• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Seeds to Berries

Seeds to Berries

  • Home
  • About
  • Articles

How to Regulate Your Circadian Rhythm for Better Sleep

Home / Mental Health / How to Regulate Your Circadian Rhythm for Better Sleep

We all know sleep is paramount to our health. But for most of us, it can be difficult to consistently achieve a good night’s rest. If you find yourself having trouble falling asleep or feeling tired during the day, consider paying attention to your circadian rhythm.

Also known as your “body clock,” your circadian rhythm is a 24 hour internal cycle that sends signals to your body about when to sleep and when to wake. It’s affected by certain environmental cues. Understanding what these environmental cues are and how to regulate them can help you gain some control over your sleep.

Get in Sync with the Sun

According to the National Sleep Foundation, the biggest impact you can have on your circadian rhythm is increasing darkness at night and getting light exposure during the day. As the sun sets and darkness settles in, our bodies are programmed to start producing melatonin, the hormone responsible for making us drowsy. By dimming the lights an hour or two before bed, you can let your body know it’s time for sleep.

Equally important is keeping your bedroom dark throughout the night. Any light can be disruptive so consider installing blackout curtains and removing the alarm clock.

When you wake up, try to get as much exposure to natural light as possible. Throw open the curtains or step outside for five minutes. Besides getting your daily dose of Vitamin D, seeing and feeling the sunlight will suppress melatonin so you feel awake and energized.

Turn Off Your Phone

Although any and all light at night affects your sleep quality, blue light can be particularly disruptive. In a Harvard study that reviewed the effects of exposure to blue light versus green light, researchers found that blue light suppressed melatonin for about twice as long as green light. The blue light also delayed circadian rhythms.

To best prepare your body for sleep, avoid looking at bright screens a couple of hours before bed. If that’s difficult to do, try wearing a pair of blue light blocking glasses in the evening.

Watch What You Eat And When You Eat

Most of us know that caffeine in the evening can keep us awake at night, but what time you eat also plays a role in regulating your circadian rhythm. If you eat your meals earlier in the day, you can bump up your internal clock so you get drowsy earlier. In addition, it’s important to create a consistent meal schedule throughout the day so your body can fall into a routine.

Go Camping

The quickest way to reset your circadian rhythm is to head outside for the weekend. Scientists from the University of Colorado Boulder took groups of volunteers camping. The only light they had was natural sunlight and the glow of a campfire. After a week, campers fell asleep two-and-a-half hours earlier than in their modern day routines while maintaining a similar wake time. As a result, they clocked more hours each night.  

Next time you find yourself struggling with sleep, consider these tips. That said, the most important takeaway is to get back in touch with nature. Falling asleep with the stars and waking up with the sun is natural and when we can stick to that, we’ll start reaping the benefits through better, more restful slumbers.

Like it? Share it!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Pin
  • LinkedIn
  • Email
« Previous Post
Next Post »

Category iconMental Health Tag iconcircadian rhythm,  nature,  rest,  sleep,  wellness

Get Updates Right to Your Inbox

Sign up to receive the latest and greatest articles from our site automatically each week (give or take)...right to your inbox.
Blog Updates

Further Insights

If Mama Ain’t Happy…
November 9, 2019
4 Tips to Fall Asleep Faster
November 2, 2019
4 Ways to Enjoy the Great Outdoors When You Live in a Busy City
October 31, 2019

Primary Sidebar

Search

Latest Articles

Is it Safe to Use Eczema Lotion on a Tattoo?

How to Embrace Positive Thinking

Teach Your Kids to Love Nature with These Children’s Garden Projects

3 Tips for Striking the Ideal Work-Family Balance

Categories

  • Children
  • Exercise and Diet
  • Home
  • Mental Health
  • Pets

Exploring the website?

Our site includes quite a bit of content, so if you're having an issue finding what you're looking for, go on ahead and use that search feature there!

Footer

Seeds to Berries provides a carefully curated collection of real, healthy, simple products, presented to you in articles. Because life is too short for complicated.
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • RSS

Explore Site

  • Home
  • About
  • Articles

Copyright © Seeds to Berries. All Rights Reserved.

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Contact Us
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsAccept
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.

Necessary Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.