8 TIPS FOR PREVENTING JET LAG/ jet lag tips
Keeping your circadian day/ night rhythm is the best of course:
- Hydrate well and cut down on caffeine ( coffee, black tea, cola, energy drinks) and alcohol, because those beverages tend to dehydrate you.
- During flight, sleeping, relaxing and moving around is the best .
- Pick up your new rhythm by mimicking the day rhythm to come in advance/ during your flight. For example, count back from the hour of landing in your new timezone…what do you do at that time ? Fake that already! Sleep or move?
You might think of wearing dark glasses or using a covering eye pad to limit the light caught by your eyes. Note that also your skin detects light! So expose your arms/ legs to light or cover them according to your new timezone. In fact you “fake” your new timezone in advance with little tricks!
- Some people are relieved by mindfulness exercises, like being in the Eternal Now moment, and other meditations.
In the NOW there is no time passing, there is only the NOW moment.
- You could also think of taking sleep-medication, to get you on the right clock time. In fact, flying to the east of our globe, COMPRESSES our earth time. (Either we have a lack in light or a lack in darkness when we travel, depends what time you fly and for how long)
When flying west, earth time is stretched, elongated…
In fact you could say you are a TIME TRAVELER!!
WHEN YOU ARRIVE THE FIRST DAY IN YOUR NEW TIME ZONE, ALLOW YOURSELF TO ADJUST, TO SYNCHRONIZE WITH THE LOCAL CLOCK.
- It is not only a jet lag you experience, but also a culture change/shock, and a weather change. I once read a nice quote: ” Don’t drive faster than your angel can fly”…LOL.
Give yourself time and pamper yourself/ your body.
For example: take a walk outside, absorb the new impressions, feel the weather, expose your eyes and skin to the local situation.
- Although circadian rhythms tend to be synchronized with cycles of light and dark, other factors – such as ambient temperature, meal times, stress and exercise – can influence the timing as well.
Because the inner “organ”clock also plays a role * in experiencing jet lag,you could do the following:
A) Eat a a high carb meal just before the night hour you want to sleep, in your destination country. The pancreas starts to excrete a large amount of insulin, which induces sleep.
B) Keep breakfast low in carbs/sugar ( f.e. yoghurt, eggs) for the same reason, this time to be wakeful.
You might think it is unhealthy and it makes you fat, this way of eating. Yes, it does, but in this situation it is used as a “natural therapy”, one time only, to get you back on track!
If you like to experience a huge jet lag in your life, you can do just the opposite of the before mentioned!
For a free Jet Lag Reset session and/ or more information, please
RESEARCH:
*The Role of the Endocrine System in Feeding-Induced Tissue-Specific Circadian Entrainment
Sato, Miho et al.Cell Reports , Volume 8 , Issue 2 , 393 – 401
*Resynchronization of circadian oscillators and the east-west asymmetry of jet-lag
Lu, Zhixin and Klein-Cardeña, Kevin and Lee, Steven and Antonsen, Thomas M. and Girvan, Michelle and Ott, Edward, Chaos, 26, 094811 (2016).
16).
