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Sleep is the original wellness practice. Here is why it has become the hardest
Health & Recovery7 min read

Sleep is the original wellness practice. Here is why it has become the hardest

Before biohacking, before intermittent fasting, before cold plunges — there was sleep. And we have broken it.

DDr. James Fielding17 March 2026← Back to Magazine

<p>The average adult in developed countries now sleeps 6.5 hours per night — a 20% reduction from a century ago. The consequences are not limited to tiredness. Chronic sleep insufficiency is associated with increased risk of Alzheimer's disease, cardiovascular disease, metabolic dysfunction, and psychiatric disorders.</p><p>The sleep crisis is not a matter of discipline. It is architectural. The combination of artificial light (particularly blue-spectrum light from screens), variable schedules, stimulant use, and ambient anxiety has systematically dismantled the environmental conditions under which human sleep evolved.</p><p>The best wellness retreats understand this. They are designed around sleep: no screens after dark, dinners served early, bedrooms oriented toward darkness, mornings without alarm clocks. They treat sleep not as a backdrop to the programme but as the programme itself.</p>

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