Reset Your Circadian Rhythm and Improve Your sleep

Reset Your Circadian Rhythm and Improve Your sleep

Do you struggle to sleep and feel like your body clock is out of whack? Learning how to reset your circadian rhythm is key to getting it back in line. Not familiar with your circadian rhythm? This is the mechanism that lets your body know when it’s time to go to sleep and wake up. If your body’s circadian rhythm is out of sync, it can negatively impact nearly every aspect of your health and wellbeing. You can reset your circadian rhythm and improve your sleep with these tips. 

What is your circadian rhythm?

Your circadian rhythm is a series of biological processes that affect sleep.

When your body clock is in sync, you’ll naturally go to sleep around the same time each night and wake up at a similar time every morning. If this isn’t happening for you, it’s a sign that your circadian rhythm is out of whack and needs a helping hand to get back on track. 

Things that can disrupt your circadian rhythm 

Normally, our bodies are designed to go to sleep when it gets dark and wake up when it goes light. Your own personal body clock is pretty unique to you but there’s one thing that’s true for all of us: certain factors are guaranteed to disrupt your body’s natural circadian rhythm. 

One of the biggest disruptors? Being exposed to blue light from phones, laptops, tablets, televisions and other devices confuses your body and fools it into thinking that it’s still daytime. More specifically, it affects production of melatonin, which is crucial for good sleep. The end result? Your body doesn’t go through the necessary motions of winding down and preparing for sleep. It also upsets the natural rhythms relating to sleep, appetite and temperature. 

This is one reason why sleep experts advise you to switch off electronics such as your phone, tablet, and television at least an hour before bedtime.

Tips to Reset Your Circadian Rhythm and Improve Your sleep

Prepare your body for bed 

A warm bath can help your body to prepare for bed. The rise and fall in your body temperature gets your body ready for sleep. As your temperature goes down after a bath, it lets your body clock know that it’s time to wind down for bed. 

Use lighting and temperature to your advantage

Expose yourself to as much natural light as you can during the day, especially in the mornings. 

Exposing yourself to non-natural light in the evenings affects your ability to go to sleep. Dim your lighting in the evenings to help your body to recognize that sleep should be on the horizon soon. When you go to bed, try to get your room as dark as possible. Blackout blinds can be super helpful if outdoor lighting shines into your room. And don’t forget that blue light from your devices also counts as non-natural light!

Some people find that light therapy helps to reset their circadian rhythm. This involves exposing yourself to bright light first thing in the morning to get your body used to the idea of waking up naturally. 

When it comes to temperature, keep your sleep space cool to help with falling and staying asleep.

Get into a routine

If your bedtime is all over the place, you’ll definitely want to get into a regular routine. 

For many people, disrupted sleep cycle is down to either advanced sleep phase disorder or delayed sleep phase disorder. The former occurs when you go to bed fairly early but find yourself waking up in the early hours of the morning. With the latter, you’re more likely to go to bed later and wake up later too.

Chances are, your nighttime routine is out of whack compared to your body’s natural body clock. This affects your sleep quality and over time, it can be really detrimental for your health and wellbeing. 

Going to bed at the same time and waking up at a set time in the morning is important for resetting your body’s circadian rhythm. Your body will gradually get into the habit of sleeping in line with this. Try to avoid the temptation to switch up your routine at the weekends or when you’re on vacation! You might think that straying away from your normal routine won’t do much harm for a few days but that can be all it takes to undo your hard work. 

Set your mind and your body up for success

Do not exercise within 4 hours of bedtime. Exercise raises the core body temperature which promotes alertness and inhibits sleep.

What you consume and when can impact sleep:

Avoid eating or drinking anything with caffeine within 6 hours of bedtime.

Avoid consuming excess fluids before sleep to avoid having to get up during the night.

Stop drinking alcohol at least 2 hours prior to bedtime.

Although it may make you sleepy, alcohol alters sleep architecture, impacting the quality of sleep.

Eat early in the evening; eating into the evening and during the night can disrupt the sleep cycle.

Finally, engage in calming, pleasant activities before bed such as reading, meditation, tai chi, body scan or deep diaphragmatic breathing.