Wisdom and Life typically discusses Spirituality and Law of Attraction.  It’s not the only topic I discuss.  There are a whole plethora of categories at Wisdom and Life.  If you’re interested in other subjects, simply scroll down a bit and look through the categories.  One of the subjects I’ve written about here on several occasions is the effect of sleep on your lifestyle.  You can read those columns at my Health and Fitness category

 

Image from:
Wikipedia

 

Today I want to discuss the challenges that light and specifically blue light has on our health and our sleep.  I recently read a WebMD Magazine article on Blue Light.  That started me down this path.  If you’re interested in reading the entire article, it starts on page 38.  There’s not much I did not know before reading the article. However I believe it is still worth reading.

 

I remember when I lived at home with my family, my bedroom was also my entertainment center.  I owned a VCR, a computer and a television. All three of these products emit light and the amount of light in my room light affects my productive sleep.  I covered all products that give out light. And when my mom would see me doing so, she’d scoff.
If your eyes are closed you can’t see the light.

 

While in some respect that’s true, the light you see is only one factor to consider.  Light (any light) plays a role in your overall sleep patterns. Even if you can’t “see” the light, you CAN feel it.  If what my mom says is true that when you close your eyes you can’t see the light, then why not try sleeping in broad daylight?

 

Blue light, which ostensibly is the topic of today’s column has tremendous side effects on our health and sleep.  So what’s the solution. According to the WebMD article:
–Install dimmer switches in your home and at dusk, begin using them, dimming the light in your home.
–An hour or two before going to bed, stop using all electronic monitors.  That means televisions, computer monitors and phones.

 

Also according to WebMD:
By far the best documented consequence of excess evening light exposure is short-term sleep disruption. In one study, people in a sleep lab who read from an e-reader at night saw their nighttime melatonin levels drop by 55% after five days, took longer to fall asleep, had less restorative rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, and felt groggier the next day than those reading a paper book.

Page 41

 

So the solution is:
Stop reading e-readers.  ESPECIALLY (or at least) at night!

 

My suggestion is:
Keep ALL electronics out of your bedroom and if you MUST read then do so outside of your bedroom.

 

Your bedroom should be used for one thing:
Sleep

 

If you do anything else in that room, your body will subconsciously begin to understand that sleep is secondary to your bedroom, not specifically for sleep.  That’s not a good thing if you want to sleep well.

 

I do my best to follow the above step (Turning off all electronics before going to bed.)  I’m not always successful. The point is to attempt to do this. I know that when I do turn off. I generally have a more productive night’s sleep.  We can all do little things to help our overall health and nothing is more important to our health than getting a proper amount of sleep each night.

 

Do you follow any of these steps?

 

Be Happy!  Be Well! Be Positive!
Blessings to you.

Chris

Once you realize that life is eternal,
That our souls our eternal,
That we return to light and physical over and over;
We then lose all our distress
We then lose all our fear of dying.  For there truly is no end.

 

2 thoughts on “Blue Light and Sleep

  1. Martha Orlando

    I’ve followed this faithfully, Chris – no electronics in the bedroom! So far, I can say I do sleep well at night and wake up refreshed. Great reminder here for all of us.
    Blessings!

  2. RAAAckerman, PhD, EA

    I dunno. I’ve had a tv on in my bedroom all night for decades. Yes, I know the research- but I’ve tried it without (takes much longer to fall asleep- the tv bores the …. out of me and I’m out in minutes), tv with a time and without…
    At least for me- there’s no negative effects.
    But, I also can only speak for myself.

Leave a Reply to RAAAckerman, PhD, EA Cancel reply

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