

To get your best night’s sleep, try the following tips for eliminating light sources in your bedroom and avoiding bright lights before bed: Cover Windows Maintaining healthy routines and setting up your bedroom in a way that supports sleep are key parts of good sleep hygiene. Fortunately, you can create a dark bedroom environment that promotes sufficient, restorative sleep. Exposure to light at night may also be linked with health conditions such as depression, anxiety, and obesity. The use of electronic devices before bed is associated with increased sleep issues and poorer quality sleep.

Research has shown that being in a fully lit room prior to going to sleep results in delayed and shortened production of melatonin compared to dim lighting. When this happens before bed or during sleep, it can interfere with the sleep-wake cycle. However, exposure to light blocks the production of melatonin. Melatonin is a serotonin-derived hormone that promotes sleepiness. In response to darkness, the pineal gland begins to produce melatonin. Before the advent of electricity, humans woke and slept in sync with the rising and setting of the sun, but now lights in our homes, electronics, and light pollution outside have made the relationship between light and sleep much more complex.Ĭertain physical processes help to prepare the body for sleep. Light is the most important external factor affecting readiness for sleep. Circadian rhythm cues us to feel awake during the day and sleepy at night. Each of us possesses an internal clock-also called the circadian rhythm-which controls our natural sleep-wake cycle.
