01What Your Sleep Habits Say About Your Health

How you sleep is as individual as how you eat or exercise. Your sleep patterns, quirks, and habits reflect your body, your stress levels, and sometimes your health. Some habits are harmless personality traits. Others are worth paying attention to.

Here's a practical breakdown of common sleep habits and what they actually mean.

02Snoring: Nuisance or Warning Sign?

Occasional snoring is common and usually harmless — it happens when throat muscles relax during sleep and partially block the airway. Nasal congestion, alcohol before bed, and sleeping on your back all make it more likely.

Habitual snoring is different. If you snore most nights, loudly and consistently, it can indicate that your airway is regularly obstructed. This disrupts your sleep quality even if you don't fully wake up, and it almost certainly disrupts your partner's sleep too.

When to take it seriously: If snoring is accompanied by gasping, choking sounds, or your partner notices you stopping breathing, that's sleep apnea — not just snoring. See the section below.

Practical steps:

  • Try sleeping on your side instead of your back
  • Reduce alcohol, especially within 3 hours of bed
  • Address nasal congestion (saline rinse, humidifier)
  • If it persists and is affecting sleep quality, consult a doctor

03Sleep Apnea: The Condition Most People Don't Know They Have

Sleep apnea causes you to repeatedly stop breathing during sleep — sometimes dozens or hundreds of times per night. The sleeper usually doesn't fully wake, but the body does arouse enough to restart breathing, preventing deep restorative sleep.

Most people with sleep apnea don't know they have it. The signs are often noticed by a partner first.

Common signs:

  • Loud, disruptive snoring with gasping or choking sounds
  • Waking with a headache or dry mouth
  • Excessive daytime sleepiness despite adequate time in bed
  • Difficulty concentrating, mood changes
  • Partner reports you stop breathing during sleep

Untreated sleep apnea is associated with high blood pressure, increased cardiovascular risk, and impaired cognitive function. It's also a significant driver of drowsy driving accidents.

What to do: See a doctor for a sleep study. Sleep apnea is treatable — most commonly with a CPAP device — and treatment usually produces dramatic improvements in energy and wellbeing.

04Sleepwalking: More Common Than You'd Think

Sleepwalking occurs during deep, non-REM sleep. The person's eyes may be open and they can navigate their environment, but they're not conscious and won't remember the episode. It's most common in children but can persist into or begin in adulthood.

Occasional sleepwalking isn't dangerous in itself, though safety precautions matter — staircase gates, door alarms, no sharp items on the floor. It tends to be triggered by sleep deprivation, stress, fever, or certain medications.

Frequent sleepwalking in adults is worth discussing with a doctor, as it can indicate an underlying sleep disorder or be exacerbated by medications or sleep conditions.

05Napping: Done Right, It's Genuinely Useful

Napping has a bad reputation in productivity culture, but the research is fairly consistent: a short daytime nap improves alertness, mood, and cognitive performance for most people.

The key is timing and duration:

  • 10–20 minutes: The "power nap" — you wake up before entering deep sleep, which means no grogginess. Best for a quick recharge.
  • 30 minutes: Risk of sleep inertia (grogginess after waking). Less ideal unless you have time to fully wake up.
  • 90 minutes: A full sleep cycle — includes REM sleep. Good for creativity and memory consolidation, but only practical if you have the time.

Nap before 3 PM to avoid disrupting your nighttime sleep. If you're regularly needing naps just to get through the day, that's a sign your nighttime sleep quality needs attention — not just more nap time.

06Chronic Sleep Deprivation: The Slow-Building Problem

Many people adapt to running on insufficient sleep and start to think it's normal. It isn't. Chronic sleep deprivation (consistently getting less than 7 hours for most adults) has measurable effects on health, cognition, and emotional regulation — even when it doesn't feel acute.

Signs you're chronically sleep deprived:

  • You need an alarm to wake up (your body isn't naturally completing its sleep cycle)
  • You fall asleep within minutes of lying down every night
  • You sleep significantly longer on weekends
  • You're regularly irritable, anxious, or foggy without obvious cause
  • You reach for caffeine to feel functional

Sleep debt isn't just a productivity problem — it affects immune function, metabolism, and cardiovascular health over time. The fix isn't complicated, but it requires prioritizing sleep consistently, not just catching up on weekends.

07Dreams: What They Reflect (and What They Don't)

Vivid dreams occur primarily during REM sleep. Their content is influenced by recent experiences, emotional processing, and stress — not prophetic in nature, but genuinely reflective of what your brain is working through.

Consistently disturbing or anxiety-laden dreams often correlate with elevated stress. Nightmares that disrupt sleep are worth noting, especially if they're new or frequent — they can sometimes be a sign of anxiety, PTSD, or disrupted sleep architecture.

Dreaming more vividly doesn't necessarily mean you're sleeping better or worse. What matters is how rested you feel when you wake up.

08When Your Mattress Is Part of the Problem

Some sleep problems are behavioral or physiological. But a surprisingly large number come down to the sleep surface itself. If you're waking frequently, tossing and turning, sleeping hot, or waking up with pain, your mattress may be working against you.

A mattress that doesn't support your body properly will cause muscle tension, interrupted sleep cycles, and morning soreness — all of which look a lot like other sleep disorders on the surface.

If you've addressed your habits (consistent schedule, dark room, no screens before bed) and still aren't sleeping well, the mattress is the next variable to address. Visit one of our LA showrooms to try different options in person — our sleep experts can help you identify what kind of support and feel your body actually needs. We also offer a 120-night comfort guarantee so you can make sure it's right after you get it home.

09Frequently Asked Questions

How many hours of sleep do adults actually need?

Most adults need 7–9 hours. Individual variation exists, but people who genuinely function well on less than 6 hours consistently are rare. If you think you're one of them, it's worth questioning whether you've adapted to a deficit rather than truly needing less sleep.

Is it bad to sleep on your stomach?

Stomach sleeping can strain the neck and lower back, since it requires turning your head to one side and can hyperextend the lumbar spine. If you're a stomach sleeper and waking up with pain, a softer mattress or a pillow under the hips can help. Side or back sleeping tends to be better for spinal alignment.

Can my sleep position affect snoring?

Yes. Back sleeping increases snoring because the tongue and soft palate fall backward and partially block the airway. Side sleeping reduces snoring for most people. If you always end up on your back, a body pillow behind you can help maintain a side position.

How does a mattress affect sleep quality?

A mattress that doesn't support your spine properly can cause muscle tension, frequent position changes, and pain — all of which disrupt sleep cycles. The right mattress keeps your spine neutral throughout the night. Learn about different mattress types to understand which might work best for your sleep position and preferences.

Sleep better starts with sleeping on the right mattress. Browse our full selection or visit one of our 5 LA showrooms to try options in person.