So, I got a therapy light for Christmas because I am someone who gets hit hard with that seasonal sadness. This year I think I felt it a bit more than usual, and was just lower energy all the time. This is probably because where I have my office set-up at home, there isn’t really any natural sunlight coming in, and then by the time I finish work it’s already starting to get dark out.
But I’ve been using my therapy light for a few weeks now to try and combat that, and I thought I’d share my results so far!
Overall, I do think my therapy light has made a positive difference! I don’t know if I can entirely give credit for my better moods to my therapy light, though. I have also started exercising more consistently, and obviously that’s a huge mood booster too. However, I can say that I have had noticeably fewer days where I feel like I’m stuck in a rut or I just feel kind of down all day even though nothing bad happened to make me feel that way.
When I turn my therapy light on, I do feel immediate effects as well. I find that I instantly perk up a bit and feel a bit more energized and awake. Overall I noticed I’ve been feeling less tired and sluggish throughout my days, but using the therapy light does also give an immediate mini energy boost (for me, at least). Previously I’d be feeling pretty drained by the late afternoon and really not wanting to exercise at all, but I find that since I’ve been feeling more energized I’ve been looking forward to my workouts a lot more!
I’m also someone who really struggles with insomnia – I’m talking waking multiple times through the night, and often just laying there for hours struggling to get back to sleep, no matter how tired I am. It used to be really rare for me to get a full sleep, or to only briefly wake up during the night. But recently I’ve been having really good sleeps! I either stay asleep all night, or if I do wake up it’s just for a few minutes and then I’m back asleep. Again, this might be a result of a combination of things, but my sleeps did start improving shortly after I started using my therapy light every day, so that could definitely be a factor!
I use my therapy light twice a day, and I find that really works for me. I turn it on once midway through my morning for 30 minutes, and once midway through my afternoon for 30 minutes. I try to time it around the time I might start having troubles focusing or start feeling a bit sluggish (especially after lunch when I’m feeling full and sleepy). I also make sure to keep it about a foot away, and make sure I am turned slightly away from it – as you can see, it is very bright and you really should not look directly at it. I made the mistake once or twice and wow. It really hurt my eyeballs.
I know some people probably think things like therapy lights are phony and just a capitalist scam. And who knows, maybe it is all just one big placebo effect. But even if it is, I don’t care. Who cares if the only reason I feel happier and less tired is because I believed this little light would do that for me? At the end of the day I’m still feeling happier and less tired regardless, and feeling happier was the whole goal. So, I’ll take it.
Overall, I definitely recommend a therapy light to anyone who feels the effects of seasonal depression, and/or anyone who is indoors all day this time of year and doesn’t really get any natural light during the day. It’s a really small device, so it’s not intrusive, and it doesn’t require any effort or energy on your part except to press a button to turn it on and off, so it’s not disruptive either! 10/10 would recommend.
Until next time,
Nadine
nadinesnarratives.art.blog 