How to get your best night’s sleep - What in the World podcast, BBC World Service

Hey, guys. How'd you sleep last night? Were you out like a light as soon as your head hit the pillow? Or was it a bit more tossing and turning with those racing thoughts? We've all been there. Well, experts have been looking into the different stages of sleep for a really long time. And it turns out there actually might be more stages

of sleep than we originally thought. That's what we're getting into in today's episode. We're finding out what happens to our bodies when we go to sleep, why some people find it harder than others to get to sleep, and some advice on how to get a better night's sleep as well. I'm Iqra Farooq and this is what in the world from the BBC World Service.

I'm here with Caroline Steel, who has been looking into all of the science behind the sleep. She's the gal who's in the know. First off, Caroline, how did you sleep last night? Not very well. It maybe took me, like an hour and a half to fall asleep. And then I woke up hot. So I opened the window.

And then I got woken up by birds and then the bins being collected. Yeah, so not a disaster, but I'm not feeling my best. Oh, no. Sorry to hear that. How do you normally sleep? What kind of sleeper are you? I take a long time to fall asleep. And then if I wake up, I take a long time to fall back asleep.

So I'd say, in general, I'm a bad sleeper, and I kind of feel like I'm constantly on a quest to, like, work out how to fall asleep better, but I'm not very good at it. I feel like I can pretty much lie my head down anywhere, and I'll get to sleep a bit of a bit of a skill.

I don't mean to brag. I'm so jealous. Can you fall asleep on a train? That's what I'm always really jealous of. People who sort of put their head in their hands. Kind of embarrassing sometimes as well. Okay, so you're the opposite of me. If I want to fall asleep, I have to have this eye mask.