I got a sun lamp last month, and I noticed a couple changes.
Sun Lamps and SAD
A sun lamp mimics natural light from the sun. Unlike the typical indoor lighting, which is heavy on blue light, a sun lamp incorporates more of the entire spectrum of sunlight. These lamps are also called SAD lamps because they have become pretty commonly recommended in dealing with seasonal affective disorder (SAD).
SAD typically occurs in the winter months in colder climates. The days are shorter, the sun is less powerful, and people are outside less to catch what sunlight there is. The result is a chemical imbalance in the brain, specifically affecting two hormones:
- Melatonin, a sleep-related hormone
- Serotonin, a mood-related hormone
The symptoms can include depression, anxiety, apathy, mood swings, irritability, social isolation, excessive sleepiness, or sleep deprivation.
Using a Sun Lamp
I'm still learning about sun lamps myself, but since I got it in early January, I've committed to sitting in front of it for 15 minutes each morning.
You should sit within 24 inches of it and allow the light to hit your eyes without looking straight into it. I found this a bit awkward at first. Where can I sit within 2 feet of a light for 15 minutes? I ended up setting it next to the music on my piano, and I just commit to playing piano for 15 minutes each morning. Combining sun lamp and music therapy!
Benefits I Experienced
But anyway, you want to know what I experienced, right?
The main thing I noticed is that my sleep is much better since I started using the sun lamp. I had been having trouble sleeping since we moved last September because our bedroom is so much brighter than I'm used to (still need to make some good curtains!). I would wake up a lot during the night and sometimes not be able to fall back asleep.
However, in the last several weeks, I have noticed that I wake up less most nights. And even though I have been staying up too late a lot of nights, I feel as rested on seven hours of sleep as I usually do on eight hours. That is proof that my sleep quality is better.
The other effect I hadn't even realized until I sat down to write this. I usually do experience SAD during the winter. Not all winter usually and not too severe, but it pokes its ugly head up for a check in now and then.
This winter, so far, no SAD.
At first, I thought that meant I couldn't speak about how I benefited from the sun lamp with SAD. And then, I realized, I got it shortly after Christmas, and usually, I don't experience SAD around Christmastime.
So I can't say for sure, but I could argue that the daily sun lamp use kept the SAD symptoms at bay this winter. I have not had any sadness, my mood has been good, and I've had very little anxiety (which is, for me, generally a year-round on-and-off thing, not necessarily related to SAD).
So that's it – my experience after about a month of daily sun lamp use. I will definitely continue and consider it well worth the small price. And I would recommend it to people with sleep difficulties or SAD.
My Sun Lamp
If you'd like to try a sun lamp for yourself, I got this one because I thought it was prettier than most. But do your own research and choose the best one for you.
(That link is an affiliate link, which just means part of the purchase goes to me, rather than Amazon. You don't pay any extra, but you support my small business.)
Do you have difficulty sleeping or experience SAD? Have you tried a sun lamp?
Are you going to try one now? I'd love to hear your experiences!
First of all, you never need to wait for a new year to make changes in your life. Commit to starting with a new month, or a new week, or a new day. There is no inherent magic in a new year. You can change your life any time you choose! I want you to realize that!
That said, many people are planning to make big changes with the start of the new year. Sometimes, they don't know how to go about it, so that's what I'm doing here.
Health is a very common New Year's resolution, but many people fail to make specific and achievable goals or plans for how to achieve that health they desire.
Read more...
Do you have any health goals for the coming year?
The beginning of a new year seems to be when many people focus on making changes, especially to their diet or weight.
When you're setting weight loss goals, you may consider popular fad diets as the method to get there. You may have had success with them yourself or know someone who did, but be careful about the plan you choose.
Here are two that have been popular but you need to be extra careful with.
Read more...
I want to encourage you because we all need encouragement to keep us going when change is difficult.
Often, I felt like the small steps I was taking were doing very little to affect my overall health.
Was I ever going to actually see any changes?
Were the efforts I was making actually doing any good?
Was it all for nothing?
Should I just give up?
I chose not to give up out of sheer stubbornness! But if that doesn't work for you, I'd like to introduce you to a concept I discovered somewhere along my journey - the 1 degree effect.
Hang with me – we're going back to math class for a moment. I promise, it'll be quick and painless!
Remember that tool we used called a protractor? It was a half circle in shape and had all the degrees from 0 to 180 marked along the edge.
Now, the difference between those degree marks is not very large. They are really close together. When you drew lines from the center point to each of those marks, the lines were almost on top of each other, weren't they?
But ... here's the important part! The further those lines got from the center point, the more space there was between them.
That's the one degree effect.
Put another way, imagine you and your friend are standing side by side, facing exactly the same direction, and you start walking together. You'll continue along side by side, won't you?
But if you turn, so you are facing just a teeny bit away from your friend before you start walking, it changes, doesn't it? At first, it will seem like you're still walking side by side, but little by little, as you keep walking, you will begin to get further and further apart. After you've walked an entire mile, there will be quite a bit of distance between you, and there will be even more at the second mile, and so on.
It is the same concept with adopting lifestyle changes. You make a tiny change, a one degree change, and for a while, it doesn't seem to be making any difference.
Then, you get a bit further along your journey, and you start to see the changes from where you would have been if you hadn't changed that one degree.
You're also likely going to make another one degree change somewhere along the way, and then another, and another, and before you know it, you've made five degrees of change, or even 10 or 20!
It all starts to add up, and when you stick with it, you really start to feel the enormous positive difference that's happened along the way, one degree at a time.
So when you feel like the changes you're working so hard at aren't making any difference, please commit to another day, another week, another month. Over time, I promise, you will start to notice.
Don't give up!
If you'd like regular tips and encouragement for your own journey, join the Created for Healing: Natural Health and Non-Toxic Living Facebook group!
Sleep is essential to health.
We would all like to deny that fact, but it's true.
One aspect of sleep I didn’t learn until a few years ago is how our brains repair/clean themselves.
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