As we move toward the end of the year, life gets busy.
The holidays are in sight and that can mean busier schedules and more opportunities to get derailed on our positive health habits. It’s a time when we blame candy, cookies, and cocktails for our not so jolly health, but could circadian rhythm be the holiday jingle we need most?
In fact, setting good light routines leading up to the year end, may be the best way to manage the stress of the upcoming holidays. How smoothly and efficiently you teach your body to adapt to the light and weather at your latitude will be the key to navigating the months ahead.
Let’s take a Squint.
(Sun)Lighting up the holidays
Wait a second. Did we basically say that following the Squintessentials will help you make the holidays more manageable?
Oh, yes we did!
It’s true, now is a great time to review your routines – the good and the bad – and make sure your body is getting the appropriate light signals it needs. Your mitochondria depend on it! Your “powerhouses” may not be on your gift list, but they should be! The top of your gift list. And what is the perfect gift for your mitochondria? LIGHT!! Your mitochondria are waiting for you to get outside and show them exactly where you are and what season it is (the pumpkin spice latte is just not giving them the coordinates they need to make you healthy).
So how do we give our mitochondria the gift that keeps on giving?
The Squintessentials! Give them bright daytime light, grounding, connections with nature, darkness at night.
The fall is a perfect time to get your body more aligned with your circadian biology. And good news! The sunrise is at a less painful hour in the fall for all you new Squinters, so you’ve come aboard just at the right time.
In fact, if you can get your Squintessentials in order now, you’ll actually be giving yourself a great gift, come January 1st. By establishing your circadian rhythm in the fall, you won’t be messing around with those New Year’s resolutions that leave you deflated in January. You will have built consistent light patterns for optimal health that will launch you into the new year with the energy you need without the urgent grab for new diets, juice cleanses and olympic workouts that don’t work. More precise choices about your lifestyle—and most importantly your lightstyle—will help support your circadian biology to provide both physical and mental benefits for you.
Light in the Darkness
Let’s take a minute to talk about the mental health benefits that come along with a balanced circadian rhythm. This is really important. Listen up.
At Squint, we understand the strict relationship between health and environment, and there is increasing evidence that light and cold affect multiple areas of human life, including mental health. The relationship between light deficiencies and mental health is well known. People who suffer from mental health issues can be particularly vulnerable to climate and weather changes this time of year. Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) follows these patterns and our light decisions can impact our mental health outcomes in terms of clinical severity, duration of hospitalization, and recurrences. The holidays can be a very challenging time for mental health. We cannot Squint hard enough at the impact that light has on your mental health and why you should make changes immediately.
In fact, nearly every single operation in our body depends on the light we allow in our lives. Glucose metabolism, hormone regulation, insulin resistance, brain cognition and memory, sleep regulation – all rely on us syncing ourselves with our light environment. Cortisol, dopamine, sex steroid hormones – their creation and balance all depend on the light we provide. And let’s just say, keeping our dopamine and cortisol regulated through the holidays will help you better manage those holiday dinners (you may not even need as much eggnog to deal with relatives if you can get your light right – but no promises with that crazy cousin!).
Seasonal Lighting
How to get ready to enjoy the holidays?
Begin smart light routines now. Check out our checklists!
Fall is a great time to prepare, to think of how to approach your days and nights leading up to winter. With an equal balance of day and night, we consider fall a circadian lay-up. Start to become more attuned to dawn and dusk. Don’t be so surprised when it gets dark at 4:30pm. Plan your days around capturing light earlier. Your health depends on it.
But I heard there’s no more Vitamin D where I live?
That’s true, if you live north of the 37th latitude. Without UVB, you may not be producing Vitamin D but melatonin production is the best anti-oxidant flavor of fall!! As the days get shorter, we can still enjoy the 42% of the sun that is infrared light. Sunshine and sunset are full of this magical light that builds melatonin (nature’s best antioxidant!) that repairs your cells and improves sleep. Yes, good sleep can be yours if you get outside this fall! And there’s more. While you’re sleeping, great things happen (including cellular recycling and repair). And that means boosted brain function and better gut repair.
Stringing Up Some Holiday Cheer
Along with the delicious food of the holidays, the coming months mean gorgeous holiday lights. And lots of them. Personally, I’m one of the first with my Christmas lights up and can’t get enough of all the twinkles! It’s the time of year where we really notice light at night and even drive around to look at the Christmas lights of our neighbors. I’m wondering if we should reconsider our obsession with light at night? Don’t worry kids, I am not canceling Christmas! I do want our bodies to survive it however!
As we’ve learned, our mitochondria have their antenna out all year long and they’re picking up the sun that is being put down. They’re also picking up on the man-made light that we are putting up – and there’s tons of it, all year long. Phones, computer screens, TVs, Ipads, indoor lighting, light shows (the Sphere?) – we are drowning our mitochondria with light that saps our energy powerhouses and makes them (and us) sick. When the sun goes down, our mitochondria are entirely confused by these alien signals of un-matched blue light they see from artificial light at night.
As daylight hours decrease in the coming months, we will be spending more of our awake hours at night, and need to make sure that this time is as dark as possible. In order to sync our circadian rhythm, it is critical that we do everything we can to prevent the blue light from screens and overhead lighting (and all artificial light) from disrupting your body’s natural light rhythms. To help you shift your seasons with the best balance, we recommend protecting your eyes and skin from harmful blue light. Blue blocking glasses are essential for screen time in the evening.
A Perfect Time to Start
So, Squinters, go outside, ground in the earth, keep watching the sunrise and sunset, and get your light right. It’s not time to mourn your Vitamin D but enjoy the new season and the light and temperatures that come along with that. Enjoy the change of season and the balance it provides your circadian rhythm. Remember, small changes make a big impact. Didn’t have a good light day? Start again tomorrow. Consistency over perfection. Every day is an opportunity to heal, feel better, turn it around, get your groove back – however you do it, just get your light right. Practice the Squintessentials: grounding to the earth, reconnecting with nature, getting sunlight, avoiding artificial light at night. Great circadian rhythm – and optimal health– is within your reach.
Thank you for taking a Squint with us! Don’t forget to print out our checklist to stay on top of your light routine.