Sleep Like It’s 1799!
- devindubeau
- Feb 21, 2024
- 3 min read
The year is 1799, the first electric light won’t be invented for another 10 years. People use oil lamps and wood fire for light and warmth, they sleep when it is dark out, and wake when it is light out. People may have a lot to worry about with all the smallpox, measles, cholera, and near constant war, but at least they sleep well!
Fast forward to present day, and we can see that the tables have turned - people live a mostly-peaceful life with few concerns (compared to 1799) about infectious diseases, but we don’t sleep well!
Well, why is that?
The first thing we need to talk about when it comes to sleeping well is something called sleep efficiency. Sleep efficiency means how how long you spend trying to sleep versus how long you actually sleep.
In order to improve sleep efficiency, and ultimately have more restful sleep, we need to first figure out what is causing you to lie awake.
Do you use your cellphone in bed?
Are you checking social media right before bed?
Do you have a tv in your bedroom, and do you watch tv before bed?
What kind of lighting do you use in your home?
We our constantly exposed to blue light from digital screens and many of our modern light sources.
The human brain has not evolved as fast as digital technology, in our animal brains, blue light means daytime, and low, warm light means night time, you cannot fight this part of your nature, and when you do, you lose out on sleep.
Humans have used fire for a million years. Our ancestors used fire at night to scare off predatory animals, to cook, and to stay warm. As society and technology developed, humans used fire for lighting their homes at night and for reading and writing. It wasn’t until a very short time ago in our history that we had electric lights, and in the beginning, electric light had a warm colour to it too. So you can see why the cold, blue lighting of today is not something that humans have had time to adapt to, and that when we see blue lighting, it makes our brain think it is time to be awake, not to sleep.
Knowing about human adaptation to light can help us sleep better by doing a few things differently:
No cold, or white lighting turned on near bed time, use warm coloured lighting.
No over-head lighting used after dinner, overhead lighting mimics daytime. Use lamps instead.
No screens for at least 2 hours before bed time. The blue lighting and backlit screen prevents our brain from preparing us for sleep
read a book, a physical, paper and ink book before bed; this is what our ancestors did, and it worked for them.
If you have a lot on your mind before bed, write it down, pen on paper.
Take these steps and you will be sleeping better in no time!
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I want you to sleep well, and feel great when you wake up in the morning.
If you want to start sleeping well right now, and get great information tailored specifically to your needs, make an appointment with Devin Dubeau RMT today!
