Trouble sleeping? Paying attention to light exposure is key

What if we told you that you can control how many good days and bad days you have, and what controls that is your sleep cycle?

Before checking your Instagram feed, hear us out. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are over a quarter of Americans who are not getting a sufficient amount of sleep.

One doctor says there’s no magic number for how much sleep an individual needs, but like a credit card, if you spend more than you can pay back, well, eventually, you’ll fall into debt and have trouble “paying” off the IOU’s to your body.

So, to avoid falling into sleep debt with yourself, let’s talk about circadian rhythms.

What is a circadian rhythm?

Circadian rhythms are the physical, mental, and behavioral changes that follow a 24-hour cycle. These natural processes respond primarily to light and dark cycles and affect most living things, including animals, plants, and microbes. The circadian rhythms help your body release hormones, aid eating habits and digestion, and regulate your body’s temperature.

External factors like mutations or changes in certain genes, jet lag or shift work, or light from electronic devices at night can confuse our biological clocks.

Of course, there are some factors that control light that we can’t control, like Daylight Saving Time.

If you’re waking up before there’s any natural sunlight, behavioral psychologist, Dr. Courtney Lavadia with Swedish Medical suggests, “turning on your head light, table lamps, or whatever you can to get that signal into your body that it’s time to be awake.”

Experts also point out the following:

• When going to bed, remove all light, technology, and mental stimulation from the bedroom.
• When waking up, expose yourself to 15 to 20 minutes of light and some sort of mental stimulation.

For the tough wake-ups, look into light-up alarm clocks. These types of clocks are meant to mock a sunrise.

For those still struggling even with light exposure, there are a handful of alarm clock apps on your smartphone that can be downloaded to your device. These apps can only be snoozed after you’ve completed a series of puzzles or math equations.

At night, for those who typically fall asleep with the TV on, consider swapping your TV for a sound machine or fan.

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