Happy Holidays to our SelfDecode community!
We’d like to say thanks for another amazing year. We’ve loved hearing your health stories from this past year and look forward to creating more in 2022.
Holiday Sleep Tip
No matter what you celebrate, chances are you’ll experience sleep disruptions this time of year.
You may be traveling, staying up later, and eating & drinking things you shouldn’t!
This results in a lack of sleep. It may seem like being tired is just “part of the holidays.” But it’ll likely ruin your holiday.
Sleeplessness leads to stress, mood issues, and overall lower quality of life. It’ll turn the “happiest time of the year” into the exact opposite.
People often travel during the holidays, which is detrimental to sleep. In times like this, I make sure to expose myself to enough life during the day.
Getting light throughout the day (especially in the morning) triggers a neural circuit controlling the timing of cortisol and melatonin, hormones that regulate sleep-wake cycles. Early light exposure sets my biological clock and helps me adjust to the time change.
I greatly prefer just going outside to get light. But there are times when that’s impossible. Usually because of my busy schedule or the weather.
That’s when my bright light device comes into use. These are usually big devices, but I keep a portable bright light device that I put on my cap.
Light is especially important to me because of an MTNR1A variant I carry. This makes me more sensitive to disrupted sleep schedules and light exposure helps me manage this gene.
It’s likely you share this variant (40% of people do). You can get recommendations like this based on your unique variants in our Insomnia DNA Report, included with your SelfDecode subscription.
And make sure you expose yourself to enough light this holiday season (even all of you dealing with the cold!) and don’t let sleeplessness ruin your holiday!
