The Importance of Sleep Health Year-Round: In Conversation with Natalie Pennicotte-Collier
Friday 15th March 2024 marks World Sleep Day, dedicated to highlighting the importance of good sleep. We have teamed up with sleep expert and author of Sleep Reset, Natalie Pennicotte-Collier, to discuss the importance of good quality sleep and the impact of light on our sleep/wake cycle. Let’s hear what Natalie has to say!
Sleep is so deeply personal for me - in fact, in the first chapter of my book, I chose to share my personal journey from insomnia/PTSD to sleep health and becoming one of the UK’s best known sleep therapists in sport and clinic.
As a little girl, I clearly had a sleep disorder but at that time it wasn’t widely known in GP care and there wasn't any help for early teenagers other than antidepressants. So for me it's always been a very personal battle that I wanted to overcome in a holistic way. I guess that’s so often true for many expert therapists. You transform your adversity into strength and a career lightbulb moment. I really did turn my nightmares into the dream career and I am very grateful for the full depth of experience.
So in short, my book has always been in me, and I felt the courage after more than 15 years in sleep and private practice to really hone and test my evidence-based compassionate method MBCT-I into a book that really resonates with us all!
Whilst we all care about our wellness, every week in the UK, 2 out 3 of us put up with sleeping badly and miss out on the most dazzling aspect and completely free foundational pillar of wellbeing - good, solid, refreshing sleep. Sleep Reset shows you exactly how best to protect your sleep wellness. It illuminates sleep in mind and body, and explores tweaks to everyday habits - helping to put circadian science and the power of light on health in the mainstream. It is so relatable and easy to digest with a guided 5 week plan and tools to return to again. It highlights the full 360 aspect of sleep health across our lifespan. From day to night, it really is time that we all understood more about our complete sleep health and how to keep our amazing circadian rhythm in balance, across the year!
Lumie has been an everyday favourite of mine since my first purchase way back in 2016! I actually heard about Lumie from my work in elite sport. I was working with a swim team and rowing teams at the time and, as you know, early starts to perform at 5am are harsh - especially during autumn and winter and for teen athletes. With a mental health clinician background, focused on depression, I had wanted something evidence-based so Lumie's SAD research caught my eye. It turns out it massively helped me at home! As a working mother, I needed something other than morning caffeine to give me a natural alerting boost. So when I got my book deal, it was a no brainer to have Lumie lights both for waking but also on those necessary working later writing nights to meet my many deadlines!
In modern life, we have to be realistic and also embrace seasons of natural additional workload and pressures at times. For me, having smart tech and habit choices that also keep my physiology in balance and rhythm are everything. I travel frequently so Lumie Mini is a game changer! I suggest to every teen athlete I work with to get one as it's amazing for home study as well as performance.
Although I famously don’t wear sleep trackers and rings, Lumie is the sleep wellness technology I do embrace 365 days a year. My new favourite that I am obsessed with is Lumie Task! My son actually sneaked mine for homework so we now have two and as always, I have my trusty bedside Bodyclock Luxe 750DAB.
(1) View morning ‘sunlight’ - all year round, this should be in your top three morning habits for sleep wellness and to protect your mind, mood and body wellness. Your ‘light diet’ can help stabilise your body and clock and protect great sleep later at night.
(2) Protect tonight’s sleep wellness with noon and afternoon sunlight - this serves as a second “anchor point” for your mind, mood and body to know the time/season, to support the consistency of your circadian body clock. When inside, you can increase the ambient light of your workspace with Lumie Task.
(3) Use dim light in the evening - bright light at night powerfully inhibits melatonin and disrupts overnight high-quality, deep sleep. As day transitions into night, it is essential to create a relaxing atmosphere in your sleep space, so lowering the light levels signals to your brain that it's time to unwind.
We are delighted to be partnering with Natalie to share relatable sleep tips and how best to translate the latest sleep science into mind/body sleep wellness. Be sure to look out for Natalie's sleep wellness insight and find out more on her website.