November 22, 2021
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In a small but exciting step, the #GetSleeping social media sign has arrived and it looks amazing. The idea is simple; during my travels in
Between 11 and 17th September 2021 Mark attempted to break the Guinness World Record for the Longest Marathon Lecture. The existing record is 139 hours 42 minutes and 56 seconds and amazingly Mark spoke for 140 hours and 42 seconds. He is now waiting to hear from Guinness whether his attempt has been validated. During the attempt Mark raised almost £13k for Barnardo’s, engaged with schools around the world through some prepared lesson plans and worked with sleep scientists to explore the impacts of extreme sleep deprivation. The attempt pushed Mark to his psychological limit as he suffered memory loss and hallucinations having just had 3 hours sleep across the 140 hours.
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SleepTalking Lecture - Corporate
Ahead of the session Mark will request that the attendees complete a survey identifying their approximate sleep and wake times. The one hour session then starts by looking at the science of sleep and the circadian rhythm, at the results of the survey and generally how sleep deprived the attendees are. It highlights the importance of good sleep and that, whilst everyone’s circadian rhythm does indeed vary regularly over 24 hours, they all peak and trough at different times making us predisposed to be morning larks or night owls.
The lecture continues to investigate how society and many people’s work schedule puts night owl’s at risk of serious health conditions from dementia to weight gain, heart attack, cancer, diabetes and in extreme cases, even death. He looks at a study that showed how sleep deprivation costs companies thousands of pounds of profit per year per employee and how, embracing the importance of sleep can help businesses be more profitable.
The lecture goes on to look at the stages of sleep from NREM sleep to REM sleep, at how our bodies are paralysed during dream sleep and at the other physiological processes that happen when we slumber. He looks at the way in which our mind and body is effected by lack of sleep from memory loss to loss to hallucinations which Mark experienced during his world record lecture.
Book This Lecture
SleepTalking Lecture - Schools
The one hour lecture starts by looking at the science of sleep and the circadian rhythm, the daily cycle that regulates the sleep cycle and repeats roughly every 24 hours. It highlights that, whilst everyone’s rhythm does indeed vary regularly over 24 hours, they all peak and trough at different times making us predisposed to be morning larks or night owls.
The lecture continues to investigate how children’s circadian rhythm shifts and how understanding this can help children to get better sleep and develop a better understanding of their sleep habit. We look at the importance of sleep across a human life and how long term, poor sleep habits can lead to increased chances of dementia to weight gain, heart attack, cancer and diabetes. The lecture goes on to look at the stages of sleep from NREM sleep to REM sleep, at how our bodies are paralysed during dream sleep and at the other physiological processes that happen when we slumber. He looks at the way in which our mind and body is effected by lack of sleep from memory loss to hallucinations which Mark experienced during his world record lecture.
At the end Mark recalls the attempt itself and what he experienced during the dark hours of sleep deprivation that took him to the edge of his physical and psychological capabilities.
Book This LectureSleepTalking Lecture - Public
The one hour lecture starts by looking at the science of sleep and the circadian rhythm, the daily cycle that regulates the sleep cycle and repeats roughly every 24 hours. It highlights that, whilst everyone’s rhythm does indeed vary regularly over 24 hours, they all peak and trough at different times making us predisposed to be morning larks or night owls.
The lecture continues to investigate how society and many people’s work schedule puts night owl’s at risk of serious health conditions from dementia to weight gain, heart attack, cancer, diabetes and in extreme cases, death. The lecture goes on to look at the stages of sleep from NREM sleep to REM sleep, at how our bodies are paralysed during dream sleep and at the other physiological processes that happen when we slumber. He looks at the way in which our mind and body is effected by lack of sleep from memory loss to hallucinations which Mark experienced during his world record lecture.
At the end Mark recalls the attempt itself and what he experienced during the dark hours of sleep deprivation that took him to the edge of his physical and psychological capabilities.
Book This Lecture
SleepTalking Podcast
Mark is developing his new podcast called ‘Sleep Talking’, an interview based podcast all about sleep. What is sleep? Why do we dream? Does every creature on Earth sleep? How do mobile phones and different types of light impact the quality of our sleep? Mark will investigate many more questions as he explores the fascinating world of sleep.
Check back here soon for updates
Resources to help you understand sleep
Test to see if you are an Early Bird or a Night Owl? Your Chronotype is your natural tendency to sleep at certain times of the day. Most people recognise this as being an early bird or a night owl. Understanding which you are can help you to plan your day better and to try and establish a better bed time and wake up time routine. There are around 19 questions and it will take no longer than 10 minutes to complete and you will get your results immediately on completion. This link will direct you to the Centre for Environmental Therapeutics for the questionnaire. Click here to start your chronotype test
Test to see if you are sleep deprived? Recent studies suggest about one third of us are sleep deprived getting around six hours sleep per night instead of the recommended seven to nine hours. Fortunately there is a real simple test you can do from comfort of your own home to see if you are sleep deprived and all you need is a spoon, a tray, a bed and a watch! Click here to learn more about the Spoon Test
Help you get to sleep and sleep better There are many reasons why people struggle to get to sleep or to get a good night sleep. This may be related to a sleep disorder in which case you should seek support from a sleep professional but it may simply be that your sleeping environment is not conducive or you have bad sleep habits. Take a look at these tips from the NHS website. Click here to learn how to sleep better
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