22/09/2026
I’ve started turning the lights off when I go into the bathroom, especially when I’m in the shower, morning or night.
I’ve noticed I need less stimulation as the mornings and evenings get darker. Bathrooms are usually the brightest room in the house, and that kind of exposure first thing, or last thing, can trigger a fight or flight response before you’ve even properly woken up or wound down. Forcing my body into bright artificial light like that feels jarring, and I want a calmer start and end to my day, not a jolt.
There’s a physical reason for it too. Most LEDs and fluorescent bulbs flicker on and off with the current, around 100 times a second here in the UK. You can’t consciously see it, but your brain can still register it, and that’s enough to irritate the nervous system. Bathroom bulbs also tend to sit at the cooler, bluer end of the spectrum, which reads as more alert and less relaxing, not less.
So now I use natural light from the window where I can, and I’m looking into a warmer, flicker-free bulb for the bathroom.
Some of us need the opposite though. If mornings are hard for you, a bright, cool light first thing can genuinely help. I’ve always been a morning person, and I’m out with the dog before 8am, so I get my daylight that way instead.
Next time you walk into the bathroom, notice what you reach for the light switch out of habit. Does your body actually need it, or is it just what you?
