Arianna Huffington on Her Romance with Words and Restful Nights
by the Brightly Editors
In her impressive career, Arianna Huffington has taken on politicians, corporations, and the news business, to name just a few. Now she’s tackling what may be the toughest challenge yet — at least for many of us — sleep. In her new book, The Sleep Revolution, Arianna explores the science of sleep, why it’s important to us in ways we may never have imagined, and the things we can do to to start getting more of it.
We chatted with Arianna about sleep for parents, bedtime reading, her lifelong love of words, and more.
What books have you been most excited about lately?
A current favorite is Reclaiming Conversation, by Sherry Turkle, one of our pre-eminent thinkers on the ways technology impacts our lives. From her work at MIT to books like Alone Together and now Reclaiming Conversation, she’s showing us how to make more meaningful human connections and how to embrace — not fear — the risks and rewards of true companionship and intimacy.
What was your favorite book as a child — or to read to a child?
My daughters are grown, but I have so many fond memories of reading to them when they were little — especially bedtime stories. My daughters often laugh as they remember me reading books to them to put them to sleep — through the years graduating from Dr. Seuss to Harry Potter — and falling asleep in midsentence (“One fish, two fish, red fish … zzzzzzzz”). As my younger daughter, Isabella, recounts, “My mom would begin to slur her words, and I would have to shake her and repeat over and over again, ‘Wake up, Mom, wake up, Mom! Finish the story!’”
At least the stories worked on one of us.
What was the best thing about reading with your kids when they were small?
The feeling of closeness and connection. I have always loved books and so I found tremendous joy in sharing that love with my daughters.
Who inspired your love of reading?
Both of my parents, but especially my father. During the Nazi occupation of Greece he published an underground newspaper, and was arrested and spent the war in two concentration camps in Germany. He wrote a book about it, called Modern Greeks: Greece in World War II: The German Occupation and National Resistance and Civil War.
Did you always know you wanted to be a writer as part of your career?
Yes, and again this was due to my father’s influence. He was a journalist and I grew up on the romance of the profession.
What’s the most important advice you’d like to give busy parents about sleep?
Remember what they tell you on airplanes: “Secure your own mask first before helping others.” One of the fundamental truths of well-being is that the better we are at taking care of ourselves, the more effective we’ll be in taking care of others, including our families, our coworkers, our communities, and our fellow citizens.
Are you for or against pre-sleep reading?
I’m passionately in favor of pre-sleep reading when it comes to real, physical books — especially poetry, novels, and books that have nothing to do with work. But I’m against pre-sleep reading on our devices. Blue light — the sort given off by our ubiquitous electronic devices — is especially good at suppressing melatonin, which makes it especially bad for our sleep. Staring at a blue-light-radiating device before you go to bed can serve as “an alert stimulus that will frustrate your body’s ability to go to sleep later,” says George Brainard, a circadian-rhythm researcher and neurologist at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia.
So my advice when it comes to bedtime is this: Read away, but make a point to disconnect from your devices, for the sake of your sleep and your overall well-being. I have a specific time at night when I regularly turn off my devices — and gently escort them out of my bedroom.
Finish this sentence, “Reading a good book is better than…”
Pretty much anything!
Arianna Huffington is the cofounder, president, and editor in chief of the Huffington Post Media Group. Her recent book, Thrive, was a #1 New York Times bestseller. Among her other bestselling books are Third World America, On Becoming Fearless, and Pigs at the Trough.
For more sleep tips and bonus gifts, visit AriannaHuffington.com and join the #SleepRevolution.