How to Flourish with Jared Thurmon

How to Flourish with Jared Thurmon

By Jared ThurmonSociety & CultureHealth & FitnessReligion & SpiritualityRelationships
Download on the App Store

How to Flourish with Jared Thurmon episodes

  • Sleep: More Hours or Better Timing?

    The clocks fall back this Sunday, and your body clock doesn't read the paper. Jared covers why sleep timing may matter as much as hours, what to do about 3 a.m. waking, why the boring basics beat the newest sleep hacks, his own bedroom setup (yes, sweatpants and socks), what Halloween sugar and his anniversary week do to his HRV, caffeine dose and timing, and why Saturday night is his best sleep of the week.

    Get the free 7-day plan, Get the Best Sleep of Your Life: https://www.1upyourlife.com/sleep

    Read the full newsletter issue: https://www.1upyourlife.com/p/sleep-more-hours-or-better-timing

    Every study mentioned in this episode

    • Daylight saving time transitions and depression, Danish health records, 2017: https://research.regionh.dk/en/publications/daylight-savings-time-transitions-and-the-incidence-rate-of-unipo/

    • Day and night light exposure and psychiatric disorders, 86,772 adults, 2023: https://doi.org/10.1038/s44220-023-00135-8

    • Sleep regularity and depression, 79,666 adults with wrist trackers, 2025: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291725101281

    • Sleep regularity vs sleep duration and mortality, 60,977 adults, 2024: https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsad253

    • Sleep onset timing and cardiovascular disease, UK Biobank, 2021: https://doi.org/10.1093/ehjdh/ztab088

    • Recommended amount of sleep for adults, AASM and Sleep Research Society, 2015: https://doi.org/10.5665/sleep.4716

    • Alcohol and sleep, review, 2013: https://doi.org/10.1111/acer.12006

    • Room light before bedtime and melatonin, 2011: https://doi.org/10.1210/jc.2010-2098

    • Thermal environment, sleep and circadian rhythm, review, 2012: https://doi.org/10.1186/1880-6805-31-14

    • Eye masks and earplugs in hospital patients, review of 36 studies, 2026: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-39187-y

    • Warm bath or shower before bed, review of 17 studies, 2019: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2019.04.008

    • Alcohol and heart rate variability during sleep, 4,098 Finnish workers, 2018: https://doi.org/10.2196/mental.9519

    • Sleep and susceptibility to the common cold, 2015: https://doi.org/10.5665/sleep.4968

    • Sugars and neutrophil phagocytosis, 1973: https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/26.11.1180

    • Caffeine and sleep, review of 24 studies, 2023: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2023.101764

      • Not medical advice.

      14 min
    • Meaning or Pleasure

      When we can't find meaning, we tend to distract ourselves with pleasure, and when pleasure is hard to find, we can hide in hard work and call it meaning. Jared looks at purpose for moms and for men, the law of the jungle versus the law of love, and what the research links purpose to when it comes to your health.

      Read the full newsletter issue: https://www.1upyourlife.com/p/meaning-or-pleasure

      Every study mentioned in this episode

      • Parents Under Pressure, U.S. Surgeon General's advisory on parents, 2024: https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/parents-under-pressure.pdf

      • The pains and pleasures of parenting, review, 2014: https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035444

      • Drug overdose deaths in the U.S. in 2024, CDC data brief, 2026: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db549.htm

      • Sports betting legalization and searches for gambling addiction help, 2025: https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2024.8193

      • Multiple adverse childhood experiences and health, systematic review and meta-analysis, 2017: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-2667(17)30118-4

      • Purpose in life and mortality, meta-analysis, 2026: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291726104863

      • Meaning and purpose in life and dementia risk, meta-analysis, 2023: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.archger.2022.104847

      • Sense of purpose and later health in U.S. adults over 50, 2022: https://doi.org/10.1177/08901171211038545

      • Religious service attendance and deaths of despair among U.S. health professionals, 2020: https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2020.0175

      • A happy life versus a meaningful life, givers and takers, 2013: https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2013.830764

        • Also mentioned: Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning. Chris Williamson, Frankl's Inverse Law: https://chriswillx.com/3-minute-monday-meaning-boys-critics/

        Jared's book NINE70: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HDQXZM12

        The free Flourishing Assessment: https://flourishingassessment.com

        Not medical advice.

        11 min
      • How to Supercharge Your Sleep

        Is sleep before midnight really better? Deep sleep and your biggest growth hormone release follow whenever you fall asleep, and the research points to falling asleep between 10 and 11 pm, a regular schedule, seven-plus hours, a dark and cool room, morning light and short naps.

