If you’re hankering for a restful sleep but every day is plagued with daytime sleepiness, it might be time to turn to the sleep experts for some advice on healthy habits to improve your sleep.
A lack of sleep and poor quality sleep can have huge effects on your life. If you’re not taking the steps to increase your amount of sleep per night, it’s going to affect your work, mental health, relationships, and more.
Luckily, there are plenty of sleep specialists on Instagram providing sound advice for people with sleep disorders and sleep difficulties.
If you’re looking for better sleep hygiene tips to help you develop healthy habits, these top Instagram sleep experts are here to turn poor dozers into healthy sleepers.
What is a Sleep Expert?
The term ‘sleep expert’ can cover a number of different things.
In the medical world, a sleep expert is usually a sleep physician or qualified health provider who has the qualification, training, and expertise to provide medical advice to adult patients about their sleep conditions.
However, a sleep specialist can also work on baby sleep, offering an approach to sleep training to help you get your little one to sleep. These sleep coaches aren’t always sleep doctors but are sometimes medical professionals that specialize in children.
You may also find sleep technicians who work in sleep labs. These sleep experts monitor activity in REM sleep and deep sleep to help you restore an acceptable sleep pattern.
Some sleep experts are psychiatrists and psychologists, focusing on the mental issues that prevent you from getting a good night’s sleep.
Be aware though, not all the sleep experts online are qualified medical professionals. Some are experts in their field for other reasons and some are simply influencers.
Need expert sleep advice right this minute? Try downloading our FREE expert sleep guide.
The Sleep Experts You Need to Follow for a Good Night’s Sleep in 2021
The link between sleep and mental illness can’t be understated. If you want a clear mind, a productive life, and a happy outlook, you need to sleep better at night.
The sleep experts on Instagram are here to help.
1. Dr. Michael Breus – @thesleepdoctor
Dr. Michael Breus (@thesleepdoctor) is a true sleep expert.
Not only is Dr. Breus a Clinical Psychologist, but he’s also a Diplomat of the American Board of Sleep Medicine and a Fellow of The American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Interestingly, he’s one of only a handful of psychologists to have passed the Sleep Medical Speciality board without going to medical school.
Named the Top Sleep Specialist in California by Reader’s Digest and one of the 10 most influential people in sleep, Dr. Breus is a regular advisor and expert guest on The Dr. Oz Show. He also authored the bestselling books The Power of When (about time management and happiness) and The Sleep Doctor’s Diet Plan: Lose Weight Through Better Sleep (a look at sleep and metabolism).
You should follow Dr. Breus’ Instagram for his hard-hitting, easy-to-follow sleep tips if you’re not sleeping well. Answering big questions on sleep habits like chronic insomnia and sleep medicines, Dr. Breus gives detailed advice and an expert opinion on how the adult population should be handling their sleep issues.
If you’re looking to develop healthy habits for restorative sleep, @thesleepdoctor helps you to cut through the confusion with straightforward expert strategies.
2. Dr. Julia Kogan – @drjuliakogan
Dr. Julia Kogan (@drjuliakogan) is a behavioral medicine specialist and health psychologist who believes that poor nocturnal sleep is the result of overwhelming stress in the adult population.
Having created The Master Stress Method, Dr. Kogan helps people to address sleep difficulties that arise from unfettered stress, such as chronic sleep deprivation, chronic insomnia, fragmented sleep, and sleep latency.
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Providing tips, charts, videos, and step-by-step guides to help with your sleep difficulties, Dr. Kogan focuses on relieving stress and anxiety so you reclaim your life and rest easier.
If you’re suffering from stress and feel like it could be affecting your sleep, follow Dr. Julia Kogan at @drjuliakogan.
3. Dr. Shane Creado – @peaksleepperformance
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Dr. Shane Creado (@peaksleepperformance) is the author of the sports sleep book Peak Sleep Performance for Athletes. He was the Chairman of Memberships and Mentoring on the Board of Directors of the International Society for Sports Psychiatry for a number of years and has worked closely with many elite athletes to help foster a healthy relationship with their biological clocks.
After getting frustrated with the fragmented way in which sleep experts look at sleep in humans, Dr. Shane Creado set about to provide more holistic medical advice on sleep. Combining his expertise as a physical therapist, medical doctor, psychiatrist, sports psychiatrist, and functional sleep medicine doctor, Dr. Creado offers a full view of why you’re not getting enough restorative sleep in your life.
Dr. Creado makes it his mission to teach people about sleep, brain health, and mental health to develop healthy sleepers who make positive lifestyle choices based on their own personal issues, whether that be ADHD, dementia, treatment-resistant depression, food cravings, etc.
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While Dr. Creado does provide a few tips on his Instagram, he’s much more a keynote speaker and a podcast special guest than a social media influencer. Follow his Instagram to find out when and where he’s speaking to catch his in-depth long-form expert conversations.
