12th April 2024
How to Kick Jet Lag
We partnered with ‘The Insomnia Expert’ Natalie Penicotte-Collier and The Standard Hotel ahead of holiday season, to highlight the importance of circadian sleep health
Read on to discover how best to support your sleep whilst travelling...
Q: How do we combat jet lag and get enough sleep when moving through different time zones?
Travel Jet Lag is simply a mismatch/confusion between our environment and our inner body clock. In fact, to some extent, many people do this every weekend, without travelling anywhere and engaging in this social jetlag. A habit that we think is harmless of sleeping a few hours later and having lie-ins can cause huge inner effects on sleep well-being and confusion for the body and mind.
So the key is not to stress, instead take simple steps to action. All of your circadian cues will help.
Support Awake Mode
LIGHT
Go outside or let bright daylight inside to kickstart your circadian rhythm
FUEL
Gentle movement at the start of your day, nutrient-rich food & high quality supplementation
TOOLS
A cold shower is a great way to refresh the senses & help activate 'awake mode'
Create Sleep Mode
LIGHT
Dim the light & create a dark, safe, cosy sleep space. Reduce digital blue light
FUEL
Eat less heavy food, use sleep support supplementation & hydrate! Choose gentle movement over HIIT or cardio
TOOLS
Soak in a warm bath or shower to aid relaxation
"Use sleep-support supplementation like Lumity's Restful Nights supplement"
Discover Restful Nights
Our best-selling Restful Nights supplement has been scientifically-calibrated, using naturally derived ingredients, to help you consistently get the best night’s sleep possible. Designed to support you to fall asleep more easily, achieve a deep sleep throughout the night, and wake feeling fully replenished and restored, Restful Nights is the perfect addition to any bedtime routine.
Q: Can you give us some tips on how to sleep well in a hotel room particularly?
As a global sleep expert, passionate about performance wellbeing, naturally, my job demands me to travel regularly as well as juggling being a working mother of teens & partner. To some extent this is true for so many of us, juggling our energy demands with our work/relationships/well-being & caring.
The circadian rhythm story really frames best HOW to sleep well and thrive when we don’t have a perfect familiar "bed" or sleep schedule. Just like the Olympic athletes I support – your sleep cannot always rely on the same conditions/perfect quiet sleep space. In fact, our innate sleep physiology naturally adapts to this – just as it as always done. You may be familiar with the well-known evolutionary concept of the first-night effect. Where even if we have a perfect sleep hotel room, our minds will stay alert in some way to different sensory cues, smell/sound & unfamiliar environments.
But the great news is, our body adapts to 3 helpful sensory cues, no matter where we are sleeping - and we can support our sleep by unpacking these three elements; Darkness, Temperature Control and Relaxation.
So in this way, the perfect sleep space travel room can be designed to encourage a good night's sleep:
- Travel with an eye mask and sound ear diffuser
- Create your perfect every-night/anywhere 30-min winddown routine and replicate wherever you are
Natalie was acclaimed as ‘The Insomnia Expert’ and her work and sleep health expertise were profiled by The Sunday Times on Feb 24 (11/02/24). Author of Penguin's new bestselling sleep health book sharing her method “Sleep Reset – The New Tools of Rest & Recovery"
Restful Nights is available in-suite at The Standard, London.
Support Your Body
