12 ALLURE MAY 20 19
A few weeks ago, a noise startled me awake shortly
before midnight—maybe a lead-footed cat jumping
off the kitchen counter or a tree branch brushing the
rooftop. My eyes popped open; my heart raced. I tried
to get back to sleep. I lay there for 30 minutes. Then
one hour. Thinking about sleep turned to overthink-
ing: At what point should I give up and accept that
this isn’t going to happen? And still I tried. Four more
hours passed. Instead of drifting off into sweet slum-
ber, I was dragging sheep over fences trying to knock
myself out by sheer will.
Sleeplessness has visited me a handful of times
throughout my life, usually on nights of elevated stress:
the evening before a major presentation in college
and, more recently, the night before a Today show
appearance, when I had a nagging worry that my alarm
would fail to go off at 5 a.m.
Ironically, we insomniacs often worry about some-
thing we want so badly to be well rested for and end
up exhausted and foggy instead.
It’s hard to explain to someone who’s never experi-
enced sleeplessness how you can sometimes try so
hard to fall asleep that you psych yourself out. People
will tell you to focus on your breathing or read a book,
shut off all electronics an hour before bedtime. And I
know all of these things make sense. Yet I, a successful
person, am a failure at sleeping.
I’ll do a lot to rationalize. I’ve convinced myself that
watching a second hour of The Great British Baking
Show with a glass of Cabernet is helping me unwind
after a long day. I go, go, go all day with work and kids,
so I value a chunk of time at the tail end of the evening
SWEET DREAMS
(are made of this)
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
that feels mindless and, frankly, a little indulgent and
selfish. I need it. I deserve it. But at what cost?
Research shows that women are particularly at risk
for poor sleep. When sleep routines shift, women have
a tougher time adapting than men do, according to a
2016 study by the Surrey Sleep Research Centre at the
University of Surrey. We’re working more, waking more,
resting less. I understand that my own sleep problems
are relatively self-created and that, say, late-shift work-
ers or single parents have it far worse.
But sleep is a key component for everyone in overall
health and undeniably in beauty, too. All the eye
patches, chilled jade rollers, and color-correcting con-
cealers in the world can help, but they can’t completely
override how you’re treating yourself. (Check out Alice
Gregory’s story, “Look Alive,” on page 48.)
May is Better Sleep Month, and I’m vowing to try
better sleep hygiene for the next 31 days, without
obsessing over that elusive eight-hour bar. If your mind
is racing at night or you find yourself scrolling Instagram
for 10—or 100—minutes too long before bedtime, I
encourage you to join me. (Go to cdc.gov/sleep for
tips.) Let’s show those sheep who’s boss.
EM
ILY LIPSON
