Dr Marina vd Ryst

13/03/2026

About today - World Sleep day: Your brain never sleeps- even when you are asleep. The brain is working night shifts, and it works every night
When you go to sleep, your brain starts a timed maintenance cycle which repeats every 90 minutes. Its main job is to reset your brain for the next day.
Light sleep is called Stage N1, which slows your brain down and prepares the body for deeper rest. Then your brain starts organizing the day’s information, which is called Stage N2. These tiny bursts of activity help strengthen learning and memory. There after the brain enters into deep sleep (Stage N3) — the brain’s restoration phase. Slow brain waves activity now dominates, which enables the body to repair and recover itself while the brain clears metabolic waste. REM sleep is the final stage where the brain becomes active again. This is often characterized by vivid dreaming while emotional memories are processed and integrated. Throughout the night your brain repeats these cycles — each stage doing something different but essential.
Good quality sleep means allowing your brain to move through all of these cycles naturally. It is not about hours; it is about quality. And this all starts with good sleep hygiene, a definitive sleep preparation routine and a consistent sleep pattern. This is small price to pay for waking up refreshed, clear-headed and prepared for the day ahead. Think about this, do you usually wake up feeling rested or still tired? Do you need to look after your sleep hygiene and sleep routine? Contact us for more detail or support in this regard.

11/03/2026

Blue light and sleep: Deep within the retina live specialized neurons that function like biological light meters. These cells exist not to help us see the world but to help the brain understand time. They constantly measure the brightness and color of the light entering the eye and relay that information to a small structure deep in the hypothalamus which is also called the master clock of the brain. It coordinates the timing of countless physiological rhythms: body temperature, hormone release, alertness, digestion, and sleep. Read on to see how the blue light of scrolling impacts on our master clock.



Read more here: https://drtraster.substack.com/p/the-neuroscience-of-blue-light-and?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=6317843&post_id=190574667&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=79r1ho&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

10/03/2026

"A new study, has discovered a system that drains waste products from the brain."

Read more here:

A new study, has discovered a system that drains waste products from the 🧠. Ex: Our 🧠 relies on tightly coordinated cleansing and immune-support systems to help maintain balance. This illustration highlights how fluid circulation, waste removal, and neuroimmune activity work together to suppor...

08/03/2026

Letting go brings lightness of being. It celebrates the first step in your mental - and brain health journey.

07/03/2026

Do not fear chaos in your life, but learn from it to optimize your brain and mental health wellbeing.

06/03/2026

BRAIN HEALTH FRIDAY: Clearing Brain fog

05/03/2026

BRAIN FOG: Feeling slow, unfocused, or mentally “cloudy.” The alarm bell for a brain and body under strain—Poor sleep, chronic stress, dehydration, inflammation, hormonal changes, or long periods of cognitive overload.
Small daily habits that stimulate natural dopamine release and supports the nervous system include improving sleep quality, staying hydrated, exercise and movement, learning new skills, exposure to sunlight, and slower breathing practices all contribute hugely to mental clarity. And of course, keep on setting meaningful goals and celebrating small-step achievements is a great way of activating the brain-dopamine reward system -The more novel, the better!

03/03/2026

Neurorofeedback is a non-invasive applied neurophysiological technique where our clients learn how to control and regulate their brain wave activities.
However, I so often get the question how we should maintain it, how we could strengthen and enhance the work that we have put into this process. This is a clear and succinct explanation for a client’s responsibility and for maintenance. Even if you are not involved in Neurofeedback - this should take you light years of where you have found yourself in the past.

How to Control Your Brain

Controlling your brain isn’t about suppressing thoughts. It’s about directing attention, regulating emotion, and designing your environment.

1. Control Input = Control Output

Your brain runs on what you feed it.

Reduce:

Morning phone use

Doom scrolling

Late-night screens

Mental clutter

Cleaner input → clearer thinking.

2. Train Attention

Attention is the control lever.

10 minutes focused breathing

25-minute deep work blocks

Single-tasking

Bringing your mind back repeatedly strengthens executive control.

3. Regulate Dopamine

Overstimulation kills motivation.

Do hard things first

Delay gratification

Reduce constant novelty

Lower spikes → higher baseline drive.

27/02/2026

26/02/2026

I came across this post/article and found its simple ease refreshing. Why should it be complicated to be happy?


https://geediting.com/j-a-8-subtle-things-genuinely-happy-people-quietly-stopped-doing-that-most-of-us-are-still-exhausting-ourselves-with-every-single-day/?

24/02/2026

Good sleep supports a healthy brain.
This TED Talk explores the science behind why rest matters — for clarity, resilience, and long-term neurological health.



SLEEP TEDEX House Cleaning TALK: https://www.ted.com/talks/jeff_iliff_one_more_reason_to_get_a_good_night_s_sleep?language=en