Waking up on days off.
We have a lot of responsibilities in our daily lives. We work, do housework and maybe take care of family members. So on those rare days off, we like to relax, enjoy a leisurely breakfast, maybe do some yoga. And we often like to sleep in.
But sleeping in actually isn’t good for our bodies!
How our bodies keep time.
Sleeping in may feel good, but your body doesn’t think so. We all have a biological clock in our brains, which controls our physiological rhythms*1, and this is strongly affected by light. Your body can tell when to wake up and go to sleep based on how much light enters the body through your eyes. This helps you stay comfortable throughout the day, but your biological clock is not aware of things like weekends and holidays. Your brain wants to wake up and go to sleep at the same time every day, and it gets confused by changes to its daily routine.
Studies*2 have shown that if you regularly wake up more than three hours later than usual, this delays your body clock.
So as tempting as it may be, don’t sleep more than two hours later than the time you usually get up. A shorter sleep-in will make it easier for you to fall asleep that night, so you’ll wake up refreshed with plenty of energy for the new day.
Habits for waking up comfortably.
As soon as you wake up, open the curtains and let in some natural light. Put on some music you like to lift your spirits.
Don’t start moving around straight away. Lie in bed and let your body wake up slowly. Then do some exercises to warm your body up. Start by rotating your wrists and ankles slowly, then back the other way. Start with your feet, since they’ll be carrying you around all day. Next, have a good stretch. Join your hands together above your head, take a deep breath and stretch all the way from your hands to your feet. Imagine that you’re a rope in a tug of war. Then relax all your muscles while breathing out. With your hands still joined, hold your arms straight out in front of your chest, then slowly stretch them to the left and right. You’ll notice your head has cleared while you’ve been doing this. Now wash your face, put on some clothes you like, and start the new day.