Join Andrea Samadi as she reviews Dr. Shane Creado’s insights on why sleep is a core pillar of brain health, how chronic sleep deprivation harms reaction time, inflammation, pain perception, and why children pay the highest price.

Learn practical sleep strategies—consistent schedules, light management, wind-down routines—and how the Silva Method’s mind-training can deepen restorative sleep for athletes, high performers, and families.

Welcome back to SEASON 14 of The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, where we connect the science-based evidence behind social and emotional learning and emotional intelligence training for improved well-being, achievement, productivity and results—using what I saw as the missing link (since we weren’t taught this when we were growing up in school), the application of practical neuroscience.

I’m Andrea Samadi, and seven years ago, launched this podcast with a question I had never truly asked myself before: (and that is) If productivity and results matter to us—and they do now more than ever—how exactly are we using our brain to make them happen?

Most of us were never taught how to apply neuroscience to improve productivity, results, or well-being. About a decade ago, I became fascinated by the mind-brain-results connection—and how science can be applied to our everyday lives.

That’s why I’ve made it my mission to bring you the world’s top experts—so together, we can explore the intersection of science and social-emotional learning. We’ll break down complex ideas and turn them into practical strategies we can use every day for predictable, science-backed results.

This week, we move onto PART 2 of our review of EP 72[i] with Shane Creado, MD and his book Peak Sleep Performance for Athletes recorded back in July of 2020.

In PART 1[ii], we covered:

How strategic napping, morning brain habits, and even the Silva Method all work together to reset your brain, boost performance, and transform your health from the inside out.

Today, PART 2 we will continue with our review, diving a bit deeper into sleep deprivation and its impact of performance (whether you are an athlete, or just someone looking to improve productivity).

PART 3, next week, we will go a bit deeper into the impacts of concussions and brain injuries on our sleep and performance.

Just a reminder: Dr. Creado is a double board-certified sleep medicine doctor and psychiatrist who practices functional sleep medicine, integrative psychiatry, and sports psychiatry. He brings all of these specialties together to uncover the underlying factors that sabotage our sleep and then treats them comprehensively, helping people to achieve their health and performance goals with sleep at the forefront

As we work through our reviews, we will spend a considerable amount of time on this important health staple that’s scientifically proven to boost our physical and mental health.

For today’s EP 379, and PART 2 of our review of our 2020 interview with Dr. Shane Creado, we will cover:

✔ Sleep as a core pillar of health according to Dr. Shane Creado, author of Peak Sleep Performance for Athletes.

✔ Sleep deprivation is a national crisis and kid’s pay the highest price.

✔ 7 Well-Known Tips for Improving Sleep

✔ Applying the Silva Method to Reset and Improve Our Sleep

✔ Important sleep tips for athletes and high performers

 

Let’s go back to 2020 and revisit what Dr. Creado had to say about sleep.

CLIP 1 — Why Sleep Is Non-Negotiable for Brain Health

Short Explanation:
In Clip 1, Dr. Shane Creado explains that sleep is a foundational pillar of brain health, equal in importance to exercise and nutrition. He emphasizes that without optimizing sleep, it is impossible to truly optimize learning, emotional regulation, focus, or performance. Dr. Creado highlights that chronic sleep deprivation is widespread in the U.S., often unnoticed, and especially damaging for children—where lack of deep sleep suppresses growth hormone, increases obesity risk, and raises the likelihood of developing mental-health challenges later in life. His message is clear: when sleep improves, the entire “fabric” of life and health begins to change.

VIDEO 1 – Click Here to Watch

In our next video clip from Dr. Creado, I ask him to dive deeper into optimizing our brain health with a quote from his book that reads “your brain health and sports performance cannot be optimized unless your sleep is optimized. And once this is achieved your quality of life will skyrocket. When you sleep well, the fabric of your life will change. And when this happens, it will have a ripple effect.” This sounds like a simple concept, but for those of us who have been working on improving this pillar, we know it’s one of those concepts that easier said, than done. Let’s hear Dr. Creado’s thoughts on my question-

And Dr. Creado replied that “sleep is one of the pillars of brain health along with exercise and nutrition. And we need to make sure we’re getting the right amount of sleep. Most adults and most teenagers don’t know about this but a vast majority, 70 million Americans suffer from a sleep problem. And way more than those suffer from sleep deprivation, chronic sleep deprivation. If a child is deprived of sleep, their growth hormone levels will be suppressed because deep sleep is where growth hormone levels peak, so basically you are going to be stunting your growth.

