A good night’s sleep is critical to long-term health, and it’s often the first thing we sacrifice when life gets busy. But without rest, the body can’t regulate metabolism; the brain can’t process information; the immune system can’t effectively fight off infections. With Chenot Sleep Cycles, we retrain the body’s natural circadian rhythms, resetting its internal clock for better, more restorative sleep.
Food, water, and sleep: Three critical things humans require to survive. Remove any one from the hierarchy of needs, and the pyramid comes crashing down. But of all the bare necessities, a good night’s sleep is the easiest one to ignore. When you already feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day, it’s hard to spend eight of them at rest. Our sleep schedules fall prey to factors that can feel outside our control: Demanding jobs, family obligations, social lives, omnipresent screens, accumulating stress. And yet in order to get all of it not just done, but done well — in order to regulate metabolism, maintain optimal mental function, and generally preserve our health — we all need to sleep.
“We are not perfect machines, and our bodies are not meant to work 24 hours a day,” emphasizes Dr. Antonio di Mauro, research and innovation manager at Chenot. Our systems are not designed to maintain the same level of efficiency indefinitely, and if we do not satisfy the need to sleep, “we will pay such a debt in one way or another, over time. Not only in terms of lifespan but crucially, in terms of healthspan specifically, the ability to recover.”
To get the most out of this “elixir of life,” we must pay careful attention to sleep quality, quantity, regularity and timing; we must find an equilibrium between day and night, waking and sleeping. At Chenot, the goal is to reset that balance by means of impactful, personalised treatments addressing each element of that formula. Our new module, Chenot Sleep Cycles, is a seven-day course designed to help you get the most out of every night’s sleep by building on the foundations of our Recover & Energise programme.
Circadian rhythms: What are they and why are they important?
The human body operates on a 24-hour biological “master”clock, or circadian rhythm, which is primarily regulated by the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) in the hypothalamus. This internal clock synchronises physiological processes, including hormone release and organ function, with the external environment. External factors—such as light exposure, temperature, physical activity, and meal timing—help regulate this rhythm, influencing the hormonal fluctuations that govern wakefulness and sleep.
In practice, the cycle unfolds as follows: During the night, core body temperature reaches its lowest point, and begins to rise as morning light exposure increases. The SCN then signals the adrenal glands to increase cortisol production, alongside other wake-promoting hormones such as adrenaline and noradrenaline. These hormones help stimulate alertness, increase blood pressure, and mobilise energy stores to prepare the body for the day ahead.
How does the Chenot Method improve the ageing process?
The Chenot Method® kickstarts a deep clean of the body’s battery. The cornerstone is our fast-mimicking Chenot Diet®, designed to upregulate autophagy (or, the process through which our cells identify and recycle their faulty parts) by temporarily pausing their replication. Our chefs spread 850 calories over three daily meals, prioritizing nutrient-dense ingredients — fruits, vegetables, grains, herbs, and spices high in antioxidants — over the protein cells need to reproduce. Depriving them of that energy source dials down their rate of growth so that they can switch into cleaning mode.
At the same time, Chenot treatments aim to re-energise the body by improving mitochondrial fitness. The generators that power each of our cells, mitochondria use oxygen to make energy; temporarily restricting the amount of oxygen available to them — creating conditions of hypoxia — trains the mitochondria to do more with less. Whether through the use of an oxygen mask or via a workout session in our altitude chamber, we aim to induce therapeutic hypoxia: a sustainable degree of stress that improves metabolic efficiency within the cells. We also use photobiomodulation, or exposure to red and near-infrared light, to help repair damaged mitochondria and boost their energy production.
Antonio di Mauro explains that this period is optimal for high activity, greater energy expenditure, and increased appetite. As the day progresses, the buildup of adenosine—a neurotransmitter that promotes sleep pressure—contributes to fatigue, while melatonin production increases in response to reduced light exposure. Meanwhile, cortisol levels gradually decline, allowing the body to transition toward rest.
At night, the body enters a state of repair and regeneration.
Growth hormone is released, supporting muscle and bone health, metabolism regulation, and cognitive functions such as memory consolidation. As dawn approaches, the body prepares to restart the cycle, with gradually increasing cortisol levels before waking.
Di Mauro compares the interaction between all these chemicals to an orchestra: The master clock conducts, using the Suprachiasmatic nucleus, a tiny group of neurons situated in the hypothalamus, as its baton; the instruments are the many organs in the body, each one with its own local clock. “It really depends on which instruments we choose to play, but in the end they should play all together,” Di Mauro says. When one is out of tune, the harmony falls apart.