        Read the full newsletter issue: https://www.1upyourlife.com/p/supercharge-sleep

        Every study mentioned in this episode

        • Deep sleep early in the night, REM sleep toward morning, 1995: https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.15-05-03526.1995

        • Growth hormone and the first deep sleep, review, 1996: https://doi.org/10.1016/s0022-3476(96)70008-2

        • Sleep onset timing and heart disease, UK Biobank, 2021: https://doi.org/10.1093/ehjdh/ztab088

        • Sleep regularity and mortality, UK Biobank, 2024: https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsad253

        • Irregular sleep, sleep duration and heart attack, stroke or heart failure, UK Biobank, 2025: https://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2024-222795

        • Recommended sleep for adults, AASM and Sleep Research Society, 2015: https://doi.org/10.5665/sleep.4716

        • Short sleep among U.S. adults, CDC, 2016: https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6506a1

        • Midlife sleep duration and dementia, Whitehall II, 2021: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-22354-2

        • Day and night light exposure and mortality, UK Biobank, 2024: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2405924121

        • Night light exposure and heart disease, UK Biobank, 2025: https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.39031

        • Sleeping with a TV or light on and weight gain in women, 2019: https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2019.0571

        • Warm bath or shower before bed, systematic review and meta-analysis, 2019: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2019.04.008

        • Hot nights and lost sleep in 68 countries, 2022: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2022.04.008

        • Night noise and awakenings, WHO systematic review, 2018: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15030519

        • Grogginess after waking from deep sleep, review, 2000: https://doi.org/10.1053/smrv.2000.0098

        • Naps and heart risk, meta-analysis, 2015: https://doi.org/10.5665/sleep.5246

        • Nap length and health risk, meta-analysis, 2020: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2020.08.009

        • Exercise and sleep, meta-analysis, 2015: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-015-9617-6

          • Book mentioned: Nick Littlehales, Sleep.

          Not medical advice.

          10 min
        • Why My Wife and I Stopped Having "Sex"

          Even a good, faithful marriage can let intimacy settle into routine. How Annette and I brought the fire back, and what the research says about frequency, novelty and wanting.

          Read the original issue: https://www.1upyourlife.com/p/why-my-wife-and-i-stopped-having-s-x

          Every study mentioned in this episode

          • Sexual frequency and well-being, three studies, 30,645 people, Social Psychological and Personality Science, 2015: https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550615616462

          • Carnegie Mellon experiment, couples asked to double sexual frequency, Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 2015: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2015.04.021

          • Couples doing novel, exciting activities together, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2000: https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.78.2.273

          • Warren Buffett, 2009 Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting, as reported by CNBC.

            • Not medical advice.

            11 min
          • You're the Worst Parent Ever

            Emotional attunement is the discipline of staying steady when your kid can't. A story about fourteen cats and a six-year-old's threats, and what the research says about how we respond to big emotions.

            Read the original issue: https://www.1upyourlife.com/p/you-re-the-worst-parent-ever

            Every study mentioned in this episode

            • Still-face studies, systematic review and meta-analysis of infant stress responses, Developmental Review, 2018: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2018.06.002

            • Harsh verbal discipline and teens, 976 families followed from 13 to 14, Child Development, 2014: https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12143

            • Tuning in to Kids, randomized trial of emotion coaching with 216 parents, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 2010: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2010.02303.x

              • Not medical advice.

              8 min
            • Your Brain Runs on a Clock

              What keeps a brain sharp? The research points less to pills and powders and more to everyday habits and when you do them: morning light, walking, real food, time with people, and a cool, dark night. Here is a day of those habits, and what the research says about each one.

              Read the full newsletter issue: https://www.1upyourlife.com/p/your-brain-runs-on-a-clock

              Every study mentioned in this episode

              • Lancet Commission on dementia prevention, 2024: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(24)01296-0

              • Daytime and night light and mental health, UK Biobank light sensors, 2023: https://doi.org/10.1038/s44220-023-00135-8

              • Walking and hippocampus volume trial, 2011: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1015950108

              • Pooled exercise trials on hippocampal volume, 2020: https://doi.org/10.1002/hipo.23292

              • Daily steps and dementia risk, UK Biobank, 2022: https://doi.org/10.1001/jamaneurol.2022.2672

              • MIND diet randomized trial, New England Journal of Medicine, 2023: https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2302368

              • Ultra-processed food and cognitive decline, Brazil, 2022: https://doi.org/10.1001/jamaneurol.2022.4397

              • Harvard Health on dopamine fasting, 2020: https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/dopamine-fasting-misunderstanding-science-spawns-a-maladaptive-fad-2020022618917

              • Dopamine and the willingness to do hard mental work, Science, 2020: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaz5891

              • Blocking mobile internet for two weeks, randomized trial, 2025: https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf017

              • Loneliness and dementia risk, meta-analysis of more than 600,000 people, 2024: https://doi.org/10.1038/s44220-024-00328-9

              • Sleep loss and social withdrawal, 2018: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-05377-0

              • Evening room light and melatonin, 2011: https://doi.org/10.1210/jc.2010-2098

              • Sleep onset timing and heart disease, UK Biobank, 2021: https://doi.org/10.1093/ehjdh/ztab088

              • Recommended sleep for adults, AASM and Sleep Research Society, 2015: https://doi.org/10.5665/sleep.4716

              • Sleep duration and thinking, UK Biobank, 2022: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-022-00210-2

              • Sauna use and dementia in Finnish men, 2016: https://doi.org/10.1093/ageing/afw212

                • Not medical advice.

                12 min

              About How to Flourish with Jared Thurmon

              From the publisher's feed

              Each week, Jared Thurmon takes one question about health across body, mind and spirit and looks at what the research actually says. Sleep and stress, marriage and friendship, faith, purpose, and the…