‘The Insomnia Expert’ Natalie Penicotte Collier is on a mission to highlight the importance of circadian sleep health, and being home to 266 beds, The Standard, London want to find out how you can get a better night sleep...Zzz...
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 your circadian cues will help.
So the key is not to stress, instead take simple steps to action. All your circadian cues will help.
To feel awake:
LIGHT: go outside or let bright daylight inside
FUEL: movement, food & supplementation
TOOLS: feel more awake in a cold shower
Create ‘sleep mode’:
LIGHT: dim light and create a dark, safe, cosy sleep space. Use less digital blue light
FUEL: eat less heavy food, use sleep support supplementation (Lumity) and hydrate! Choose gentle movement over HIIT or cardio
TOOLS: soak in warm shower to aid sleepQ: 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 that our sleep does adapt to 3 helpful sensory cues, no matter where we are sleeping and we can support sleep by unpacking these elements. Particularly the 3rd component (mind/mental relaxation)
Darkness, Comfort (safety/temp) and Mind Unwind|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’
Lumity Life's 'Restful Nights' are available in The Standard, London mini bars in suites.
