Our body clocks are affected by how bright or dark our environment is. During the hours of darkness our brain produces the sleep hormone melatonin which helps us to fall asleep. This melatonin production will stop when we are exposed to light.

During winter times, when the hours of darkness are long, we would need to wake up in the morning when the sun has not yet risen. At these moments of darkness our brains are still producing melatonin and as such, our waking is sudden, causing us to feel drowsy at the time of waking and tired the rest of the day.

A possible solution to tackle this problem could be the use of a dawn simulator. This device, sometimes called a natural alarm clock, helps to reduce this sudden awakening by simulating sunrise. A light source simulates an artificial sunrise by gradually increasing in intensity at a specified time, normally about 30 – 60 minutes before your scheduled wake up time.
This artificial sunrise prepares your body to wake up in a more natural way by slowing down the melatonin production from your brain.

What are the benefits of Dawn Simulators?

Dawn simulators can be used to treat people with seasonal affective disorders (SAD). SAD patients suffer from a chemical imbalance in the brain due to the shortening of daylight hours during winter. This imbalance impairs normal functioning and causes depression during the winter months.

Dawn simulators are helpful for people trying to wake up during the winter mornings when it is still dark outside. In fact it is helpful for anyone who typically wakes up before sunrise. You don’t need to be living in a country with seasonal changes to enjoy the benefits of a dawn simulator. As dawn simulators help to align and regulate melatonin and serotonin production, it is also helpful for sufferers of depression, anxiety, fatigue and insomnia, as these sufferers have been known to have imbalances of these two chemicals. Dawn simulators are also a great help for shift workers, children and those traveling across time zones. Many dawn simulators come with a built in clock and some also have pre-recorded nature sounds so that you can be gently woken up to the soothing sounds of the rain forest or the waterfall, instead of a deafening alarm bell.