Struggling to Sleep?

Ever feel like your body clock is out of whack? Resetting your circadian rhythm is super important for getting back in line with your sleep.

Not familiar with circadian rhythm? It let's your body know when it's time to go to sleep and when it's time to wake up. If your body's circadian rhythm is out of sync, it can have an effect on lots of aspects of your health and well-being.

Your circadian rhythm is a series of biological processes that affects sleep. According to research, there are particular proteins that are more abundant at night and decrease during the day. This is linked to the production of hormones such as melatonin (helps you sleep) and cortisol (helps you wake up).

When your body clock is in sync, you'll naturally go to sleep around the same time each night and wake up around the same time each morning. If this isn't happening for you, this means your circadian rhythm is off and needs help getting back on track.

So let's get that internal clock working for a better nights sleep! Here's a few tips:

Normally our bodies are designed to go to sleep when it's dark and wake up when it becomes light. Your own personal body clock is pretty unique to you, but there is one thing that is true for all of us, and that is certain factors are guaranteed to disrupt your body's natural rhythm.

The Biggest Disrupter:

Blue light from phone screens, laptops, TV's, etc. The blue light disrupts the production of natural melatonin, which is crucial for a good nights sleep.

With exposure to blue light, your body doesn't go through the same motions of winding down and preparing for sleep. It also upsets the natural rhythms relating to sleep, appetite and temperature.

This is one reason why experts say to turn off devices before bed.

Resetting Your Rhythm

Prepare your body for bed.

A warm bath can prepare your body for bed. The rise and fall in your body's temperature gets your body ready for sleep. As your temperature goes down after a bath, it lets your body clock know that it's time for bed.

Use lighting to your advantage.

Expose yourself to as much natural light as you can during the day, especially in the mornings.

Dimming your lights in the evening helps your body recognize that sleep should be soon. When you go to bed, try to get your room as dark as possible.Blackout blinds and/or curtains can be super helpful if outdoor lighting shines into your room.

Don't forget the blue light from your devices does not count as natural light!

Some people find that light therapy helps to reset the circadian rhythm. This involves exposing yourself to bright light first thing in the morning to get your body used to the idea of waking up naturally.

Get into a routine.

If your bedtime is all over the place, you'll definitely want to get into a routine.

For many people, disrupted sleep cycle is down to either advanced sleep phase disorder or delayed sleep phase disorder. This occurs when you go to bed fairly early but you find yourself waking up in the early hours of the morning. Or you're more likely to go to bed later and wake up later too.

Chances are, your nighttime routine is out of whack compared to your body's natural clock. This affects your sleep quality, and over time it can really affect your health and well-being.

Going to bed at the same time and waking up at a set time in the morning is super important for resting your body's circadian rhythm. Your body will gradually get into the habit in sleeping in line with this. Just don't be tempted to switch up your routine on the weekends, or when you're on vacation! You might think that staying away from your normal routine for a few days won't do any harm, but that can also be just what it takes to undo all your hard work.