Winter Sleep Reset: How to Support Rest Through Shorter Days and Longer Nights

Lifestyle |
5 min read

Written By

Jessica D. Buck

Published

December 02, 2025

Medically reviewed by

Alyssa Dweck MS, MD, FACOG, MSCP, Chief Medical Officer

As winter settles in and daylight becomes more limited, it’s not uncommon to notice shifts in how you’re sleeping and how you feel throughout the day. Maybe mornings feel a bit harder or evenings seem to stretch on longer than you expect. You might even feel more fatigued.

Often, these changes aren’t due to anything you’re doing wrong—they’re commonly the body’s natural response to seasonal light changes that directly influence your 24-hour sleep–wake cycle, known as your circadian rhythm.¹ The release of hormones, like melatonin, also play a part in how your body interacts with the change of daytime light.²

In this post, we’ll take a look at how shorter days can impact your internal clock and what you can do to support your energy levels during these darker months, in menopause and beyond.

How Daylight Affects Sleep Quality and Energy Levels

Daylight is an important signal the body uses to regulate its internal clock. Morning light entering your eyes tells your brain to reduce melatonin and gradually increase cortisol, which is a hormone that helps you feel awake and alert. During the winter, when daylight is limited, and you are indoors more, this cue becomes weaker due to reduced direct light exposure.³

This impact from the seasonal shift may feel even more pronounced during menopause or perimenopause, when your body is already adjusting to significant hormonal changes.⁴ For example, changes in estrogen and progesterone may influence how deeply you sleep and how easily you stay asleep during menopause, meaning the reduced winter daylight may contribute to your current nighttime troubles (think night sweats or a racing mind).⁵

Why Does Your Circadian Rhythm Shift in Winter?

Your circadian rhythm is your body’s internal clock, which works to regulate your sleep, your sense of wakefulness, when your hormones are released, and your core body temperature over approximately a 24-hour cycle.⁶ It relies heavily on environmental cues, especially natural light, to stay synchronized. During the winter, shorter days and longer nights provide us with exposure to less daylight, which signals the body to produce melatonin earlier in the evening.⁷

This may make you feel sleepy earlier in the evening, which may influence when and how well you sleep. During menopause, these shifts may intensify as your estrogen and progesterone levels fluctuate as these hormones influence how your body regulates its internal temperature and your level of alertness.⁸ As a result, winter circadian rhythm changes may feel more noticeable as your behavior and energy levels shift during menopause.

How to Sleep Better During the Winter

Winter may make maintaining consistent, restorative sleep a challenge for some women. Understanding how to sleep better in the wintertime starts with aligning your habits with your body’s natural rhythms. Here are four practical strategies that may help.

Get Light Exposure Early in the Day

Exposure to natural light soon after waking up helps signal to your body that the day has begun.⁹ Try to aim for 10 to 20 minutes outside within your first hour of waking, if possible, as it may help you sleep better later on.¹⁰ If daylight is limited, a 10,000 lux light therapy lamp can provide a similar cue to help regulate your melatonin production and support your morning energy levels.¹¹

Create a Gentle Evening Wind-Down Routine

A few hours before bed, try to reduce bright lights and screen exposure to signal to your body that it’s time to slow down.¹² Some may find that dimming the lights for one to two hours before sleep and engaging in activities that feel calming, such as stretching, reading, sipping herbal tea (non-caffeinated options such as chamomile or lavender), or taking a warm bath, may be helpful. These small adjustments support the body’s natural rise in melatonin and prepare your nervous system for rest.¹³

Keep Your Bedroom Cool and Comfortable

Sleep quality improves in a cooler environment.¹⁴ Try to aim for a bedroom temperature of 60°F to 67°F and create a soft, comfortable space with layered textures or even a weighted blanket.¹⁵ This can help to support natural body temperature drops, which may facilitate deeper sleep and give your body sensory cues that encourage you to settle and let go of the experiences from the day.¹⁶

Support Sleep Physiology Internally

Evening nutrition may also influence how easily your body transitions into sleep. Magnesium-rich foods like pumpkin seeds, leafy greens, or oats may help relax your nervous system.¹⁷ Gentle practices that downshift stress, like slow controlled breathing (with a focus on longer exhales) or mindful stretching, can also help to reinforce the body’s readiness for restorative rest.¹⁸

Improve Your Sleep Quality with Small Adjustments

Keep in mind that you don’t have to create the perfect sleep routine—what matters most is that your sleep routine helps you settle during the evening and wakes you up feeling ready for your day, especially when it’s colder. In fact, science shows that our bodies respond more effectively to small, consistent adjustments than to drastic changes, which may cause distress.¹⁹

Overall, aligning your habits with natural light, finding an evening routine that feels calming to you, creating a cozy sleep environment, and achieving internal nourishment may help counter seasonal energy dips. Winter sleep challenges may be a fact of life, but mindful, intentional steps should make them easier to manage.

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