5 Tips for Getting the Most out of Your Bright Light Therapy
You and your doctor have determined that bright light therapy may be beneficial for helping alleviate the symptoms of your condition.
While you’ve found a great bright light therapy box to suit your individual needs, you’re looking for ways to optimize your bright light therapy to make it the most effective and enjoyable for yourself.
Here are 5 tips for getting the most out of your bright light therapy to help you feel better, faster:
Make It Routine
Like with diet and exercise, or nearly any habit you’re trying to introduce into your daily life, making sure that you’ve got a solid routine behind your change is essential to making it stick.
If you don’t stick to a routine with your bright light therapy, you’ll get spotty results at best.
Whether you set alarms to remind yourself or get everything set up the night before, finding a routine that works for you and your lifestyle is key to making sure you get the most out of your bright light therapy.
Make It Comfortable
If you’re going to be sitting in one place for 30 minutes per day, you might as well be comfortable while you do it.
Set up a cozy chair with a blanket or sweater if you need it, and pour yourself a nice cup of coffee or tea. If you eat breakfast, prepare your food and set yourself up to enjoy it.
Finding a way to make the spot where you sit and do your light therapy comfortable is an important part of sticking to the routine so you get the most benefit.
Make It Fun
What’s the use of doing something every day if you don’t make things a little fun?
If you have a little guilty pleasure you enjoy – great coffee, crossword puzzles, or your social media feed – incorporate that into your bright light therapy routine.
Try finding something you don’t normally do but that isn’t too burdensome or expensive to make part of your everyday habits. This little element of fun will give you something to look forward to every day and make you less likely to skip.
Make Yourself Accountable
Part of making sure a routine will stick as a permanent part of your life is holding yourself accountable to doing what you’re supposed to do.
If you have a tendency to skip days until your routine just stops, find a way to hold yourself accountable for all the days you get it right.
Whether you need to put up a physical calendar and check off days so you don’t “break the chain,” as Jerry Seinfeld said, or you reward yourself for a certain number of days completing your routine, keep track of all the times you do what you’re supposed to do and you’ll be surprised at the results.
Follow Instructions
When you and your doctor discussed bright light therapy, you likely received instructions on how often and how long to practice bright light therapy.
Follow your doctor’s instructions as closely as possible for best results, as the routine was designed to give you the most complete relief from your symptoms as possible.
If you feel as if something isn’t working for you in your routine, discuss it with your doctor before making any changes.
Light Boxes for Seasonal Affective Disorder Treatment
Finding the right light box for your bright light therapy routine is just as important as making sure you’re sitting in front of it every day. At the Sunbox Company, we want to help you find the right light box for you. Meet your match today!