A Return to Standard Time is Better for Our Health

While it may feel cold and discouraging that darkness will descend upon us sooner each day, the shift back to Standard Time this Sunday is actually a good thing for our health and well-being!

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine along with other experts agree that Standard Time is more beneficial to our health and should be permanent. For one, more light exposure in the morning is crucial to our sleep cycle. “Morning sunlight exposure stops the floodgates of melatonin, our sleep hormone, and switches to the wake phase of our circadian rhythm. This is important for our brain to say we can start our day." says Rebecca Robbins, PhD, an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School and scientist at Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Many doctors and health experts are rallying to do away with Daylight Savings Time (DST) all together because it poses a threat to our health. Changing the clocks disrupts the human body’s natural circadian rhythms which help regulate sleep, hormone release, digestion and other important bodily systems. "Fixed national time is the best option as it most closely matches the human sleep-wake cycle," says New York-based clinical psychiatrist Yalda Safai.

Circadian rhythms are defined as “physical, mental and behavioral changes that follow a 24-hour cycle. They are natural processes that respond to light and dark and affect most living things.” Year-round standard time aligns best with the natural day-to-night rhythms of the human body, so sticking to it benefits individual and public health.

What this means is we do better when we rise with the sun (between 6-6:30am), instead of in darkness, and begin to slow down all activity of the mind and body as darkness falls (between 5-6pm.) When we align our daily routines to be in harmony with the rhythms of nature as best we can, we enable greater energy, happiness, balance and peace.

Not an early riser? Sometimes habits and lifestyle have conditioned you to stay on a late night activity schedule which prevents you from waking early. It will take some time and a concerted effort to reprogram yourself but ultimately, your mind and body will thank you! Here are some tips to recalibrate your routine to align with your circadian rhythms:

• Make micro adjustments - set your alarm 10 minutes earlier than usual on day one and continue to do this each day until you can wake up just after sunrise.

• Similarly, adjust your bed time by 10 minutes earlier each night until you allow for 7-8 hours of sleep each night.

• Leave your window coverings slightly open so that the morning light enters your sleep chamber. This helps stimulate the brain to adjust hormone release and shift to activity mode.

• Have something planned early in the morning that you can look forward to, such as a morning meditation, a shower with new shampoo or body oil, your favorite morning cuppa, or a sunrise walk with the birds. This will help you get out of bed when your alarm goes off.

• When darkness descends outdoors, let that be a signal to start winding down your day, preparing dinner, finishing up stressful or tiring activities at work.

• Plan to eat dinner three or more hours before bedtime. Limit water intake during this time too! Take your medications with dinner instead of when you brush your teeth to help your bladder make it through the night.

• In the evenings, establish a no-tech wind-down period approximately one hour before bedtime. No more screens, phone off, take a short walk, dim the lights, draw a warm bath, do some light reading, listen to a yoga nidra meditation or some soothing music.

It’s important to remind ourselves that we are one with the natural universe. We are nature and nature is us. Although our senses and conditioning lead us to believe we are separate from the world around us, we are in a constant energy exchange with our environment. And when our internal rhythms are in sync with the energy of our surroundings, we experience well-being.