Announcing the Opening of Lifestyle Sleep: My Dream Clinic for Better Sleep and Health

I am thrilled to announce the upcoming opening of Lifestyle Sleep, a culmination of years of dedication to finding the simplest, best, and most sustainable ways to treat patients with sleep disorders. Lifestyle Sleep was born out of my passion for improving not only sleep but also overall health and well-being by addressing the root causes of sleep disorders.

When I first began my Sleep Medicine Fellowship at Stanford in 2014, it quickly became apparent to me that the root causes of my patients’ sleep difficulties were other significant health and environmental disturbances, such as chronic stress, anxiety, being forced to work at unnatural times and/or overly long hours, loneliness, an abhorrent food industry that blunts our ability to naturally regulate our appetite and deceives us into choosing foods that cause us to be sick, lack of adequate time outdoors, inadequate access to daily exercise, misguided beliefs about sleep, addictive substances and media. Additionally, I was fortunate to be able to work with Behavioral Sleep Medicine psychologists during my training who showed me that most insomnia could be cured without medication, simply by modifying thoughts and behaviors surrounding sleep using a program called Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia. Giving a patient a sleeping pill, or a CPAP machine, while helpful in the short term, did nothing to address the primary factors causing the sleep disorder and felt to me, at times, like putting band-aids on bullet holes. I felt that we can, and should do better as medical providers.

When I finally entered private practice after fellowship, I started experimenting with making lifestyle and behavior change recommendations to patients that I thought would help address the root causes of their sleep disturbances. I started using rapid sequence follow-up visits, a model used in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for insomnia that allows for sequential, small behavioral changes to be made that eventually lead to sustained improvements. Eventually, I discovered that there is an entire medical subspeciality called Lifestyle Medicine that studies the science of what constitutes a healthy lifestyle and the science of how to help people achieve a healthy lifestyle on both a societal and individual level. In 2022 I was finally able to complete the required training and obtain board certification in Lifestyle Medicine and I started making plans for how to incorporate what I learned into my sleep medicine practice. I also became officially certified in Behavioral Sleep Medicine.

After many brainstorming sessions and discussions with friends and colleagues, the idea of Lifestyle Sleep was born and I’m so excited that we will be officially opening for business in October, 2023.

At Lifestyle Sleep, our goal is to reimagine and improve every aspect of clinic operation and sleep disorder management.

Here are some of the services we will be offering:

• Comprehensive Intake Questionnaires: Thorough assessments to help us understand each patient’s unique sleep and health needs.
• 50–60 Minute Physician Visits: Extended consultation times to allow for in-depth discussions and personalized care.
• Personalized Care Plans: Tailored plans provided after every visit to guide patients towards better sleep and overall health.
• Patient-Centered Lifestyle Medicine Coaching: Expert coaching in diet, exercise, social connectedness, basic addiction counseling, and stress reduction techniques.
• Group Visits: Peer support and shared learning for individuals with similar sleep disorders.
• Flexible Visit Options: Choose from telemedicine, indoor visits, outdoor visits, walking visits or even visits near a playground so your child can play while the adults talk.
• Online Community: A platform for patients to connect, share ideas, and support each other.
• Discount Packages: Designed to include the components of care that are most likely to help specific sleep conditions.
• Membership Benefits: Priority scheduling and unlimited email correspondence for our valued members.

At present, the insurance reimbursement model does not adequately compensate for lengthy, comprehensive medical visits and lifestyle counseling. Therefore, for the time being, Lifestyle Sleep will only accept payments directly from patients. Rest assured, we will provide you with a billing invoice that you can submit to your insurance provider. We are actively working towards accepting insurance payments within the next two years.

I am immensely excited for the opening of Lifestyle Sleep on 10/3/2023, and I wholeheartedly invite you to join me on this journey to transform the way we approach sleep disorders and enhance overall well-being. At Lifestyle Sleep, we are committed to empowering you with the knowledge, support, and tools to achieve restful sleep and live a healthier life.

Together, we can make a significant difference in the way sleep disorders are managed, promoting better health and happiness for all. See you at Lifestyle Sleep!