If you’re burning the festive candle at both ends and struggling to sleep during the holiday season, setting up a Christmas tree in your bedroom can have a surprisingly good impact on your quality of sleep.
1. A calming reminder of nature
Having access to green space and getting out amongst nature is known to reduce stress and boost endorphins, making people feel calmer and happier. For this reason, nature is also known to help people fall asleep and promote better sleep quality. People even use white noise machines to replicate the feeling of being in nature to help them fall, asleep, stay asleep and get a better quality night’s sleep. Bringing a Christmas tree into the bedroom is an opportunity to bring some of these benefits of nature into the bedroom.
2. Feelings of nostalgia and calm
For most of us, decorating the tree for Christmas is a key memory from our childhood. So although Christmas can be a pretty stressful time of year, taking part in Christmas activities takes people back to their childhood, when they had no responsibilities, and in that moment they forget about all the other stressful things. With a Christmas tree in the bedroom, as you’re settling down for a good night’s sleep you’ll have your tree as a nostalgic reminder to try not to stress and enjoy the magic of Christmas.
3. Christmas colours
Our brains collect information from our surroundings, translating it into chemical signals, and releasing different hormones in response. In this instance, melatonin and cortisol as they’re the hormones that control your sleep cycle. That’s why it’s good to consider what colours you’re using in the bedroom to ensure your brain is telling your body to release the right hormones that will put your body into a sleepy state. The colour green, especially softer shades of green, is a non-stimulating colour which is good for relaxation and promoting good quality sleep.
4. Warm lighting
It’s always recommended to use softer and warmer tones of lighting in your bedroom before sleep. To get your body into a healthy sleep cycle, bright, cool-toned light is best to use in the daytime to increase alertness and warmer lights in the evening. Exposure to whitish-blue light suppresses the production of melatonin – the hormone that puts your body into a sleepy state. Leaving your warm tree lights to twinkle in the bedroom while you’re getting ready for bed will not only make you feel extremely Christmassy and cosy, but will also have no negative effect on your body’s production of melatonin. This will help you feel asleep quicker and have a better quality night’s sleep.
Activities to enjoy a weekend at home
