Good morning and welcome back to On the Brookeshelf! OTB is a weekly digest of the most interesting content, products and ideas I come across, so you can skip to the good parts.

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Let’s get into it.

🧠 Read/Watch/Listen

🌟 Favorite Of the Week

1. GUEST SERIES | Dr. Matt Walker:The Science of Dreams, Nightmares and Lucid Dreaming via Huberman LabFormat: 🎧 PodcastTime commitment: 2 hours 30 minsWhy bother: When you think about it, dreams are pretty wild. Every night when we lay our heads to rest, we enter a unique form of psychosis. We effectively hallucinate fantastical scenarios, which (in the moment) we believe to be real, and then often suffer amnesia about them afterward. The science suggests that dreams are a window into our subconscious minds, and this episode does a good job of approaching the question of both what dreams are and how they work, as well as how we should (and shouldn’t) go about interpreting our nighttime hallucinations. If you’re at all curious about dreaming and its role in allowing us to process emotion, this episode is well worth a listen.

👩‍💻 Other content gems

• 🎧 I’m currently loving The Pursuit of Wellness podcast with Mari Llewelyn. My favorite listens this week were this episode on Manifestation and this one on the ugly truth behind your favorite American food trends.

• ✍️ I’ve been loving Matt Gray’s threads on systems and the 4-hour work day. If you’re entreprenurially-curious, I recommend giving him a follow. He’s active on Twitter and Linkedin. I particularly loved this thread on deep work.

• 📹 The only video you need to watch on storytelling to become a 10x better writer.

🧘 Something to Try

A friend introduced me to the Dynamic Mind Practice, and it has transformed my relationship to meditation. I’ve been meditating consistently for 10+ years, but I have never felt that I’ve “succeeded” at meditating. My mind often wanders, and there are many sessions in which my mind runs free and uncontrolled.

This practice breaks down the science behind meditating, and more specifically, how meditation allows us to access four different types of brain waves or states of consciousness (namely: beta, alpha, theta and delta brain waves).

Since using this method, I’ve noticed a marked difference in my ability to slow myself down and my meditation practices have left me feeling energized and refreshed in new ways.

Here’s a link to the app to download if you’re curious!

🧧Something from me

For those of you with summer travel plans:

I’ve taken more than 20 long-haul flights in the last year. I virtually never suffer from jet lag anymore, and I’ve taught myself how to get close to 7 hours of sleep on a 14-16 hour flight. (Yes, even in economy).

Here is my secret to winning at long-haul air travel:

Part 1: How to sleep on planes

I know, I know. You absolutely cannot sleep on planes. I was you before I started flying long-haul every 2-3 months with my last role, and trust me, if you need to, you can, and you will. There are a few things you will need to make this happen:

1. A solid neck pillow. I recommend one that is thick enough around the sides that you can rest your head without over-arching your neck in either direction. You don’t need to spend more than $10-$15 on one. Check out your local MUMUSO / MINISO or an equivalent.

2. Melatonin. I take one 5 mg dose before takeoff and that is sufficient to get me through a 5-7 hour sleep cycle. I like this one from Ritual, or you can pick a bottle up from any brand at your local pharmacy.

3. A very comfortable sleep mask. I recommend this silk one from DORE&ROSE, it’s soft and large enough that it will actually give you a full blackout effect, which comes in handy on a plane.

4. A portable footrest.* Optional, but helpful. Not all economy sections come with footrests, and if you’re on the shorter side, this can make getting into a position relaxed enough for sleep quite difficult. You can buy these super cheap on Amazon, they fold up into small bag and simply loop over the tray in front of you and hang down, providing an adjustable space for your feet to rest above the floor.

5. Noise-cancelling headphones. You will pre-download classical music, relaxed ambient music, or a sleep meditation—whatever works to help you wind down. When you’re ready to sleep, you will throw these babies on to block out the background noise and use your chosen audio to help lull you to sleep. I recently bought the JBL Live 770 NC headphones and I’m loving them!

Part 2: How to beat jet leg

When it comes to jet lag, timing is everything. Our bodies are agile and are capable of adjusting to a new rhythm, but we need to help them out. Before you get on your flight, determine whether you will want to arrive tired or energized, depending on your arrival time. (i.e. If you’re arriving in the morning, you will want to get enough sleep so that you’re ready to start a new day when you arrive. If you’re arriving in the evening, you will want to make sure you don’t sleep so much on the plane that you struggle to get to bed when you arrive.) Plan your sleep schedule accordingly. Take your melatonin about an hour before you want to go to sleep on the plane.

When you arrive, you need to immediately adjust your headspace to your new time zone. Change your watch before you arrive. If you land in the morning, immediately make your way to Starbucks for your first cup of coffee and breakfast. If you’re arriving in the late evening, avoid eating anything when you land, and take your melatonin as soon as you get to your final destination.

Like most physical challenges, jet lag is actually a 90% mental game. Telling yourself you have it makes it worse. Believe that your body is capable of adjusting, commit to your new time zone, and prioritize getting solid rest for the first few nights upon arrival.

I recommend taking melatonin before bed for the first two nights on either end of a long-haul trip, even if you don’t feel that you’re suffering at all from jet lag, as it can help to re-regulate your circadian rhythm.

Hope this helps!

That’s all for now, thank you for being here!

See you next week.

Love,

Brooke