4. Dr. Kristina McGuire – @drkristinamcguire
Dr. Kristina McGuire is a very interesting sleep expert who started with a background in dentistry before moving across to practice dental sleep medicine. She believes that poor sleep in humans is often teamed with dental issues.
Addressing issues with chronic pain, especially craniofacial pain, and TMJ disorders, Dr. McGuire runs the TMJ & Sleep Therapy Centre of Cleveland with her team of sleep experts.
She also looks at issues that cause chronic sleep deprivation such as cardiac coherence, nutrition, and more. She offers treatments and solutions that range from supplementation to help sleepiness, to breathwork to open the airway during sleep. She focuses on total body health and wellness to help her patients sleep for longer periods of time.
Follow @drkristinamcguire for strategies and videos that show you how to address chronic pain for a more comfortable sleep. You’ll find her breathwork exercises particularly helpful if you feel you have sleep problems related to airflow.
5. Olivia Arezzolo – @oliviaarezzolo
Certified Sleep Psychologist, Olivia Arezzolo (@oliviaarezzolo), is known as Australia’s #1 sleep expert.
Having featured on BBC Radio One, Forbes, The Today Show, and more, Olivia Arezzolo is dedicated to helping sleep issues such as excessive sleepiness, primary insomnia, and sleep latency through psychology and nutrition.
Having battled anorexia herself, Olivia understands how poor life choices can reduce hours of sleep, resulting in a wealth of knock-on life effects.
Olivia mainly uses her Instagram profile to link you to her work off the platform, such as her expert articles and interviews. However, you’ll also find that she offers tips and strategies to help improve your sleep routine and practice better sleep hygiene.
If you’re struggling with sleep issues that you think may be related to your diet or your lifestyle choices, try following @oliviaarezzolo.
6. Nicky Blakeman – @nicky.blakeman
Certified sleep coach, Nicky Blakeman (@nicky.blakeman), is also the host of an expert sleep podcast, How to Sleep. The podcast deals with common issues that cause chronic insomnia and other sleep disorders.
Having suffered from primary insomnia herself, Nickey now offers sleep coaching and sleep training courses for adults that help to improve nocturnal sleep and restore a regular sleep schedule so that her clients get a solid 7-8 hours sleep per night.
If you’re looking to increase your hours of sleep or gain more restorative sleep, Nicky Blakeman’s Instagram offers easy-to-follow guides and tips that help every sleep style regain control over their sleep hygiene so you can get to sleep at a regular time.
Helping you to understand the power of self-care, exercise, diet, and more, follow @nicky.blakeman for sleep coaching that works for the everyday person.
7. Dr. Joshua Roland – @sleepdoctoroland
Dr. Joshua Roland is a sleep medicine physician. As a qualified health provider, Dr. Roland practices in downtown LA, focusing on how to provide comprehensive sleep medicine and health and wellness training to help improve the average sleep duration of his patients.
Specializing in obstructive sleep apnea, hypersomnolence (excessive daytime sleepiness), and circadian rhythm disorders, Dr. Roland helps his patients work on improving their biological clocks to regain a regular sleep schedule to restore an adequate sleep duration.
Not only is Dr. Roland on the American Academy for Sleep Medicine’s task force for developing guidelines for REM behavior disorder, but he is also on the California Sleep Society board of directors.
While Dr. Roland aims to help any sleep style improve their sleep pattern, it’s a good idea to follow his Instagram account if you suffer from obstructive sleep apnea or comorbidities of sleep apnea. The prevalence of sleep apnea is more common than you think, so if you’re worried about your sleep, it might be worth checking out his account to see if sleep apnea is the probable cause of your sleep difficulties.
Not only does Dr. Roland give his followers top tips to help you sleep for longer periods of time, but he also keeps you updated on epidemiological studies related to sleep.
To Sum Up
If you’re suffering from poor quality sleep, this can affect your daily performance, memory, relationships, focus, and more.
Unfortunately, a disrupted biological clock can lead to insomnia, excessive sleepiness, and bad sleep habits that mean you don’t get your 6-8 hours every night.
If you’d like to get back on a regular sleep schedule where you benefit from uninterrupted sleep, try following the sleep experts on Instagram offering their top tips for comfortable sleep.
If you’d like more advice on how to get more hours of sleep and become a champion sleeper, you can also download our FREE expert sleep guide today.
Welcome to Snoozerville! I’m Dr. Alex Hartley, your guide to the world of restful sleep. With a Ph.D. in Sleep Science and years of experience as a sleep therapist, I’ve dedicated my life to understanding and improving sleep quality. My passion lies in uncovering the mysteries of sleep and sharing practical, science-backed advice to help you achieve the best rest possible. Beyond my academic pursuits, I’m an advocate for mindfulness and relaxation techniques, which I incorporate into my daily routine. At Snoozerville, I aim to transform your nights, combining the latest research with easy-to-implement tips. Whether you’re a chronic insomniac or just looking to improve your sleep hygiene, join me on this journey towards peaceful, rejuvenating sleep.