Biohacking Sleep with James Swanwick

As a former celebrity journalist, sports anchorman, writer, and current CEO of Swanwick Sleep, it is fair to say that James Swanwick is something of a Jack of all trades, and now he’s learned a new one. James figured out a way of biohacking sleep, and he’s telling us all about it in his interview with Dr. David Jockers. Let’s get the inside scoop below.

What is biohacking

The definition of biohacking has changed a lot over the years. Currently, biohacking sleep means “engaging in exploiting genetic materials experimentally without regard to ethical standards” (Google Dictionary) with the sole aim of improving your sleep.

“These days, biohacking means changing your lifestyle, so you look and feel your best.”

That’s the type of biohacking James talks about in Dr. Jockers’ podcast on biohacking sleep. Here’s a little idea of how the interview played out.

James gives us a glimpse of how it all started...

In the beginning, there was no artificial light at night, and it was good. The body slept in complete darkness, was active in daylight, and our circadian rhythms were set.

“The invention of artificial light threw our circadian rhythms out of sync.”

That was all well and good until Thomas Edison invented the lightbulb. As technology advanced, people found themselves surrounded by light even at night - light from our televisions, our computers, and our light bulbs.

This new electronic source of light was blue light, which was the worst sleep disrupter of all the colors of light on the spectrum. It throws our circadian rhythms out of sync, and with that our whole body gets out of sync.

James knew he needed to find a way to biohack sleep in order to save the world from the ravages of poor sleep.

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Biohacking Sleep

James realized that if he wore glasses with orange lenses, they would neutralize the blue light from electronic devices. Therefore, he could restore the balance of his circadian rhythm without sacrificing the time he spent in front of electronic devices at night.

Of course, they would have to look good too.

That’s when Swannies Blue Blocking Glasses entered the picture. Swannies offered a stylish alternative to other blue light blocking glasses out there.

But James didn’t stop there. He knew there were other ways to biohack sleep. With further research, he had developed a daily activity plan that everyone could adapt to in order to improve their sleep quality.

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Here are some bonus tried-and-true biohacking tips from James:

1. Start your day with a burst of sunlight. Light sends a signal to your brain to wake up and helps regulate your circadian clock. It may also boost your metabolism, so don’t be surprised if you find yourself slimming down a bit.
2. Exercise in the morning is another way to help you sleep better. It expands your energy during the day which makes you feel fatigued at night so that sleepiness can come naturally.
3. Minimize your caffeine consumption. You’ll never find James with a cup of coffee in his hands any time within six hours before his bedtime. Not only does caffeine make it harder to fall asleep, but it also disrupts your sleep cycle. Therefore, your sleep is not as regenerative as it would be without the caffeine.
4. If you can’t set a screen curfew for yourself, wear Swannies blue blocking glasses. They block out the harmful blue light from your computer to keep your circadian rhythms neanderthal and your technological rhythms millennial.

For more on James’ biohacking sleep tips listen to this podcast episode with Dr. Jockers below.

Also, visit our collection of deep sleep products.