Image from www.weheartit.com
Those of you who know me well, know that I love to travel. Those of you who are just getting to know me, I invite you to share my passion! I have spent the past 10 years if my life living or visiting a little bit of everywhere including different parts of Australia, Asia, India, Europe, the UK, USA, Central America and Africa. I now I am planning my latest trip: to California; Los Angeles for Coachella and a girls week in San Francisco, departing in just over one week. (Let’s just say I am über-excited!!!)
Now, to get back on track, let’s talk about jet lag. Jet lag results from rapid long-distance travel in which you cross several time zones and your body’s circadian rhythm is thrown completely out of whack. As my friend Lisa says, it’s when your soul can’t keep up with your body. I like that understanding of it! Basically, you arrive at your fabulously exciting new destination and feel like you need to sleep at the wrong times for exactly three days. Which is not fun. Especially when you have exactly three days to explore the damn place.
I am one of those specially gifted people who finds her sanctuary in sleep. I can sleep almost anywhere at any time and I love it. Except for when I fly north. For some reason, flying north really disrupts my body and sleeping patterns and apart from sleeping for 3 days, there is little I can do to invigorate myself. Except for this:
I take melatonin. Melatonin is a naturally occurring hormone in your brain which regulates your circadian rhythms. It is released in your brain at night when it’s dark, peaks at the darkest hour and subsides again as the day begins to break. So basically, when your pineal gland releases melatonin into your brain it effectively puts you to sleep. Extensive studies have been done on jet lag and melatonin, with different results. It just seems to work really well for some, and not so well for others. For me, I can say that it helps dramatically in improving quality of life and sleep in the days following a big trip, which means a lot. I get into the time rhythm of my new location much quicker and gentler than I used to and can enjoy the days following so much more. Melatonin is available at propeciarxshop.com most health food stores or pharmacies around the world as well as here on Amazon. It is an over-the-counter supplement which should be taken half an hour before sleep. Normally I take it on the flight if I am arriving at my destination in the morning. That way I wake up ready and in the correct time zone. Then I may take it for a couple of nights subsequent, just to get into the circadian rhythm of things! Perhaps you can try it yourself and see it this works for you too!
Happy travels my lovely friends! x