8 Reasons Why Light Therapy Can Do You Wonders
The winter blues are a real thing and it feels as if we are all feeling them more than ever recently. To change all of that, we may have the next best solution for you to invest in! Light therapy. Here are 8 reasons why light therapy can do you wonders.
1. So why is light therapy actually used?
Are summer and spring your favorite time of the year? Do you dread getting into the fall and winter seasons thinking you probably will have to deal with our friend, Mr. Winter Blues otherwise known as SAD (seasonal affective disorder)? For many of us around the world, we struggle with not getting enough sunlight during the colder seasons. We sit inside waiting for the warm sunshine to brighten our souls! If you have thought about possibly getting antidepressants to cure the winter blues, then think again. Light therapy can work just as good as antidepressants for some.
You can buy a lightbox on places such as Amazon. One of the best our there is by a company called Verilux. They specialize in making sure that your seasonal depression is as minimal as possible. Where ever you decide to buy your lightbox, the most important part is to find one that uses 10,000 lux. This will ensure that you receive the right amount of light. This type of light mimics natural outdoor light without the damage of actual UV light. Use it for 15-30 minutes at least 16-24 inches away from you and gain the benefits in about 2 weeks of using it!
2. How it works for you
This light works with the hormones in your body. Sometimes when we go through the wintertime, we find that when we do not receive enough sunlight our bodies don’t produce enough hormones that we should have. Having light therapy creates an outdoor light feeling that is needed. These hormones essentially give you the right about of serotonin that you need to start feeling happy again.
3.Better mood
Think about the time it was really sunny and beautiful out. Did you feel the excitement of the day? Could you feel the heat of the sun beat down on your head making you feel eternally happy? The truth of the matter is that when we get the rays we need, we actually want to do more in the day.
Now think about the time when you didn’t get the sunshine you needed. You probably didn’t want to go out and talk to friends, or go to work (more than usual), maybe you didn’t even want to spend time with your significant other during this time. Whatever the case may be, the feeling you feel could be because of how much sunshine you did or did not receive.
Light therapy can change all that for you. After just 2 weeks of using it, you could definitely start to see that you will want to go out and do more and spend time with others. Your life will in general feel and look better!
4. More energy
This topic goes hand in hand with a better mood. Light therapy helps protect our energy from disappearing. When our serotonin levels are not high enough our body physically wants to shut down slowly and restore that energy that is produced. When there is not enough energy being produced in the body we simply just do not have any energy to use it. This leaves us feeling tired and not wanting to give any effort to any other areas of our life. It becomes a lot harder to have the motivation to do things that we normally would be able to do.
5. Better focus
Life in general requires a lot of focus. It seems as if our attention spans are becoming shorter and shorter over the years and the ability to sit and accomplish the tasks at hand is something we want but don’t know how to achieve. It can be very frustrating and extremely exhausting when wanting to finish something but your mind keeps on floating elsewhere.
Now, what if you were able to focus a lot better, and accomplish tasks twice as fast! Wouldn’t you want to do so?! I know I would. Light therapy does that for you. When using light therapy your body is sending signals to the body that you are enjoying what you are doing. You feel good and want to accomplish more in the day. Your focus becomes enhanced and in the end, you feel even better about yourself since you start accomplishing the goals you have for yourself.
6. Better sleep
Sleeping is incredibly important and sometimes we forget it. We restore all the parts of our body that need fixing while we sleep. If we can’t get a good night’s sleep then we can’t fix the torn muscles, learn more, and many more things that are beneficial to our health. Light therapy helps us produce the melatonin we need in our bodies to assure that we can have a great night’s sleep. You don’t need to worry about feeling tired after using light therapy especially if you use it in the morning, but when it comes time to go to bed you can bet that your ability to fall asleep faster and have better quality sleep will be way better.
7. Self-confidence
When we don’t feel good about ourselves it becomes extremely hard to have self-confidence. Although there is no “pill” or “light” to fix our self-confidence because that is an inward development, light therapy does enhance your natural ability to be happy which in return can make your feel confident about yourself. The best feeling in the world is to feel as if you run the world. Increasing your serotonin levels will create the “happiness” feeling you were longing for. Remember that confidence is a work in progress always, but this can help with increasing your ability to feel good daily.
8. Better Relationships
When you feel good during the day, you are more likely to talk to others more. You will be able to build better relationships and will feel encouraged to talk to make new friends. Relationships are a part of life and making good ones will also make you feel good during this time of figuring out how to feel happier during the colder months.
