This Sunday 30th October, we gain an hour’s sleep as the clocks go back by an hour. To begin with, we enjoy lighter mornings but we start to struggle as the days become shorter and the mornings darker. The dawn light level in winter is too weak to signal the pineal gland to stop producing the sleep hormone melatonin; this leads to over-sleeping and grogginess in the mornings. Working long hours indoors means we also have insufficient light exposure during the day which can make us feel tired and down. As many as a quarter of us experience the winter blues and 7% * within that group suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).
Light therapy has been shown to be effective in beating the winter blues and mitigating SAD symptoms. Wake-up lights like Lumie Bodyclock, that simulate a gentle sunrise during the last period of sleep, can help set your body clock so you wake up at the right time feeling refreshed and ready to get up. The light stimulates production of hormones that help us get up and go, like cortisol, while suppressing those that bring on sleep, like melatonin. Lumie’s SAD and energy lights, which emit 10,000 lux at up to 35 cms distance, also help reset the body clock and provide a mood and energy boost whenever needed.
Lumie’s top tips for coping with the clock-change:
- Don’t snooze – your body-clock likes a regular routine so keep to the same wake-up time even at weekends.
- Ditch a shrill phone alarm for a natural sunrise with Lumie Bodyclock.
- Get some light exposure first thing – if you can’t get outside then use a Lumie light box over breakfast - emits 10,000 lux at up to 35 cms distance.
- Try to get outside for 30 minutes at lunchtime.
- Use your light box early afternoon to beat the post-lunch slump.
- Avoid tech at least an hour before bedtime and use a low-blue light feature as available on Lumie’s brand-new Bodyclock Luxe 700.
- Use Lumie Bodyclock’s gentle sunset feature to help you drift off to a good night’s sleep.
“We know that we need light to be able to see, but light is also very important for your mood, level of alertness and sleep patterns. In the winter months when the days are shorter and darker, not only can people feel low and depressed but they can also struggle to wake and get up in the mornings. Light therapy is a useful tool as it helps to keep your body clock on track during the dark winter months and can also directly boost your mood.” - Dr Victoria Revell, Circadian Rhythm Expert, University of Surrey.
*Data based on an ICM Online Omnibus Survey conducted for Lumie in 2007/8 in which 2,000 people in the UK were polled.
About Lumie
Since 1991 Lumie has been researching and designing bright lights to treat seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and other conditions. Our first Bodyclock dawn simulator – an alarm that wakes you up with increasing levels of light – was the world’s first wake-up light and brought light therapy into the mainstream. We also designed and developed Lumie Clear, a unique hand held device that uses combined blue and red light therapy to treat acne.
Over the years Lumie has worked closely with the scientific community. Our products – the broadest range in Europe – are based on published research and designed by us from our base in Cambridge. Lumie is in the EuRhythDia consortium investigating circadian rhythms and type 2 diabetes, and is working with Cambridge University and Liverpool John Moores University sports science department. We continue to research new applications for light therapy.
Lumie products are medical devices, certified to the Medical Devices Directive (93/42EEC) and supplied to the NHS on an occasional basis. Distance and brightness levels (lux) are independently verified and Lumie is registered with the government's Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency.
The benefits of light therapy reach far beyond SAD. Our lights help you to sleep well and get up in the morning, beat the afternoon slump, conquer jetlag and look after your skin. They also optimise sports performance and we are proud to provide lights to some of Great Britain’s elite athletes as well as acting as official suppliers to British Swimming.
Two of our wake-up lights, Active and Luxe, provide white noise as an option. If you are trying to sleep in a noisy environment or during the day, white noise helps to muffle other sounds, like traffic or people talking.
In the UK our products are available through www.lumie.com as well as major retailers like John Lewis, Boots, amazon, Selfridges, Neal’s Yard and wiggle.co.uk and we have an expanding network of distributors across Europe and in North America. For consumers buying through www.lumie.com we provide a 45 day trial period on all products and a dedicated customer careline.
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Contact:
Ruth Jackson
PR Manager, Lumie
Tel: 01954 786115
Mob: 07914 812261
Facebook: Lumie.light.therapy
Twitter: @lumie_lights
Pinterest: Lumie
Instagram: Lumie.lights
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