For years, we have talked about sleep primarily in terms of one question: Are we getting enough?

I think that conversation needs to go further.

How long we sleep matters, but I am equally interested in when we sleep, how consistently we sleep, and how our environment interacts with the natural rhythms of the body.

This is where circadian health becomes so important.

I have always believed that our bodies cannot be separated from the environments in which we live. Light, darkness, movement, food, stress, technology, travel, and our daily routines all send signals to the body. Modern life, however, does not always align with the rhythms our bodies naturally expect.

We wake up to alarms instead of sunlight. We spend hours indoors. We stare at brightly lit screens late into the evening. We travel across time zones, eat at inconsistent hours, and sometimes expect our bodies to immediately switch from a highly stimulated day into restful sleep.

Then we wonder why we are exhausted.

Understanding Our Internal Clock

Our circadian rhythm is essentially the body's internal 24-hour clock. It helps regulate when we feel awake and when we feel ready for sleep, while also interacting with many other biological processes.

One of the strongest signals influencing this internal clock is light.

Daylight tells our bodies that it is time to be awake and active. Darkness helps create the conditions associated with rest. That sounds incredibly simple, but our modern environment has complicated the equation.

Artificial lighting allows us to extend our days long after sunset. Phones and televisions bring bright light directly in front of our eyes. Work schedules, travel, and social obligations can make consistency difficult.

This is why I believe we need to start thinking about sleep as more than something that happens when we get into bed.

Sleep is part of an entire 24-hour cycle.

Have We Started Overcomplicating Sleep?

There is another side of the current sleep conversation that I find fascinating.

We now have incredible technology that allows us to track sleep duration, heart rate, movement, recovery, and other measurements. I appreciate data and believe technology can give us valuable insight into our own patterns.

But I also believe wellness can become counterproductive when we become obsessed with perfecting every number.

Some people wake up, check their sleep score, and immediately decide how they should feel based on what a device tells them.

I don't want us to lose our ability to listen to our own bodies.

Did you wake up feeling rested?

Do you have energy?

Can you concentrate?

How is your mood?

How do you feel throughout the afternoon?

Those observations matter too.

The goal is not a perfect sleep score. The goal is restorative sleep that helps us function, recover, think clearly, and feel well.

I Think Better Sleep Begins in the Morning

One of the biggest misconceptions about sleep is that a nighttime problem requires only a nighttime solution.

I look at it differently.

Your nighttime routine can actually begin in the morning.

Getting outside and experiencing natural daylight early in the day can help reinforce the body's natural timing. Moving your body, maintaining relatively consistent waking and sleeping times, and paying attention to when you consume caffeine can also become part of the bigger picture.

Then, as evening approaches, we can begin changing the signals around us.

Dim the lights.

Put the phone down earlier.

Create a quieter environment.

Allow your mind and body time to transition out of the stimulation of the day.

These are simple actions, but I often believe the simplest parts of wellness are the ones we overlook.

Your Environment Does Not Stop Affecting You When You Sleep

I have spent much of my career thinking about the relationship between human health and our environment.

That relationship continues while we sleep.

Look around your bedroom.

Is light coming through the windows?

Is a television running all night?

Is your phone beside your head?

Are notifications constantly interrupting the environment?

Is the room comfortable and conducive to rest?

We spend a significant portion of our lives sleeping, yet we sometimes give very little thought to the environment where that sleep occurs.

I believe our bedrooms should be treated as spaces for recovery.

What I Do Not Want Wellness to Become

I don't want wellness to become another pursuit of perfection.

You do not need the perfect morning routine, the perfect diet, the perfect supplement routine, the perfect workout, and the perfect sleep score every single day to care for yourself.

Our bodies are dynamic.

Life changes.

Travel happens.

Children wake us up.

Work becomes demanding.

Schedules shift.

The goal is not perfection. The goal is awareness.

When we understand how our bodies respond to our environments and our habits, we can begin making more intentional choices.

Getting Back to the Basics

As circadian health continues to receive more attention, I think we are going to see an interesting shift in wellness.

Instead of constantly asking, "What else can I add?" we may start asking, "What is interfering with what my body already knows how to do?"

Sometimes supporting the body begins with remarkably basic things.

Light.

Darkness.

Movement.

Rest.

Consistency.

A supportive environment.

I believe the future of wellness will involve incredible scientific and technological advances, but I also believe some of our greatest opportunities will come from better understanding the biological systems we already have.

So tonight, don't only think about how many hours of sleep you are going to get.

Think about your entire day.

The light you experienced.

The movement you had.

The stimulation you were exposed to.

The environment you created.

And most importantly, pay attention to what your body is telling you.

Because wellness, in my view, has never been about chasing perfection.

It is about learning to work with your body instead of constantly working against it.

Dr. Christina Rahm