Sleeping Well It’s autumn. The days are getting shorter, the air is cooling off, and the natural world to which we are a part is starting to turn inward. In my own life there are many changes afoot, and in seasons of transformation it is easy to get swept up by the winds of change as they blow through—shifting our work schedules, sleep cycles, family commitments, and priorities. That makes it all the more important to make space for stillness, grounding, and rest. So this month, we’re spending a whole episode on sleep. In a world that glorifies the headlong busy rushing through our workdays and the “I only got four hours” humble-brag, it is countercultural to remember and rejoice in the healing potential of a good night’s rest. When it comes to sleep wellness content, we are awash in supplement recommendations, insomnia quick fixes, weighted blanket ads, and breath techniques to offset the madness we are all living through. Some of that helps, and you’ll find plenty of practical tools in this episode. But I want to demonstrate that sleep, like any other health concern, exists in a context that goes far beyond the individual. Your body exists in a context. The lights, the sounds, the news cycles, and the dominant cultures we live under all have an impact on our psyches and bodily systems, and in many ways they disconnect us from the seasonal rhythms of the earth and of our own bodies. Your body also exists in relationship: to other people, to time, to work and rest, to night and day. So when there’s a problem with your body, like poor sleep, I’m of the opinion that the solution goes wider than your individual body. Our whole community is at stake. We are all better off when our neighbors sleep well. When our doctors, nurses, PAs, teachers, police officers, firefighters, and first responders sleep well. That’s why rest is a collective endeavor, and one that can be discussed with a wider lens than individual solutions alone. Takeaways from this episode Content note: This episode includes brief discussion of family loss, police violence, enslavement, and domestic violence. Take care as you listen, and feel free to pause and come back. * Sleep sits alongside diet and exercise as a foundation of health. Adults need 7 to 9 hours, teens 8 to 10, and kids 10 to 12. * Chronic short sleep wears down our ability to notice how impaired we are. After a few nights, many people feel like they’ve adapted even as their performance keeps dropping. * Drowsy driving is uniquely dangerous because microsleeps mean drivers often don’t brake or swerve at all. * Sleep reflects safety. Bullying, neighborhood stress, air pollution, and worry about loved ones all show up in how people sleep, and sleep loss is unevenly distributed by race. * Sleep loss can amplify biases people already hold. That makes overtime, shift scheduling, and workplace culture in policing and healthcare a matter of public safety. * At home: get morning sunlight without sunglasses, dim your lights for about three hours before bed (blue-blocking glasses help), keep melatonin doses low and talk to a professional before starting supplements, and save your thinking and planning for somewhere other than your bed. * My tip: try legs-up-the-wall pose in bed for 5 to 10 minutes when your mind won’t settle. A guided evening wind-down practice is coming in two weeks on Root Shock Rituals. Some figures in the conversation, including the melatonin suppression percentages for different light sources and the drowsy-versus-drunk driving comparison, are shared from Dr. Darley’s clinical experience and expertise. About our guest Dr. Catherine Darley is a naturopathic physician and sleep specialist based in Seattle. She founded the Institute of Naturopathic Sleep Medicine to offer natural, less invasive solutions to a very common problem: poor sleep. She works with patients, trains other doctors, and teaches sleep health to employees at companies and agencies. * Naturopathic Sleep Medicine * Skilled Sleeper courses and resources * Her Substack Works Cited & Further Reading Blumenstein, L. (2009). Domestic violence within law enforcement families: The link between traditional police subculture and domestic violence among police [Master’s thesis, University of South Florida]. Digital Commons @ University of South Florida. https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/1862 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024, May 15). FastStats: Sleep in adults. https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/data-research/facts-stats/adults-sleep-facts-and-stats.html Gallegos, A. M., Trabold, N., Cerulli, C., & Pigeon, W. R. (2021). Sleep and interpersonal violence: A systematic review. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 22(2), 359–369. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838019852633 Hersey, T. (2022). Rest is resistance: A manifesto. Little, Brown Spark. https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/tricia-hersey/rest-is-resistance/9780316365536/ Hersey, T. (n.d.). About. The Nap Ministry. https://thenapministry.wordpress.com/about/ https://triciahersey.com Johnson, D. A., Reiss, B., Cheng, P., & Jackson, C. L. (2022). Understanding the role of structural racism in sleep disparities: A call to action and methodological considerations. Sleep, 45(10), Article zsac200. https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsac200 Schober, D. J., Forbes, C., Ignoffo, S., & Lynch, E. B. (2025). Bridging the sleep gap: Barriers and strategies for meeting the national sleep guideline among Black women. Sleep health, 11(6), 816–822. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleh.2025.09.004 Scullin, M. K., Hebl, M. R., Corrington, A., & Nguyen, S. (2020). Experimental sleep loss, racial bias, and the decision criterion to shoot in the Police Officer’s Dilemma task. Scientific Reports, 10, Article 20581. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-77522-z Get full access to Root Shock at rootshock.substack.com/subscribe
