Picture it for yourself: on a beach chair with a cocktail in your hand, sunglasses on and, if it feels too hot, diving into the sea... Just thinking about it makes me feel better.
But doing nothing during your holiday is not necessarily what makes you feel reborn; the sunny aspect is! You get out more and help reset your biological clock so you can get back to work at full speed after the summer.
Sunlight tells our body through our eyes when it is day and when it is night. Being in natural light all day makes you more active during the day and you sleep deeper at night. This way, your battery is properly charged!
Especially for summer, some light facts and reasons to go out more often 😉 .
Summer holiday facts:
- At around 3,000 lux on your eyes, we tend to put on sunglasses. On average, they reduce the light level by 3 times. Not bad, because it is still enough to control your biological clock.
- In full sunlight we receive 100,000 lux or more. That is a lot of light! Normally, in a building, we only get 500 lux (far too little of course).
- Beneficial for your resistance: sunlight provides more vitamin D, through UV radiation on your skin.
- Just notice when we say to each other 'you are well coloured today'. That is usually in the evening when the sun goes down. There is a lot of red in the sunlight then, so the discolouration becomes more visible.
- There is such a thing as summer blues, for example, waking up very early. The tip is to make sure you have a dark bedroom with good curtains. Or use a bath sheet in front of the window for extra darkness in the morning.
So it is good that we come back from our holidays recharged. Wouldn't it be a shame to lose that holiday feeling after a week or two, because your biological system has been disrupted? That lack of light inside buildings, whether at home or at the office, calls for more powerful light during the day. That way, your biological clock stays in shape.
Have fun getting your summer dose of sunlight!
