Why the shorter duller days of winter impact our mood and energy levels and what you can do to realign with your body's natural rhythm.

When the clocks go back in late autumn we feel sluggish and lethargic during the day because the sun is less intense and lower in the sky.  Bright light helps to make you feel more alert and upbeat as it suppresses melatonin, the sleepy hormone. Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD, is a type of depression linked to the reduction of light in winter and affects many people at this time of the year.

With the sun setting earlier in late autumn and winter, melatonin levels start to increase earlier in the day, making you feel sleepy and sluggish, often lowering your mood.

Unfortunately, this seems to coincide with the busiest time of the year, when end of the year work demands, social events and festivities peak. We consume more food and alcohol than usual, we stay up later, letting our sleep schedules become irregular.

We tend to ignore what our bodies need during this time, which is to align with light and dark cycles, get enough exercise and to allow ourselves some rest. Animals seem to have no problem adjusting to winter, yet we tend to push on because it’s expected of us.

Here’s what you can do to realign your body clock so you can enjoy and experience what winter has to offer.

Daylight, Exercise and Yoga Practices in the morning

Early morning light viewing will move your circadian clock forward: Five minutes looking out of an open window towards the sun (even if obscured by heavy cloud cover) will move your internal body clock forward so that it aligns with the natural solar day. Our internal clocks are about 10-15 minutes longer than the 24 hour clock so we need this stimulus of light into the eyes and brain to align our physiology with the solar day.

If full body cold water immersion is too extreme for you(!), splashing cold water on your face first thing is a great way to feel more wakeful as it raises body temperature & increases alertness,

Get as much natural daylight as much as possible, because even on the dullest days natural light is far more powerful than artificial light. If getting outside is a challenge, then use a light box in the first few hours of the day to expose yourself to bright light. (10,000 Lux (the measure of light) is needed for 20-30 minutes, at a distance of 30-40 cms from your face).

Invigorating exercise such as brisk walking, jogging or interval training will boost your mood and energy levels with increased endorphins. Exercising outdoors in the early part of the day is doubly good! If you commute to work, try to include a brisk walk somewhere along the journey, and if you can’t get exercise in the am, a lunchtime walk or light jog is the next best thing.

If you’re wondering what type of yoga is good in the morning, then postures(asana) focused on strong standing poses, with active arm movements and breathing (pranayama) with longer inhalations will stimulate more alertness so you’re awake and ready for action.

Food, Alcohol, Socialising and Sleep

Keep to regular mealtimes where possible, because eating out of routine confuses your inner body clock (as in jet lag). Eating heavy meals high in sugar and fat content late at night disturbs your digestion making it hard to settle and sleep at night.

Alcohol is not great for sleep because it sedates you, which a poor substitute for sleep, and the delayed sugar spike causes disrupted sleep during the night.

Rest, Winding Down & Evening Yoga

Take time to rest whenever you can during the day instead of pushing through. Even a 3 minute rest putting your head on your forearms at a desk, has a replenishing effect. Not only does it restore depleted energy, it trains the ‘relaxation response’ (our ability to shift into rest and relax mode), which is a great tool to manage stress and it’s necessary for sleep to occur.

Establish a wind down routine that’s simple enough for you to stick to most nights, even through the festive period. These are some tried an tested routines and practices:

A warm bath to warm up the body for the subsequent cooling down of 1-3 degrees necessary for sleep to occur.

Being in a cool environment in soft low lighting, and avoiding the blue light of screens and the stimulating content are all conducive to sleep!

Simple ‘brain dump’ journalling involves writing worrying or annoying thoughts that you’ve ignored during the day so that you mentally digest these so they don’t wake you up in the middle of the night.

Relaxing yoga practices with simple floor based movement to undo tension built up in the day and breathing (pranayama) with longer exhales shift the body and mind into a more relaxed state.