Phyllis Zee, a neurologist and chief of sleep medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, said without that sunlight, we can slip into circadian misalignment — “when your internal body clocks fall out of sync with that of the sun clock and your social clocks.”
Lawmakers have proposed adopting a permanent change to daylight saving time — it’s called the Sunshine Protection Act. The Senate has approved it, but the bill died in the House amid questions over whether year-round daylight saving time was safe or healthy.
Sleep experts say that if the legislation gets approved, it would throw our bodies out of sync with the sun and lead to a variety of health problems.
“We would be misaligned all year long,” said Beth Malow, professor of neurology and pediatrics and the director of Vanderbilt University’s sleep division.
To help you understand daylight saving time, we’ve compiled a list of stories explaining the health issues, the state of legislation and how permanent DST would change sunrise and sunset.
Try our new 3-minute sleep meditation
I’m so excited to share our new 3-minute sleep meditation, created in partnership with Headspace and mindfulness teacher Eve Lewis Prieto. She writes:
“Anxiety is often the source of sleep woes. I’m a natural born worrier, and have struggled with anxiety and sleep issues for years. It wasn’t until I came across the practice of meditation that I was genuinely able to sleep through the night.
“Meditation won’t solve the stress in your life or stop you from worrying. But it will give you more skills to cope with it.”
Before you go to bed, clear your room of clutter, make sure the bedding is clean and cozy, and pull the window shade, Eve advises. And about 10 or 15 minutes before bedtime, start a wind-down routine by turning off your devices.
Please let us know how we are doing. Email me at wellbeing@washpost.com.