People all have their own rhythm - whether you are not a morning person and don’t really get going until the evening hours, an early riser who is fresh and ready to go at 6 in the morning, or fall somewhere in the middle depends on your genetic makeup, among other things. If we are naturally “night owls” (late risers) or “larks” (early risers), it is almost impossible to retrain ourselves - and it comes at the expense of sleep quality. On the other hand, knowing your chronotype and aligning it with your own needs and those of your body, wherever possible, can promote restorative sleep.
It is not just our genes that set our internal clock - another important regulator is our age. There are solid chronobiological reasons why small children usually wake up early and teenagers have to be dragged out of bed. In childhood, our internal clock is set to “early”; during puberty and adolescence, it moves later and later until it shifts back in the opposite direction starting in early adulthood. In old age, we often end up back where we started as children.
A third factor is often underestimated: light is an important signal for our internal day-night rhythm. A lack of daylight while we are awake, as well as artificial lighting at bedtime - especially the bluish light of electronic screens - can have an enormous impact on our inner clock and mean that we can hardly feel our natural rhythm anymore. This can cause eating and sleep disorders, depressed moods, a lack of energy and a suppressed immune system.
Two things can counteract this: plenty of daylight, especially in the morning, and dimmed lights before you go to sleep. Make sure to turn your laptop, smartphone, tablet and TV off in a timely manner.
By the way
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Besser schlafen – besser leben: Die Bedeutung erholsamen Schlafes für Leistungsfähigkeit, Aussehen, Gesundheit und Wohlbefinden ist unumstritten – das Wissen um eine gesunde Schlafkultur jedoch oft lückenhaft. Dabei hilft es uns, gezielt gegen Schlafprobleme vorzugehen und die Erholungsqualität unseres Schlafes zu steigern. Unser Schlafcoach bietet in den einzelnen Lektionen Praxis-Wissen zum Thema „Gesund Schlafen“ – nicht nur für Menschen mit Schlafproblemen, sondern auch für Schlafgesunde, die ihre Schlafqualität nachhaltig verbessern wollen.