Struggling to sleep or wake up? This clever gadget helps
Like lots of us, I've been struggling to sleep during England's second national lockdown. Whether it's waking up at 4am and mentally running through my to-do list for the day ahead, or not being able to nod off at all, a restful night seems to be alluding me right now.
So, on the advice of a friend, I bought a Lumie Alarm Clock last week – and it's already made a massive difference to the quality of my sleep and how I feel when I wake up.
You've probably heard of Lumie. The Cambridge-base company has spent 25 years developing light therapy products that can help with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and sleep issues. In fact, they were the brand behind the first ever wake-up light – and their sleep aids and light boxes are medically proven to boost mood, productivity and energy levels because they help to reset, and regulate, your internal clock to get you into a regular sleep pattern.
I bought the Lumie Bodyclock Spark 100 Wake up to Daylight SAD Light, which is currently on sale for £59.25 on the John Lewis website. That's a saving of 25% on the RRP.
It arrived within a couple of days and was really easy to set up with the touch of a few buttons. I plugged it in beside my bed, selecting the bird sounds sunset from the eight noise options to last 10 minutes at the end of the day, followed by the waves sound sunrise to wake me up in the morning.
That means when I'm going to sleep, I hit the sunset button and the light begins to fade through yellow, pink and red to mimic a sunset and plays the selected soothing sound (you can just have the light option if desired).
Then, the Bodyclock slowly starts to wake me around half an hour before my alarm time with gradually increasing light, just like a natural sunrise, followed by the sound of waves at 6:30am until I roll over and switch it off.
Whereas before I was waking up with a jolt to an alarm, and instantly wanting to hit snooze, now I wake up slowly and feel much more energised throughout the day.
The Bodyclock also adjusts to the light level in the room, so when it's dark outside in the afternoon I move it to my kitchen table, where I work, to give me a much-needed boost of light therapy. At night, it naturally turns off so as not to disturb you.
I'm not the only one who hasn't stopped talking about my latest purchase. 'I've had issues for over 20 odd years with getting to sleep. This lamp has been amazing helping me to drop off,' one customer wrote on the John Lewis website.
If you're tempted to buy a Bodyclock, be quick, John Lewis has already sold 100 in the last few hours.
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