For years, I've had a hard time falling asleep, and then when I do nod off, I find myself waking up again a few hours later. I've always been someone who needs the perfect environment to achieve the best sleep—complete and total darkness, quiet (but not eerily silent), and the right temperature (not too hot, not too cold). But creating this perfect sleep atmosphere is usually out of my control.
As I was drinking a third cup of coffee before noon, a friend told me about her smart bed that lets her personalize her sleep routine. Since getting an Eight Sleep Pod, she has been waking up super refreshed and doesn't need the caffeine jolt I was relying on to get through the morning. A Google search told me the Eight Sleep Pod is designed to help you improve your sleep by monitoring temperature, sleep patterns, and more. The technology-driven mattress can even connect to other smart devices in your home, so your entire routine can be synced together. Turn on the lights when your alarm goes off at just the right time to propel you out of bed? Sounds great. And aside from all the tech, it's just a super comfortable mattress, built with the layered foam for plush comfort and maximum support. The fact that my friend vouched for Eight Sleep meant a lot, but I was still really skeptical that technology could actually change my tossing and turning that had been going on for years now.
The ability to control the temperature of the mattress was the most intriguing for me, especially because I run hot and sweat most nights. I did some of my own research and found out that the smart mattress comes equipped with the Hub, a state of the art water tank to control the temperature throughout the surface of the mattress. It lets you set an exact temperature that works for you, anywhere between 55 and 110 degrees, and even has dual-sided capabilities -- in other words if you sleep best at 71 and your husband sleeps best at 74, your sides of the bed can reflect your exact specifications.
Eight Sleep'sscience-backed technology (and my friend's praises) convinced me that I had nothing to lose in trying it out for myself. During my first few nights sleeping on the mattress, I was amazed at how easy it was to regulate the temperature of the bed. On the app, I answered a few questions about my sleep patterns and what I was looking for. That information helped the technology gauge the ideal temperature for me. I then set the app to "smart temperature mode" which used my natural rhythms to adjust the temperature of the bed as the night went on so I could get the best sleep possible.
During the first week, I noticed I was sweating less, sleeping better, and waking up more refreshed. And as the weeks progressed, I learned more about my body and my sleep patterns which helped me make the right adjustments and get even more comfortable in the mattress. I realized I was really sleeping better when I consistently began waking up more energized and could even start my day at work without reaching for the coffee.
Studies show that sleeping at a cooler temperature can help you stay asleep more soundly and for longer. The National Sleep Foundation recommends keeping your room anywhere from 60 to 67 degrees Fahrenheit, but they don't even mention how hot your bed can still get. No wonder I used to wake up in the middle of the night sweating! Now that I can use the Hub to set my bed to the perfect temperature, down to the degree, I'm sleeping through the night like a baby.
I never expected to find a way to sleep soundly throughout the night. The Eight Sleep Pod with cooling technology was so helpful because it gave me the power to learn about my ideal temperature setting, then control it more exactly than anything else I saw on the market. Now that I've experienced the luxury of a smart mattress, I'll never go back to a regular mattress again.