Sleep Unplugged with Dr. Chris Winter
No holds barred, unscripted discussion on a wide range of sleep topics - from sleep disorders to current research and controversies in the field. No topic is off limits! Dr. Chris Winter is a clinician, a board certified neurologist and double boarded sleep specialist with 30 years of clinical experience. He is the author of The Sleep Solution and The Rested Child, and is a popular consultant and speaker, working for many professional sports teams. He is well known for his unique perspective and ability to demystify sleep, all of which he brings to Sleep Unplugged.
Sleep Unplugged with Dr. Chris Winter
#203 - What’s Next To Your Bed?: In The Dark, Try To Make It Work
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What’s on your bedside table? A lamp? A phone? A book? A bottle of melatonin gummies? A tangled charging cable? In this episode we explore what our bedside environments reveal about our relationship with sleep itself. Using real listener-submitted nightstands and bedside drawers — including my own — we introduce the Sleep Sanctuary Index (SSI™), a playful but evidence-informed scoring system designed to determine whether the things beside our bed are helping or hurting sleep. Along the way we discuss insomnia psychology, sensory regulation, sleep consumerism, clutter, nighttime rituals, and why some bedside tables feel like sanctuaries while others feel like tactical survival stations.
In this episode we will:
- Introduce the “Sleep Sanctuary Index (SSI™)” — a 100-point grading system for bedside tables and bedside drawers
- Explore how clocks, clutter, visible cords, and environmental overstimulation may contribute to cognitive arousal and insomnia
- Discuss research surrounding conditioned arousal, hypervigilance, and why the bedroom environment matters psychologically
- Examine how sound machines, eye masks, earplugs, nasal strips, and breathing devices may support sleep by improving sensory control and reducing physiologic arousal
- Analyze real bedside setups ranging from “Reflective Sleep Specialist” to “Tactical Survivor”
- Discuss the rise of “sleep consumerism” and whether too many sleep interventions can paradoxically make sleep feel like work
- Explore how nighttime environments can become associated with either safety and ritual…or vigilance and performance
- Invite listeners to submit photos of their own bedside tables and drawers to receive an official Sleep Sanctuary Index score and Nightstand Personality Type designation
Original intro music Vigilanteology by Abhinav Singh (copyright 2026)
Original outro music Vigilanteology (reprise) by Abhinav Singh (copyright 2026)
Produced by: Maeve Winter
Music by: Dr. Abhinav Singh (@sleep_vigilante), all rights reserved
More
- Twitter: @drchriswinter
- IG: @drchriwinter
- Threads: @drchriswinter
- Bluesky: @drchriswinter
- The Sleep Solution and The Rested Child
Thanks for listening and sleep well!
