🥑 Lights Role in Sleep

Welcome back to The Wellness Pit. Today we’re pulling a Batman and embracing the dark to protect your sleep like it’s Gotham. No cape required, just blackout curtains and fewer late-night TikToks.”

🌙 The Light–Sleep Link: Meet Your Circadian Rhythm

Ever tried falling asleep after staring at your phone for an hour? That’s not insomnia, that’s light sabotage.

Your body runs on a 24-hour internal clock called the circadian rhythm and lighting is its alarm system.

Morning light triggers cortisol, the hormone that wakes you up. Nighttime darkness cues melatonin, your sleepy time hormone.

Blue light, like the kind from screens and LED bulbs, tells your brain it’s daytime, keeping you alert and wired when you should be winding down.

The Kelvin scale ranks light color from warm to cool. Red and amber are low on the scale and signal rest.

Blue light is on the high end and proven to suppress melatonin and delay sleep, according to a study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology.

Blue light itself isn’t bad. The sun is a full-spectrum light source that includes blue. It’s all about timing. Like espresso, great in the morning... a disaster at midnight.

You only need a few strategies here so let’s attack it.

🔦 Light-Smart Strategies for Better Sleep

Ready to stop treating your brain like it’s at a rave when it’s supposed to be at a spa? Try these:

• Morning Sunlight: Step outside within 30–60 minutes of waking. 5–10 minutes of sunlight does the trick. It’s your natural circadian anchor. And no, that doesn’t mean stare directly at the sun!

• Block Screen Blue Light at Night: wear blue-light blocking glasses when looking at your screens, put night shift or change to red mode on your IPhone, add F.Lux software to laptop so it filters out the blue light as the night comes

• Blackout Your Sleep Room: Blackout curtains/blinds in room, cover or unplug all electronic lights, no digital clock in room/knowing it’s 2:43 a.m. doesn’t help. It just adds panic math: “If I fall asleep right now, I’ll get 4 hours and 17 minutes”

• Bathroom/Hallway: install small red light night lights in hallway and bathroom for those midnight pee breaks so you don’t have to turn on the sun to see the toilet.

• Dim House Lights at Night: Swap bright LEDs for red or amber bulbs in the evening. Warmer evening house lighting helps signal to your brain that it’s wind-down time.

• Wear a Sleep Eye Mask: Even a little ambient light can disrupt melatonin and fragment sleep. A soft, comfortable eye mask can block it all out. Its great for better REM cycles, deeper rest, and travel-friendly darkness on demand.

• Remove Bedroom TV (or Set a Timer): Falling asleep with the TV on can confuse your brain and disrupt sleep quality. If it has to stay in bedroom, use a sleep timer so it powers off, instead of flickering all night like a haunted screensaver.

• Cut Screens 1-2 Hours Before Bed: Your body needs cues that it's time to wind down, not a rerun of adrenaline-fueled shows. Power off screens and opt for meditation, journaling, or a good ol’ paper book. Nightime routines like this set you up to fall and stay asleep!

🧠 Final Thoughts

The brain’s pretty simple: bright light means action, dim light means rest. Want better sleep? Set the tone with low lighting, less tech, and a space that tells your nervous system it’s time to unplug.

I have found these few simple strategies to really help me fall asleep quickly as opposed to awake for 2-3 hours with a wired brain I can’t turn off.

Think: soft candle glow in a mountain cabin, not flashing LEDs in a Vegas hotel room.

For more Sleep Tips: 🥑 8 Gut Health Hacks

Don’t hoard the wisdom. Forward this to a friend who’s into leveling up.

“P.S. If this landed in Promotions or another folder, drag it to Primary so you don’t miss future drops!”