DOES IT WORK IRL?

Downward dog + blue light = better sleep, perhaps...

My sleep patterns suck and it’s all my own fault. I’m not kept awake by insomnia – instead, I fail to go to bed at 10pm because I don’t feel tired. I get around six hours on weeknights (rarely do I catch any zeds before midnight) – then lie in late on weekends. Nervy anticipation of a deadline or an event will ensure I’m out of bed by 7am with relative ease, but once the anxiety spike levels off, I spend the rest of the morning feeling like I’m lagging hours behind the rest of the world, before finally perking up after lunch. I used to think I was getting away with it, but over the past 18 months I’ve realised that I could be seriously jeopardising my mental health.

Scientists have found that, when exposed to negative images, people who struggled to sleep had more activity in the amygdala: the part of the brain neuroscientists believe to be hyper-attuned to fear in people (like myself ) with a depression or anxiety diagnosis. And just one night of poor sleep has been shown to magnify people’s reactions to bad news – potentially increasing their vulnerability to developing a mental illness*.

So, how to reverse a decade’s worth of shoddy sleep habits? Perform downward dogs in a coloured room, is the response from Nina Ryner, founder of Shoreditch studio Chroma Yoga, where coloured lights, a minimal soundscape and ‘meticulously chosen’ scents are combined to achieve specific wellness wins.

Ryner creates a 10-day schedule around my goal. ‘We’re looking to emulate the structure of the day,’ she explains. On waking, Ryner recommends that I expose myself to blue light. Not good when it’s emanating from your phone pre-slumber, but ideal first thing. Come nightfall? I take red and orange-lit classes. ‘The long wavelengths of the red light start production of the sleep hormone melatonin, subconsciously preparing your body for sleep,’ she explains.

Intrigued but sceptical,

I call Professor Graham Law, spokesperson for the British Sleep Society. And it turns out the science is legit. ‘Your brain is evolved to be incredibly sensitive to blue light,’ he says. ‘Once it’s detected by cells in your eyes, your brain gets the message to stop the production of melatonin and start the release of stress hormones to wake you up.’ And my warmhued evening classes? Chinese research* shows that long-wave red light does boost melatonin levels, increasing sleep quality.

After four nights, I’m doing well with my new routine.

Days start either with a 7am vinyasa-style ‘blue’ class, or getting ready in the glow of my new Lumie Arabica lightbox (£99.95, lumie.com). This way, whether I attend a class or not, I’m getting an hour of blue light. In week two, my energy slumps are already less disruptive.

So, should we all jump on the light yoga hype train? Turns out Professor Law is hesitant. ‘It’s hard to know what specific habit wrought the most significant positive change in your case,’ he says. ‘When you’re consciously changing one thing to improve your sleep, you’re naturally less inclined to sabotage that progress by checking your emails at 11pm.’ Quite. For me, it’s mission accomplished. By the end of my 10-day challenge, I’m blowing out my bedside candle at 10.30pm on the regular. And rather than resisting bedtime, my tired body and settled mind are eagerly anticipating sinking into sleep – and starting the whole process again tomorrow.