Do you scroll through Facebook before you hit the hay? Or maybe you sit in bed, working on your laptop late into the evening. You might even like to read a few chapters of an eBook on your iPad. Unwinding for an hour or so can help you sleep better, but blue light from these devices could be telling your body it’s time to be awake instead.
We’re wired to be in tune with the natural sunrise and sunset schedule of the Earth, called the Circadian Rhythm. This means we’re supposed to feel wakeful in the morning and have an easy time falling asleep after the sun goes down. Our internal clocks take cues from the type of light we get from the Sun.
Our eyes will take cues from any light sources we see, so when we look primarily at artificial blue light, we can disrupt this rhythm, especially when we use brightly lit devices when the world is naturally dark.
Think of it like this:blue light spectrums from the Sun are the strongest early in the morning. So when we see these bright blue spectrums of light on digital screens at night is basically telling your body to wake up and start the day. This is why when you do turn off your screens for the night, you find it hard to sleep, your mind is racing, and you can’t seem to relax.
The root of this is that light in the blue spectrum suppresses the melatonin production in the brain. Melatonin is responsible for helping you fall asleep and stay asleep. When this hormone is reduced, you can experience insomnia, persistent fatigue, brain fog, and mood disorders. If this disruption continues, it can even contribute to weight gain and other health conditions.
Good sleep is essential for good health.To start getting back into balance, the first thing to do is create a bedtime routine. Since you want to reduce blue light exposure and get into a state of relaxation, turn off your phone and other devices at least 45 minutes before bed, or keep them in another room.
You can read an actual book, meditate, write in a journal, or listen to relaxing music instead. These kinds of activities shift your brainwaves from the awake, active alpha state into the deeper, more relaxed delta and theta states. This prepares your body to get healing, restorative sleep.
Aim to get your bedroom as dark as possible, too, like a sleep cave. The darker your room is, the better you’ll be able to stay asleep through the night.
It can take several weeks, if not months, for your body to adapt to these positive changes. If you want to put yourself on the fast track to the best sleep possible, add an all-natural sleep aid. We’ve developed LIGHTS OUT for exactly this reason. This Naturopath-approved herbal supplement helps to calm anxious thoughts, enhance restful sleep, and promote refreshing, energized mornings.
LIGHTS OUT helps the body naturally rebalance the hormones and neurotransmitters that let the body rest and heal at night. When you’re fully rested, you wake up energized and feel great all day.
