison and Paul McCartney. Very interesting findings. I need to dream more so I can be more creative!Part 4. From Sleeping Pills to Society TransformedThis is the part I enjoyed most as it answered most of my questions. With the modern society we have more and more distraction everyday. In addition to the computers at work and home, we’ve so many electronic gadgets such as iPAD, cell phone and iWatch etc. And it is actually not healthy to spend so much time on these electronic devices before going to bed. It was also very enlightenling for me to learn that there are a number of factors affecting our sleep such as the blue night from the LED monitor, the temperature, and lighting in our bedroom etc.The author stated clearly at the beginning of his book that it is not designed to be a self-help guide and it’s not written to target or treat sleep disorders. However, he did included an appendix “Twelve Tips for Healthy Sleep.”The book speaks with data and facts. I learned a lot from it and I thorughly enjoyed reading this book. On the other hand, for folks not interested in all the details of the experimental data, you can still get a lot of good insights from the book.

3. 

   Diego – August 28, 2024

   Amo este libro. Me lo recomendó una amiga porque yo tenía muy malos hábitos de sueño. Desde el capítulo uno me cambió la vida. Se lo recomendaría a cualquier persona, sin importar sus hábitos de sueño. La lectura es un poco pesada porque de pronto es muy técnico, entonces no lo recomiendo para niños y jóvenes, sobre todo si no están habituados a leer

4. 

   Jonathan Lauzon – August 28, 2024

   I learned a lot of things about sleep, this book is great and Matthew knows his so much subject as he is one of the best sleep expert scientist in the world.I even subscribed to the Masterclass platform in part to watch his video Masterclass, which is essentially a condensed version of the book but to hear him talk with passion about his subject was very complementary to the book. He is very well articulated and speaks clearly.Conclusion: Everyone should read this book. Sleep is so underrated in our society.

5. 

   Andre Lima Batista – August 28, 2024

   The author guides us, with a didactic approach and full of practical examples about the importance of sleep for living beings, especially us humans. The logical sequence of the narrative based on scientific data shows us simply and objectively how sleeping properly makes us healthy. I highly recommend it!

6. 

   Amazon Customer – August 28, 2024

   I’ve read other books about sleep, watched YouTube lectures and listened to podcasts about the importance of sleep for good health and longevity. This is the most detailed, scientific explanation of the subject and written in an understandable way for adults. Brilliant.