Lumie Natural Light Therapy

Travel has taught me to detest and actively dread one thing. Jet Lag. I hate not being able to sleep.

We’ve all been there. To that twilight zone in which the world bends and shimmers around you and people look at you and make noises like curlews who have been at the nitrous oxide. That grey limbo-land where the body is present but the mind unlocatable.

It all has something to do with leaving one country and getting to another fourteen hours later at exactly the same time you left with the net result that you look like the day after.

I’m fed up with not being able to sleep when I am tired. And it’s past my bedtime. I’ve had enough of boarding a plane looking smart, professional, creative and with lots of exciting ideas to sell and leaving it looking like Charles Manson. Sometimes I might give the wrong impression about certain airlines. When I come off a long-haul flight and give the impression that the cabin door has not been closed all the way.

Then Lumie came to the rescue.

Waking up should not be a pain. It should not be a daily trauma. It should be looked forward to rather than dreaded. You want to wake up smoothly and pleasurably. And not heart-sippingly suddenly.

Your first action of the day should not be a panicky fight or flee response.

We want to start the day with pleasure and popsitivity not with an obscenity. We want to start in the right mood and finish it in the same one.

There is a strong evidence base to suggest that your day starts better if you aren’t jolted awake in the morning and fumble around in the dark to switch off the gobby, hyper-DJ and the bad music. We should be awakened by birdsong, not rap.

Cambridge-based Lumie offers not only portable bright light therapy but indoor bedside lighting that mimics gradual sunrises and gently fading sunsets. As Jonathan Cridland, CEO of Lumie, says:

“Light affects mood. It reduces melatonin levels. It is a major influencer of our sleep-wake cycle.”

Having qualified in London as a Chartered Accountant, Jonathan worked in The Bahamas working for KPMG (then Peat Marwick Mitchell) before moving back to London to work for a large, quoted food company. He subsequently joined the head office team of a smaller, acquisitive leisure group, and in 1992 bought a stake in a venture capital backed sporting goods manufacturer, joining as chairman. This became one of the early companies to float on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM market before he took it back as a private company and subsequently sold to a group of investors in 2005.

Cridland continues:

“Sunshine is clinically proven to make us happier but is something often in short supply during a winter and even summer sometimes in some places.”

A prolonged lack of natural light can cause serotonin and melatonin levels in the body to drop, triggering the symptoms of depression. Up to 24% of the UK population experience the winter blues and of those, around 7% have such bad symptoms, known collectively as Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD.

So, make sure you take care of your circadian rhythms. Nothing enhances wellbeing more than knowing you are able to control the duration and intensity of the sun!

Lumie Task lamps help maintain eye health in the workplaces. Bedbug helps minimise blue light in your child’s bedroom to help them settle at night. The nightlight is a unique light for babies and children, combining low-blue LED technology with additional restful sleep features.

Cridland took over as CEO in 2006. The company, originally called “Outside In”, was started in 1991 by Steve Hayes who brought back lightboxes from Utah and created an integrated “dawn stimulator”.

Aided in research by Sir Randulph Fiennes, the Cambridge Boat Crew, students working in the university library and SAD expert, Dr Kostantin Danileve, Lumie has extend its range of paradigm-shifting, non-alerting, no shrill alarm, Bodyclock wake-sleep lights from the top-of-the-range Luxe 750 Dab (£229) to the £50 Sunrise Alarm.

Cridland adds:

“Lumie wake-up lights rouse you from sleep gently and in a natural way with gradually increasing levels of light. The slow and steady process induces the production of cortisol – the body’s ‘get-up-and-go’ hormone, whilst suppressing melatonin, the hormone conducive to sleep.

“At the same time, your core body temperature and heart rate gradually rise, just as they do in response to dawn. By the time you open your eyes, you feel alert, refreshed and ready for the day ahead. With no more jarring wake-up calls!”

Denied sunlight we can experience a decline in our wellbeing and energy levels. Lumie products use a gradual increase in light intensity along with smooth colour changes from red, orange to warm-white to simulate a natural sunrise. This gentle transition helps regulate your body’s internal clock naturally and encourages a more peaceful waking experience.

Lumie Bodyclocks can improve sleep quality. By using a simulated sunset feature, they create a relaxing environment that aids in falling asleep faster and achieving a more restful night’s sleep. The light-sensitive auto-dimming clock display helps create a darker sleep environment, minimises the potential for sleep disturbances and allows for uninterrupted rest.

Lumie wake-up lights like Bodyclock Shine 300 retain optional sound alarm functions and radio functionalities but nature-inspired melodies are also available along with a tap-control 9-minute snooze function.

Workplace lights, with desktop screens either positioned landscape or portrait, ensure greater productivity and concentration by providing regular light top-ups or constant natural light exposure.

Lumie delivers safe, natural UV-free light therapy be it portable or bedside. To sleep better you have to wake better. From now on, don’t wake up in an alarming way.

For more information on Lumie’s product range, please visit: www.lumie.com.

Author Bio:

Kevin Pilley is a former professional cricketer and chief staff writer of PUNCH magazine. His humour, travel, food and drink work appear worldwide, and he has been published in over 800 titles.

Photographs courtesy of Lumie