Today's newsletter is the last on a series connected to a
Substack article I wrote at season's turn, proposing we all do more to do less this winter.
When I first learned about sunlight exposure and circadian rhythm, it did seem like it was taking things a bit too far. If you are a single woman with a trust fund and all the time in the world to focus on self care, then go for it. But for a busy working mom with two kids and lots on her plate, light exposure seemed a bit too precious.
I guess that's true for a lot of the things. They seem like too much, too contrived. That is, until there are very compelling reasons to want to change that propel us to try anything to feel better.
In my case, it was borderline insomnia at 45, and the discovery through a Dutch test that I had classic adrenal fatigue no one over at Kaiser had noticed. As hormones lower, estrogen production is relegated to the adrenals, putting even more strain on these tiny but mighty glands. If you've already been burning the candle at both ends, as I had, there will be signs.
This explains why we can get edgier, snappier and generally less resilient during perimenopause. Our adrenals are suddenly doing a lot more with a lot less. In hindsight, I had plenty of signs I didn't read. I finally did start to pay attention when I could no longer do HIIT classes without experiencing intense short breathing the rest of the day.
In my case, I needed to lay off on the non stop 50 minutes of cardio and switch to more cortisol friendly exercise. This is true for those who need adrenal support (Type A women, or even type B women who take on and do A LOT at a quick pace each day).
what does this have to do with light?
Cortisol, our stress hormone, is interwoven with sunlight and circadian rhythm. Light is our body's way of knowing the morning has arrived, it's time to awaken and get to work, or that the sun has set, it's time to wind down and prepare the body for deep rest. Which explains why the best sleep I've ever had was living on a sailboat. Where most of the light came from sunlight, and after sunset lights aboard were low and dim.
But the light we are exposed to nowadays sends us a lot of mixed messages that can make deep rest elusive. Just the invention of the light bulb alone, a modern miracle, was not great news for sleep. And with the subsequent inventions of the TV, computers and now smart phones, our eyes are receiving blue light that mimics sunlight way past the hour they should be.
The thing that's cool about light therapy, is there are a lot of ways at it. If you suspect you could use some nervous system support, take a look at this list and see where you could begin. Which one feels most doable?
light therapy has many forms
light can be used to help equalize our waking-rest cycle, regulate our nervous system, and even support our immune system in winter when many of us receive less sunlight each day.
1. Early sunlight exposure
If you feel tired all day and wired before bed, you are a very good candidate for early sunlight exposure. This is best experienced in the form of a slow, leisure outdoor walk before 10 am for 20 minutes.
If walking slowly is painful because you want to run, you need this practice even more! Do not be tempted to turn it into a jog.
2. Blue light blocking glasses
Imagine you are fast asleep, and your best friend in the world who lives across the country shows up on your front porch. You are suddenly awake, excited, talking & catching up. Our nervous systems are designed to turn on suddenly-primordially it was to keep us safe. But we should be more gentle with ourselves—they aren't meant to have this capability tests dozens of times every evening.
Wearing blue light glasses after sundown (or at the very least, while looking at screens after sundown), completely changed the way I understand how evening light impacts the nervous system. After wearing them consistently in the evening, I developed a felt sense of the shock to the system bright lights can have.
I think it's a good place to start because they are cheap and it's a fairly easy thing to test.
3. Light exposure in winter
Since I started using a Fitbit (and now an Oura ring), I noticed how my HRV can dip significantly in winter. Partly this is from winter sickness, and partly it's from less sunlight. I hadn't realized how much the nervous system is regulated by sunlight until these wearables became available.
I have a
happy lamp that does help. I also hear NIR (near infrared light) before bedtime can help support healthy sleep-wake cycles.
4. Circadian Rhythm Lights
This is something I've wanted to try but haven't.
These are lights that dim as the day wears on, in 4 different settings.
When we redid the lighting in our house, we installed LOTS of very bright ceiling lights. It's possible to dim them manually, but it turns out our kids like to turn them to full blast and leave them there. Sometimes I'll go downstairs in the middle of the light and find most of the house lights were turned back on after I went to sleep, a shock to my half asleep body.
I fantasize about installing these lights, but it's a project and investment given how many ceiling lights we have now. I'd love to hear from others who have tried them.