Over 80% of kids who are sleep deprived go on to develop obesity. There’s a huge overlap between kids who are chronically sleep deprived who manifest mental health conditions later in life.”

🌙 KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM DR. CREADO’S CLIP

We will review these take-aways, (many that are well-known- as a reminder to close any gaps we might have with our sleep) and then we will add a new spin, as we tie the popular Silva Method into these tips, for ALL of us to take our sleep to new heights.

 

We just received our 2025 Spotify Wrapped stats, (this gives us insight into our listeners who tune in via Spotify over the past year) and The Silva Method, (from 2022) holds the top spot again for listeners for a 3rd year in a row.  

 

This is important for me to notice what is important to YOU, the listener, so when appropriate, I will link the popular Silva Method, to our content.

Sleep is a Core Pillar of Brain Health

Along with exercise and nutrition, sleep forms the foundation of cognitive health.
Without optimized sleep, you cannot optimize brain function, learning, focus, emotional regulation, or performance.

Sleep Deprivation Is a National Crisis

70 million Americans suffer from a sleep disorder.
Many more live in a state of chronic sleep deprivation without realizing it.

It wasn’t until Dr. Creado looked at my brain scan from Amen Clinics just a few months AFTER this episode in 2020,  and told me that I had the pattern of a sleep deprived brain, did I start to get serious about improving this important health staple.

Children Pay the Highest Price

Kids deprived of deep sleep have suppressed growth hormone → which literally stunts physical growth.
80% of sleep-deprived children develop obesity.
Chronic sleep loss in childhood is strongly linked to later mental-health challenges.

Sleep Changes the “Fabric of Your Life”

When sleep improves, every system of the body and brain recalibrates.
Relationships, mood, decision-making, energy, learning, and performance all rise.

✅ TIPS TO PUT THESE IDEAS INTO ACTION

1. Target the Right Sleep Amount

Adults: 7–9 hours
Teens: 8–10 hours
Kids: 9–12 hours
Track for ONE WEEK and see what you notice. There are many different ways you can track sleep, with wearable devices, or even through your iPhone.

2. Build a Pre-Sleep “Wind-Down Ritual” (20–30 min)

A short, consistent routine signals the brain it’s time to shut down.
Examples:

Dim lights
Light stretching
Hot shower
Reading
4–7–8 breathing
No emotional conversations, no rumination

3. Protect Your Light Environment

Light controls melatonin.

Morning: Seek 5–10 minutes of natural sunlight.
Night: Reduce screens or use night mode 1–2 hours before bed.
Keep the bedroom dark, cool (65–67°F), and quiet.

4. Keep a Consistent Sleep/Wake Schedule

Even on weekends.
This stabilizes your circadian rhythm and improves the quality of deep sleep.

This is my area of strength with sleep. I go to bed the same time every day (Monday-Sunday) and wake up the same time no matter what day of the week it is. On the rare days I stray from this routine, everything turns upside for me, so I work hard on keeping this consistency.

5. Strengthen Deep Sleep (Where the Magic Happens)

Deep sleep boosts:

Growth hormone
Memory consolidation
Emotional regulation
Cellular repair

To increase deep sleep:

Exercise in the morning or early afternoon
Keep caffeine cutoff at 2:00 p.m.
Don’t eat heavy meals late at night
Cool the room

6. Watch for Red Flags (Especially in Kids)

Difficulty waking
Mood swings
Falling asleep in class
Attention problems
Weight gain
Frequent illness

These are often sleep issues in disguise.

7. Use a Simple Nighttime “Audit”

Each night, ask yourself:

What time did I go to bed?
What disrupted my sleep?
What will I change tomorrow?

TAKING OUR SLEEP TO THE NEXT LEVEL WITH THE SILVA METHOD

Many of these TIPS we have heard already and the key is to keep tra