We know that our body’s circadian rhythm plays an important role in our sleep patterns (yet isn’t fully understood). So the theory that light pollution may be responsible for disrupting our sleep sounds plausible.
We got thinking about this after reading an article over at Mother Nature Network. We’d like to hear from you on this one – do you need complete darkness in order to sleep? Do you think light pollution may be partly to blame for your insomnia?
Or is the whole idea a little preposterous? Please let us know.
{ 1 trackback }
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
It certainly helps to maintain a dark environment. I tacked up a black sheet over my window, keep my alarm clocks somewhat hidden, and don’t have any other light-makers in my room that can’t be turned off with a switch.
The fun thing about circadian rhythm, though, is that we should really probably dim the lights in our houses for about an hour before bed time (just guessing on the amount of time) to signal the circadian rhythm that it’s time to start the swing toward sleep. The lights in my house are on-off affairs so I can’t try it myself very effectively.
Long story short, our bodies are configured for the subtle transitions between day and night that we would get if we weren’t indoors so much. That may be a strong contributing factor for some folks.
I need total darkness to sleep. the slightest light and I find I automatically wake up.
I also have found that I get the best sleep when there are no sounds which is almost impossible where I live .I have thought long and hard about the transition our body needs between day and night and have made a great effort to spend longer periods of time in natural light and taking long walks before the sun sets. To my surprise I can honestly say this has helped me get to sleep now I ‘m not sure if this is because Its relaxing or if it has to do with the light but I have been getting better sleep so will continue.
J.E. Ignatius McNeill – Interesting point about dimming lights; I had never considered that before. Thanks for sharing.
emmaree – I’m the same. Peace and quiet, and pitch darkness, please! Sometimes this is difficult in New York City, though!