A shared practice
The Importance of Temperature
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Created bySean Fargo
Part 7 of Sean's sleep series — recorded in his own voice.
In Sean Fargo’s own voice8 min
Read along — the full script
I'm Sean Fargo. What's the temperature in your room as you try to go to sleep each night? Do you have a thermostat or a fan or extra blankets around? Sixty-eight degrees is the temperature that doctors have defined as most ideal for falling asleep to.
In the summertime, I'm guessing that your room is probably a little bit warmer than sixty-eight degrees, depending on where you live, and in the winter, it's probably chillier than that. So I invite you, if you can, to find a sweet spot of about sixty-eight degrees each night. If you don't have a heater or an air conditioner or a swamp cooler, I invite you to bring a fan into your room or extra blankets to try to find that sweet spot of about sixty-eight degrees.
So beyond regulating the temperature in your room with air conditioner or heater, or by removing blankets or adding blankets so that you find that sweet spot of sixty-eight degrees, I also have some mindfulness exercises that can help you to feel warmer or to feel cooler, depending on what the temperature is. So let's get started by finding a place on the ground or your bed where you feel safe and comfortable. Laying down on your back, if that's not too painful, with your legs outstretched and your hands by your side or whatever feels most comfortable to you.
Noticing the temperature in the room. If you don't have a thermostat or thermometer, just guessing if it's warmer or cooler than sixty-eight degrees. And now shifting our awareness back to our body, relaxing the belly, and taking a deep breath.
Emphasizing the exhale. In general, as we exhale, we tend to cool the body down. So I invite you to really emphasize your, your exhales if you're warm or if you think the temperature's warmer than sixty-eight degrees by taking deep breaths and breathing out longer than normal.
Breathing in and then really exhaling for a long period of time. Now, if you feel cooler than sixty-eight degrees, by all means, you can add a blanket or a sheet on top of you. Also emphasizing the inhale can help warm the body.
Without holding your breath, just emphasizing the length of the inhale just a little bit and shortening the exhale can help to warm the body just a little bit to find that sweet spot of sixty-eight degrees. It can also be helpful to rub your hands a little bit to warm them up and placing them on your belly to warm up your belly a little bit and to warm up the hands. And feel your belly rise and fall with each breath as you have your hands warming up on your belly.
Noticing the temperature in the room, noticing the temperature of the body, and finding that sweet spot where you're not too warm, not too cold, but feeling cool and calm. Inviting a sense of coolness if it's a little warm. And inviting a sense of warmth if it's cool.
Lengthening the exhales to cool down or lengthening the inhales to warm up. Without holding your breath, just emphasizing the inhales to warm up or the exhales to cool down just a little bit. Feeling calm and comfortable.
Relaxing the body with a balanced temperature right at the sweet spot.
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