The Art of Better Sleep with HigherDOSE

Sleep has become one of the most talked-about pillars of wellbeing, yet truly restorative rest often feels more elusive than ever. For HigherDOSE founder Lauren Berlingeri, the answer isn't found in another quick fix, but in creating the right conditions for the body to unwind. Since launching HigherDOSE more than a decade ago, she's helped bring technologies like infrared therapy and PEMF into the mainstream, transforming wellness from something reserved for specialists into rituals that feel approachable, intuitive, and easy to incorporate into everyday life.

This Wellness Month, 1 Hotels and HigherDOSE have come together to introduce the HigherDOSE Sleep Ritual, a limited-time stay package that pairs a restorative getaway with a curated collection of sleep essentials, including a HigherDOSE Red Light Face Mask, Copper Body Brush, and Magnesium Spray to continue the ritual long after checkout. At select hotels, guests can also enhance their stay with an in-room PEMF Mat or Infrared Sauna Blanket. We sat down with Lauren to talk about the inspiration behind HigherDOSE, why recovery has become the ultimate luxury, and the simple rituals that can help us feel more rested, grounded, and at home wherever we are.

In Conversation with Lauren Berlingeri

You co-founded HigherDOSE after discovering the transformative effects of infrared therapy. What inspired you to build the brand, and what was the wellness gap you were hoping to fill? 

Before HigherDOSE, I worked for a health and wellness startup, building products that made big, beautiful wellness promises — better energy, better skin, better recovery. So when I discovered the infrared sauna, it stopped me cold. It was everything we'd been trying to formulate and market, except it was real. It actually delivered on its promise, and on how it made you feel. But here's the thing, no one had heard of it. Eleven years ago, unless you were deep in the alternative wellness world, infrared didn't exist to you. This was before wellness was a lifestyle, before biohacking had a name, before any of it was cool. And that was the gap. The most powerful tools — the ones that actually changed your biology — were locked away in a niche corner most people would never find, usually stripped of any beauty or design or pleasure. I didn't want to make one more product that promised transformation. I wanted to take something that genuinely worked and bring it into everyday life in a form that felt chic, sensory, and worth reaching for. HigherDOSE was built on a simple belief: the most powerful wellness isn't somewhere you go. It's something you already have.

Sleep has become one of the biggest conversations in wellness. Why do you think quality rest is more important now than ever, and what's one misconception people often have about getting better sleep? 

We're the most stimulated, most optimized, most "on" generation in history, and it's costing us at night. Everyone's chasing energy, focus, glow, longevity, and sleep is the one thing that underwrites all of it. You cannot out-supplement, out-train, or out-hack poor sleep. It's the original biohack, and it's free. The biggest misconception I see is that sleep begins the moment your head hits the pillow. It doesn't. Your sleep is decided hours earlier,  by the light you're exposed to, your body temperature, and whether your nervous system is actually coming down or still bracing for the day. You can't force sleep. You can only prepare for it. That shift,  from chasing sleep to designing the conditions for it, changes everything.

The 1 Hotels x HigherDOSE Sleep Ritual combines red light therapy, magnesium, and dry brushing to help prepare the body for rest. How do these practices work together, and why do you believe consistency is so important when building a nighttime ritual? 

Each piece is doing something different, and that's the point. Red light shifts your environment; it's the warm, low-stimulation opposite of the blue light and screens that keep your brain in daytime mode. Magnesium works from the inside; it's the mineral most of us are quietly depleted in, and it helps the body ease out of tension. And dry brushing is the tactile piece,  a few minutes of intentional touch that exfoliates the skin, supports lymphatic flow and your body's natural detox, and is one of my favorite ways to calm the nervous system. Environment, chemistry, body. Together they walk you down instead of asking you to flip a switch. And consistency is everything, because a ritual only becomes powerful when it's repeated. Your nervous system learns the sequence eventually! 

Many travelers struggle with disrupted sleep, jet lag, and feeling out of sync in a new environment. How can technologies like the HigherDOSE PEMF Mat and Infrared Sauna Blanket, available as add-ons to the Sleep Ritual, help support recovery, regulate the nervous system, and make it easier to adjust while traveling? 

Travel throws everything off, your light exposure, your temperature, your schedules, your sense of where you are. Your body is essentially trying to find its baseline in an unfamiliar place. What I love about having tools like the Sauna Blanket and PEMF Mat on hand is that they give your body a familiar signal in a new environment. The Infrared Sauna Blanket is deeply soothing, the warmth helps me physically unwind and melt off the tension of a travel day, which makes it easier to settle in and actually rest. The PEMF Mat is my grounding tool; it's what I reach for when my system feels wired and I need to come back to center. They both are a cure for Jet lag and are beautiful ways to help your body downshift and re-anchor, so you're not white-knuckling your way through the first few nights in a new city. The goal is simple: give your body a consistent ritual it recognizes, wherever you are.

At 1 Hotels, we believe wellness is woven into the entire guest experience, from the spaces we create to the rituals we encourage. How do intentional daily rituals, whether at home or while traveling, help people feel more grounded, rested, and connected to themselves? 

The best hotels don't just give you a place to stay, they give you a feeling, and that feeling stays with you. That's the real magic of a place like 1 Hotels. You walk in and something in your body exhales. The light, the natural materials, the sense of calm it reminds you of how good it feels to slow down and actually be in your body. And what I love is what happens after you leave: you want to bring that feeling home with you. You start lighting the candle, running the bath, taking the extra five minutes and recreating that sense of intention in your own space. That's what a great environment does. It doesn't just relax you for a weekend; it inspires you to live differently.

You've helped bring biohacking into the mainstream in a way that feels approachable and accessible. How has your own wellness philosophy evolved over the years, and what does "feeling your best" look like today? 

When I started, I approached wellness the way a lot of people do,  as optimization. More protocols, more discipline, more pushing. Over the years it's softened into something more intuitive. I stopped asking what more I could do and started asking what actually makes me feel good and want to keep going. That's the version of biohacking I care about, which is feminine, pleasurable, sustainable. Not punishment, not another to-do list. Today, feeling my best isn't a peak or a number. It's a baseline. It's waking up rested, having steady energy, being present with the people I love, and feeling at home in my own body and my own life. Recovery has become the real luxury. And the older I get, the more I believe the goal was never to do more — it was to build a life that quietly takes care of you.