Over the two weeks before going on holiday I was starting to become aware that it is getting lighter earlier in the morning. When I’m not overly stressed about work or some other issue I tend to wake easily in the morning and the sun is a prime factor in whether I can get back to sleep once I’ve woken up. Even with heavily lined curtains the sun still manages to peek in enough to wake me up so that I can easily become sleep deprived if I have too many late nights.
Melatonin- why we wake with the sun
Melatonin is a natural hormone made by the body which is released into the bloodstream and causes drowsiness and lowers the body temperature. The production of melatonin is inhibited by light and as a result melatonin should be produced when the sun goes down and then stop being released into the blood when the sun rises again.
Unfortunately, in the era of computers, televisions and light bulbs it is incredibly easy to upset the pattern of release of melatonin by exposing yourself to bright artificial light. Unless you are completely exhausted the body will fail to get any signal to sleep and will stay alert, reducing the amount of time available to rest and recuperate, both physically and emotionally, through our sleep cycles.
Spring signals the start of the summer sleep cycle
Finding the dark
One of the greatest parts of our holidays is that we generally sleep outdoors, using a tarpaulin to keep the rain off and waking up to a view of the hills and moors without even having to open up the door of a tent.
Something that is wonderful (as well as potentially being a problem, but that’s not relevant for this post…) about the far north of Scotland is the complete lack of significant villages and towns. You can go for miles without seeing anything. In fact, we left the village of Lairg in the middle of Sunday afternoon and didn’t see another proper village (just a hamlet of a hotel and about ten houses) until we reached Bettyhill the next afternoon. We weren’t even purposefully meandering round backroads to avoid the villages. We were cycling up the only road that goes that way.
To those of you living in the US, Canada, or in fact anywhere outside Western Europe, this probably doesn’t sound particularly unusual. However, take a look at a map of England and you’ll find that here you will struggle to cover more than 15 miles without passing through a couple of villages and the nearest big town is rarely more than 30 miles away. All these conurbations result in an enormous amount of light pollution so wherever you go it’s rarely truly dark.
Being primal on holiday
With the lack of people and light pollution where we were last week it was completely black once the sun went down. We were living on cold food, so we weren’t even cooking each evening. We would stop when it was still light, pitch the tarp, crawl into our sleeping bags and read or chat (unless we were wiped out from tiredness) until it started to get dark at which point we’d promptly fall asleep.
Of course, the mornings were at the other extreme. Without curtains the sun woke us when it rose at 05:00 each day. I don’t think I ever woke when it was dark, instead waking up every hour or so after daylight came round and having that choice to either doze off again or stay awake and consider the day ahead.
The extreme darkness meant that we slept deeply and healed fantastically well each night, waking in a fit state for another day of cycling with many of the previous evening’s aches and pains miraculously cleared away.
Bringing the lesson back home
So, thanks to an enjoyable reminder while on holiday, I remembered that I need to apply my summer sleep cycle to how I live and work at home where artificial light allows me to work all night (if I really want to).
I get longer days but I should be able to handle these well if I listen to my body. In particular I need to make sure I don’t stay up too late after it gets dark otherwise I will end up compromising how much sleep I get since the intense morning sun prevents me sleeping to my usual time the next morning. So I’m doing my best to remember to go to bed on time, no matter what excitement is happening.
What’s earlier? Theoretically about 9pm, with 15-30 minutes of book reading and then putting the light out and going to sleep. Of course, when I was busy at work last week that crept to 10.30pm, but I’m back on track after a long bank holiday weekend. It means I can sleep for 8 hours (which tends to be how long I naturally sleep if I’m not pumped up with cortisol or emotionally and physically exhausted) and still wake at 5.30am to the delights of sunshine and birdsong without feeling sleep deprived.
In fact, waking up to sunshine and birdsong should keep my hormones in check a little. In itself that should mean I am less likely to get stressed too which would be fantastic!
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Blog-watch: sleep // Sep 2, 2010 at 21:03
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