The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Saturday
Springing forward to happier times ahead
The clocks change tomorrow, which is good news for our mood and health, says Tom Ough
‘The changing of the clocks provides a happy landmark in a hitherto dreary year’
Gi
ranted, British Summer Time is a lovely idea. Having fallen back in the autumn, the clocks “spring forward”, as the saying goes, tomorrow. This means, effectively, that we lose an hour of daylight in the early morning – an hour of daylight that most of us sleep through – and have it in the afternoon instead.
Alas, this seemingly benign adjustment comes with steep downsides. Our body clocks, unlike physical clocks, can’t be manually moved forward, and we tend to lose sleep as our circadian rhythms catch up. Studies suggest that strokes, heart attacks and perhaps even road accidents (research varies on this one) spike after springtime clock-changing. British Summer Time: almost literally a car crash.
We all loathe the idea of losing an hour’s sleep, but the March changing of the clocks seems, despite its drawbacks, to be particularly welcome this year. Although we will be allowed, from Monday, to socialise in groups of six rather than as exercising pairs, it will still have to be outdoors. We will still be reliant on good weather and we will still be reliant on daylight. In Greenwich yesterday, sunset was at 6.25pm; tonight it will be 7.27pm.
Especially for people who spend office hours indoors, this opens up great new vistas of social opportunity. In many cases, it will do so without incurring the usual damage to sleep, because those who are still spared their commute might, family circumstances permitting, be more likely than in previous years to get away with a compensatory lie-in.
In the words of Dr Andy Cope, a
speaker and writer who specialises in happiness and wellbeing, this particular clock change “creates a feelgood factor. I would say there’s all sorts of benefits”.
Dr Cope suggests that people use the effective extra hour of daylight to go for a woodland walk (shinrin-yoku, as the Japanese call it) or to simply do nothing (this time it’s a Dutch buzzword: niksen). “This extra hour gives us an opportunity to sit in the sunshine and be in the moment. I think that’s really valuable.”
The daylight itself, as well as what we use it for, bestows all kinds of health bonuses. We’re all aware by now of the importance of getting enough vitamin D, though be warned: the best time to get it is solar noon – when the sun is highest in the sky – rather than the last hours of sunshine.
But sunshine has lots more to offer. Our bodies release endorphins the moment ultraviolet light hits our skin. Sunlight prompts our brains to release serotonin, which improves our mood. Sunlight causes our skin to release nitric oxide, a natural vasodilator, which lowers blood pressure.
And late-afternoon sunshine of the kind that precedes sunset is particularly good at helping set our circadian rhythm, which influences not only our sleep but also our digestion, athletic performance and immunity.
Add all these benefits to the benefits of seeing friends and family and being active outdoors and, as members of the public tell us below, the changing of the clocks provides a happy landmark in a hitherto dreary year. In other words, springing forward helps us look forward.