Circadian Rhythm and sleep quality
In today's episode of Sleep Like a Boss my guest is my beautiful team member Eva Nyhagen. Eva lives in Norway, and she is a certified cognitive-behavioral therapist (CBT) for insomnia and is currently working at a sleep clinic. When she began working at the sleep clinic, she was working with people who had sleep apnea. But very soon she began meeting people who were suffering from insomnia and were desperate; the only help that they could get from their doctors was sleep medications and as we all know this doesn't help in the long run. That’s when she decided that she had to do something in order to help those people, and she became a sleep therapist. I talked to Eva about
circadian rhythm
Circadian rhythm is a biological clock that regulates your wakefulness and your sleep cycles and it's also a big part of your energy regulation. We all have this 24-hour body clock that tells us when to be awake and went to sleep. When our circadian rhythm is disrupted, it gives you insomnia and it gives you the circadian rhythm disorder and it also makes you fatigue.
Light influences your body clock, so daylight (natural light) tells your body that it's daytime and it's time to be awake and active and the darkness tells you to go to bed and to wind down. But the problem in the modern world is that we have too many artificial lights and electricity and its really disrupting your sleep hormone, melatonin, production.
The circadian clock regulates all different kinds of hormones as well, not just for sleep. It regulates your mood, your energy levels, your mental performance, your metabolism, and your hunger. So, what happens is that when your body clock is out of order. your hormones are at of order as well. It's a cycle of bad things happening when you're not following your body clock and your natural rhythm.
Eva’s advice for those who have insomnia or circadian rhythm disorder is to,
first, have regularity and consistency. Go to bed at the same time every evening and wake up at the same time every morning. As soon as you wake up, you should be exposed to light, and the sooner the better. So, within 30 minutes of waking up, you should have a glass of water and then expose yourself to daylight. It doesn't necessarily have to be sunlight, even if it’s cloudy the receptors in your eyes are receiving this light and that tells your brain and your circadian clock that its morning, it’s boosting your energy, boosting your serotonin levels (the feel-good hormone) as well as cortisol levels because you need cortisol during the day.
In the evening, you should eliminate any artificial light, like the light that comes from your TV, your laptop, your mobile phone. The artificial blue light that comes from these devices, blocks the melatonin production and melatonin is the sleep hormone. One hour of watching TV delays melatonin production for 30 minutes. Melatonin production should be at the highest at 3 AM or 4 AM. This could be the reason why you are waking up at night and not getting the deep sleep that your body needs. If you can’t give up watching TV or using your phone at night, Eva recommends using glasses that block blue light. Make sure that they are good quality, meaning that they block at least 99% of blue light. You can also use apps that have blue light filters.
Another tip is to change the light bulbs in your bedroom and your bathroom, as well as your living room, if you like to stay up late. Change your light bulbs into red or orange light, because that will help with your melatonin production.
Another important thing for a good night’s sleep is to keep your bedroom completely dark, as dark as possible, when you are sleeping. Use blackout curtains and don’t keep any electronic devices in your bedroom.
If this blog post about circadian rhythm and sleep quality has inspired you to improve your sleep and you want to work with Eva, just connected with her by clicking on the button below. It will lead you to our team section and you will find Eva there. There's a button right underneath the photo and description where you can book a call with her.
I'm really inviting you to check that out and to have a chat with her and then you can see and take it from there. Also, remember to check out the rest of the Sleep Like A Boss team series, where I talk to all my amazing team members about sleep.
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