#28: Julie — Natural Sleep, Binaural Beats, Career Pivot

Helping insomniacs find relief without medication.

May 09, 2024

Welcome to Mia’s Queue, a newsletter spotlighting the secret agents of taste among us. In each edition, I chat with an undercover tastemaker infusing creativity and wonder into their (and our!) everyday life. Learn what lights them up, where they find inspiration, and what they think we should all be enjoying right now. Meet Agent 028: Julie Wright, founder of WeSleep and author of “The Natural Sleeper: A Bedside Guide to Complementary and Alternative Solutions for Better Sleep.”

Julie Wright and I worked together at Rhapsody, the online music subscription service ahead of its time. (This was before people were comfortable paying for music they didn’t own!) Julie’s since moved from Los Angeles to the UK, and did a whole career switcheroo. Now, she’s an author and natural sleep advocate who pushes for non-medicated approaches to catching some Zzzs. That might sound foreign to those who can’t keep our eyes open past 9pm (ahem), but Julie says that falling asleep is “a very personal experience.” Her life’s work is to help restless sleepers figure out a toolkit that works for them — without pills.

How did you get so into sleep?

I moved to London because both my dad and grandma faced critical illnesses, and I wanted to be closer to my immediate family. Within a year, I stopped sleeping well and became a chronic insomniac. On top of the stress linked to starting over in a new country and illness in my family, I faced issues at work and with my relationship, which fell apart. One day, I stayed up the entire night.

At first, I just lived with it. Then I saw a doctor who gave me sleeping pills — disaster. It got worse over time. I started talking to different people, did research, and then figured out what could help. That's how also the book came together, years of research through experimentation.

I did a career change program1 and one of my startup ideas was to help others sleep better. I started doing workshops and retreats about sleep, and then businesses started calling me…It’s a radical change from anything I’ve done before.

What’s worked for you in terms of improving your sleep hygiene?

First, I had to go from education to practice to finding what was right for me. A reason why you might not sleep well one night might be completely different the next night. I had to develop a toolkit of solutions and approaches. For example, for some people, exercise helps, but half of the people who came to my workshops exercised religiously and still didn’t sleep well because their minds were racing at night.

In terms of lifestyle and habits, what helped me was going to bed and waking up at the same time every day, staying away from coffee, and trying to get at what was preventing me from sleeping. I’m sensitive to light too. I have a mental checklist of all the things that could be impacting my sleep, so I just pick and choose what's right for that night. Breathwork is also brilliant; anything that has to do with vagus nerve activation.

Do you have your phone next to your bed?

I do, but I do not recommend it depending on how addicted you are; leave it somewhere else.

If you are going to use your phone, think about using those blue light filters and reducing the brightness of your phone because it’s not just the color of the light, the brightness will also impact your sleep.

What do you think is the biggest misconception about sleep?

Good sleepers don't understand how complex it is to fall asleep. Even if you do all the right things — good nutrition, exercise, yoga, whatever — it doesn't work for everyone and actually, it's very difficult for some people.

What are some of your favorite sleep apps, podcasts, or books about sleep?

📙 “The Natural Sleeper” by Julie Wright

My own book! I explore all kinds of ways of sleeping naturally. I didn't want to write a book that scares people. I wanted to write a book that's more about solutions, especially holistic, natural solutions.

📘 “Why We Sleep” by Matthew Walker

This book is more about what happens if you don't sleep well. So it's quite scary and gives you top-line information on the scientific side and the reasons why you should invest in the quality of your sleep.

📗 “Tired But Wired” by Nerina Ramlakhan

Easy to understand information about sleep and toolkits.

📕 “A Sleep Divorce: How to Sleep Apart, Not Fall Apart” by Jennifer Adams and Dr. Neil Stanley

Dr. Stanley is my sleep mentor. Like the subtitle says, it’s about how not to divorce your partner on the account of not sleeping well.

🎧 Tom Middleton’s “Sleep Better” and other playlists

Search Spotify: some playlists are meditation-driven, some are nature sounds, some are binaural beats, pink noise, brown noise… The one that I recommend is an album by Tom Middleton.

The sounds should not be stimulating: nothing sharp, abrupt, unexpected, very high, very low, or too aggressive. It’s whatever works for you. ❤️

Mia’s Queue is a free newsletter about taste, curation, culture, and personal change. Each edition is full of links hand-picked by authentic people who savor the hunt for the Good Stuff, always strive to be their best, and know that sharing is caring. Thanks for being here!

Mia’s Queue

#28: Julie — Natural Sleep, Binaural Beats, Career Pivot

Helping insomniacs find relief without medication.

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