The clocks go back soon. (On Saturday October 28th to be exact).
Good news, you’d think, in that we get an extra hour in bed.
Of course, we do get that lovely extra hour in bed, but then the tricky bit starts on Sunday evening when we may not feel sleepy at our usual bedtime. And by the middle of the week, our natural sleep rhythms are likely to be knocked a little out of sync. It’s a bit like giving our bodies a mini dose of jet lag.
Here are some clever tips from Kiss The Moon on how to handle the time change without it messing up our sleep patterns and causing sleep loss. There are also clever tips for sleeping better all winter:
- EASE INTO THE TIME CHANGE
If you ease yourself gently into the time shift, it will be easier for your natural sleep rhythms to adapt. It’s much better to make the change over a few days rather than leaving it all until Sunday night. On the Friday, start your nightly wind-down routine 20 mins earlier than usual, and then another 20 mins earlier again on Saturday, so you stagger the effect. Make sure your bedtime routine is a nice relaxing one – we’re thinking, gentle music, low lighting and a nice relaxing soak in the bath with some soothing essential oils and salts added to help you de-stress and relax muscles. (Our DREAM Bedtime Bath Salts are perfect for this as they contain a cocktail of natural goodies including sleep-inducing lavender oil, mood-brightening bergamot, relaxing cedarwood and skin-soothing, and soul-soothing chamomile.)
- PREP FOR THE DAY AHEAD
Worry is a real sleep stopper. There’s nothing worse than lying in bed unable to sleep and getting more and more stressed about all the things you have to do the next morning. Getting a few things ready the night before can help you buy a bit of time in the morning and take a weight off your mind. So spend 10 minutes in the evening getting an outfit ready for the next day and making the packed-lunches. Then you can turn in for the night knowing those tasks are done for you when you wake.
- GET LIGHT SMART
Light regulates sleepiness levels. Clocks going back mean lighter mornings (for a while anyway). That is good news as waking up should be easier. Throw open those curtains on waking to take advantage. If possible, walk or cycle to work (or maybe part-way) to dose up on daylight. The flip side of that, of course, is darker afternoons and eveningsso that through the winter we’re heavily reliant on artificial light. The blue light emitted by screens and bulbs help to keep us awake through the afternoon as light levels fall, but they also confuse the brain into thinking it’s perpetually daytime. The trick is knowing when to switch them off. Lower the wattage at night to help you get sleepy. Try to stay away from back-lit screens (computers, tablets, mobile phones and TVs for example) for at least an hour before you want to sleep.
- HAVE A PLAN B TO HAND
For nights when you struggle to drop off, or wake midway through the night and struggled to get back to sleep, have something by your bedside to help you. Our After Dark Balms work a treat for this – soothing essential oils mixed with a lovely-to-the-touch blend of shea butter and sea buckthorn oil. Just apply to wrists and temples before bed or through the night to help you drop off. If your mind is whirring and keeping you awake, choose our CALM After Dark Sleep Balm – the mix of jasmine, chamomile, ylang ylang and sandalwood are perfect to quieten overactive minds at bedtime.
- EAT & DRINK CLEVER
Disrupted sleep can also mess with our appetite. When we don’t get enough rest our body produces more of the hunger hormone, grehlin. So watch out for night-time munchies and a craving for sugary breakfasts. If you do feel peckish before bed, choose foods that can help you feel sleepy but in small bites so they fill a hole before bedtime without making you feel heavy. Foods such as oats, nuts, bananas, cherries, turkey or dairy (milk, yogurt) are all good options. Avoid stimulants including anything with caffeine in it (not just coffee and soft drinks; watch out for it in tea and chocolate too).
- STAY POSITIVE
Darker days can be a real downer. So, as the evenings get inkier, put some time aside before bed-time to help you end the day feeling positive. A chat on the phone with a friend, listening to some music you love or reading an uplifting book, can all help you go to sleep feeling happier and more content. Our sense of smell has an amazing power to change our mood, so if you are feeling a bit blue as the winter draws in, try our GLOW After Dark Face Oil. It contains a mood-brightening mix of orange, geranium, myrrh and litsea oil – (litsea has been used in Chinese medicine for generation to calm the mind and nudge away negative thoughts). Apply before bed as part of your night-time skincare routine to nourish skin through the colder months and to lift your spirit as you drop off to sleep.
- KIDS TOO
Even if your sleep patterns are sorted it won’t count for much unless the sleep routines of the rest of the household are in sync, too. The last thing you need are fights about going to bed because little ones are not tired and then little heads popping round your bedroom door at 5am because they are wide awake. Adapt and apply these tips to the kids’ bedtime routines to help ensure the whole household has a lovely winter of sweet dreams.
Sleep Beautifully
[su_button url=”https://kissthemoon.com/” target=”blank” background=”#6c20b1″ size=”7″ center=”yes” radius=”0″ icon=”icon: arrow-right”]Find out more about Kiss the Moon[/su_button]
Kiss the Moon – the beauty sleep specialists
Based in the English countryside, Kiss the Moon create beauty & wellness products that tap in to the power of nature’s most soothing ingredients to help you to sleep beautifully and wake up looking gorgeous.
Launched in 2014, with a range of sleep-inducing face oils and bath oils, Kiss the Moon has grown to include 18 products ranging from Night-time Skincare, Bath & Bodycare and Home Fragrance. Kiss the Moon also create tailor-made sets to help travelers manage jetlag and recover from the dehydrating effects of air travel and limited edition gift sets with the goal of sleep beautifully at their heart.
Everything in the range is 100% natural, made without cruelty to animals and proudly made in the UK.
Leave A Reply