Dr. Jenni Pottebaum's perspective on the relationship between sleep, exercise and the immune system is a result of her PhD in Neuroscience AND her certification as a personal trainer and Ironman-certified triathlon coaching. As the world struggles to cope with COVID-19, Neil and Dr. Jenni explore simple things you can do to boost your defenses. Plus, we take a listener call from Heidi in Toronto, share a review of the show, and share news about our sister podcast, The Snooze Button Express. LINKAPALOOZA: Dr. Jenni's website Dr. Jenni on Facebook Dr. Jenni on Instagram ..read more

Major General Melvin Spiese (RET, USMC) has had more to do with how the men and women of the US Marine Corps are trained than perhaps anyone else. Here, he talks with Neil about how training our fighting forces has evolved over the years, how the training has shifted to the area above the neck, and how sleep impacts our soldiers ..read more

According to the My Podcast Reviews service, by Daniel J. Lewis, there are as of this writing 1,429,590 valid podcasts in Apple Podcasts. Evo Terra had podcast #40. The 40th podcast ever produced belonged to Evo Terra. And Evo has been battling insomnia for something like fifteen years, often with help from a certain herbal remedy that has been discussed by other guests on the show, particularly the episode with Dr. Ryan Vandrey and the one with Dr. Richard Allen, both from Johns Hopkins University. We talk about the impact said remedy has had on his insomnia, and whether he thinks he's taking ..read more

Ever been lying in bed, trying to sleep, and you just get the urge to move your legs? Or the feeling that if you don't, you're going to jump out of your skin? Meet a man who's devoted an entire career to Restless Legs Syndrome and Periodic Limb Movement - Dr. Richard Allen just received the Outstanding Scientific Achievement Award from the Sleep Research Society, and we get into the weeds about what causes RLS in the first place, and what we can do about it ..read more

Okay, we all know that REM sleep is important, so maybe the headline is a little sensationalized; but the data don't lie. Dr. Eileen Leary joins the show this week to talk about a fascinating look at nearly ten thousand people, that points to a reduction in REM sleep as a risk factor for mortality. One of the things that's fascinating about this data is that Eileen tried - repeatedly - to come up with another way to explain what she found. Instead, she can quantify the risk of all-cause mortality that you sign up for when you don't get enough REM sleep. Couple that with the work Laura Bojarska ..read more

You probably know her as “Sleep Coach Beth”, from either her Calm And Cozy Book of Sleep, the Calm And Cozy Podcast, or her career as a sleep coach. Beth Wyatt has a Facebook group, too, where people with sleep challenges look to their coach and to each other. This week’s episode of The Snooze Button podcast is a long one – and it has to be! The Coach – Sleep Coach Beth Wyatt We talk with Beth about what a sleep coach does when sleep doesn’t show up. In addition, we cover meditation, the importance of comfort in sleep, and.. uh.. drawing faces on sleeping people, too ..read more

Dr. Jason Ellis is regarded as one of the heavyweights of sleep science, particularly when it comes to his work with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia, or CBT-I. In this episode, we talk about Jay's book, The One Week Insomnia Cure, and how a quick hit of CBT-I worked in 73% of patients with acute insomnia. It really is a fascinating and wide-ranging discussion that includes everything from melatonin to med school, and what "the system" can do to make things better. Some key takeaways: “I think that [the COVID-19 pandemic] is actually going to create a lot of opportunities fo ..read more

Prepare to toss aside much of what you've heard about dreams - Dr. Celyne Bastien walks us through dreams, nightmares, lucid dreaming, somnambulism and the different stages of dreaming. Plus, a ton on sleep apnea, and even bedwetting. LINKAPALOOZA Sleep On It! from the Canadian Sleep Society Dr. Bastien's page at Laval University The CERVO Brain Research Centre ..read more

Dr. Alex Auerbach is the Director of Wellness and Development for the Toronto Raptors. He joins Neil to talk about all things "north of the neck" for elite athletes. They cover sleep, self-care, the drive that can lead athletes to incredible injury recoveries, and even  the psychology behind performance-enhancing drugs ..read more

Actress Chilina Kennedy had a night that most of us can only imagine: Portraying one of her heroes, on Broadway, while that hero sat in the audience watching. As the star of Beautiful: The Carole King Story, Chilina did hundreds of shows as the legendary singer/songwriter. However, our guess is that if you look up the word "pressure", there's probably a picture of Chilina the night before. (Turns out we'd be wrong, according to Chilina.) How do you fall asleep in a situation like that, when you have such a massive day ahead of you? We start exploring that question with people from all walks of ..read more