What happens when circadian rhythms are out of sync?
Unfortunately, modern life is not always set to nature’s clock: Travel, work, and a suite of other scheduling demands often get in the way. But interferences with the body’s factory settings create system-wide problems: Sluggish metabolism, reduced acuity, weakened immunity, dysregulated emotions, and even the potential onset of dysbiosis in our gut microbial flora.
Because our cells use these periods of rest, when we aren’t consuming or expending energy, to recycle malformations and faulty parts, less sleep effectively means less opportunity for quality control, potentially contributing to serious diseases down the line. It also deprives the brain of the time it needs to collate memories and process information, dulling its cognitive abilities. And once our hormonal peaks and valleys flatten, we lose the natural cues that tell us when to wake up, when to go to sleep, when to eat and when to stop. Whereas a spike in cortisol works like an alarm clock in the morning, when the level stays constant, there’s no period of daytime productivity, no gradual powering down at night, and no easy descent into sleep. Instead, the body stays stressed, a chemical imbalance that not only affects mental processing and energy levels but also takes its toll on metabolism. Cortisol reduces insulin sensitivity while increasing both blood sugar levels and cholesterol in the body, factors that can make it harder to maintain a healthy weight in the short term and contribute to chronic diseases — such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disorders — in the long term.
Because circadian rhythms exert control over all our vital organs, each of those foundational systems suffers when our sleep cycles get out of whack.
How does Chenot Sleep Cycles help restore healthy patterns?
While circadian rhythms might be predictable, sleep is personal. At Chenot, we help our guests identify their sleep chronotype — or, their body’s native sleep instinct; do they tend to rise early and experience productivity in the morning, or are they a night owl by nature? — and fine-tune their routines to best suit their natural rhythms. Chronotypes help decide when we are most energetic, when we are most inclined to eat, and when we might achieve our best possible sleep. Working within the chronotype’s parameters, our medical team can tailor treatment to each guest’s needs.
Then, we deploy light and temperature to therapeutic effect: We use total-body exposure to red and near-infrared light to both elicit melatonin production in the evening and strengthen mitochondria, the cellular powerhouses that produce adenosine and whose light sensors help wake us up in the morning. To elicit mitochondrial biogenesis and reprogram core body temperature fluctuations, we also recommend brief stints in our cryo chambers, which submerge the body in temperatures as low as -110-degree celsius temperatures. Done first thing in the morning, cryotherapy provides a jolt that triggers the release of adrenaline and noradrenaline, amplifying the natural factors that prompt us to wake up.
Combining these treatments with neuroacoustic deep relaxation sessions and targeted breathwork, we stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system, which controls our “rest and digest” functions and can become overwhelmed by its counterpart, the often hyperactive sympathetic nervous system. The goal is to restore natural fluctuations to circadian cycles, supported by good “sleep hygiene” practices. Chenot uses softer lights across each facility’s corridors, as well as in four suites designed with phonoabsorbent walls and low frequency sound systems that mimic the ambient noise of nature. Even our bed linens and pyjamas are designed with proper sleep in mind, helping to regulate the transmission of body heat and keep you in your ideal temperature zone.
Practical Strategies for Enhancing Sleep Quality
Of course, we don’t expect that our guests will keep a cryochamber or phototherapy devices in their homes. At Chenot, we aim for sustainability: training visitors toward routines they can keep up, even after they leave. Sleep Cycles is no different, and once we understand the guest’s circadian disruptions, we can reset their daily regimens. Instead of starting their day in the cryochamber, they might spend the final few minutes of their morning shower standing under a cold stream and achieve the same effect. Rather than sitting under red light, they might spend 10 minutes outside in direct sunlight shortly after waking — maybe taking a walk, maybe standing in their garden, maybe sitting on their terrace.
Rather than having the guest exercise after work, we might encourage them toward physical activity earlier in the morning, relying on blood-pumping cardio to get their systems going as the day begins and reserving low-impact, breath-focused movement for evenings. We base these personalized recommendations on consultations with Chenot specialists, who provide our guests with actionable insights they can reasonably fulfill at home.
Routines are arguably the most decisive factor in resetting one’s circadian rhythms: Observing the same wake-up and bedtimes every day of the week; starting the day with the same balanced breakfast; pacing and planning meals with an eye toward the body’s shifting metabolic needs.
We understand that it’s not always possible to control life’s demands, but with tiny, bespoke tweaks to the daily schedule, we can make an outsize impact on life-long wellbeing.
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