Can showering in the dark replace your melatonin supplement for a good night's sleep?
There was a time when sleep came as easy as breathing does, but now even after popping magnesium pills, taking melatonin, drinking chamomile tea, putting on a red light therapy mask and trying several other sleep inducing methods, sleep still evades most of us. According to American Academy of Sleep Medicine, 93% Gen Z-ers have admitted to staying up past their bedtimes, intentionally or otherwise. This sleep crisis is thanks to digital overload and endless doomscrolling that gets in the way of our body’s natural sleep cycle, known as the circadian rhythm.
To battle this, ‘soft-wellness’ creators on Instagram and TikTok started showering in the dark, originally intended to create a coccoon-like experience by turning your bathroom into a less sensorially active space. The central idea is to eliminate excessive stimulants and create a calming space, with the exception of a few candles to ensure that you don’t slip and break your neck.
Scientifically speaking, there is no direct relation between dark showering and sleep. It may simply be the effect of the darkness that naturally spikes melatonin aka ‘the sleep hormone' and reduces cortisol, the stress hormone. “Bright light sends a signal to the brain to halt melatonin production and stay alert. This is why being under harsh lighting in the evening can delay your body's natural wind-down process,” explains Dr Sumedha Verma, a clinical psychologist and founder of Deep Sleep Health. “Showering in dim light or darkness can soothe your senses after light exposure, which may support your body's natural melatonin rise. Melatonin is released more easily in dim or dark conditions, which supports sleepiness, relaxation and overnight restoration. Cortisol, on the other hand, starts reaching its lowest levels, supporting sleep.” The temperature of the water also plays a pivotal role here according to Dr Verma. “Our core temperature naturally drops as we approach sleep. A warm shower briefly raises your skin temperature and when you step out, that heat dissipates, facilitating your core temperature to fall, which can actually support sleep onset.”
While this makes sense, we cannot help but wonder how over-the-top dark showering can be. On their humorous podcast, Plan B Show, the husband-wife duo Brock and Kiki giggle over how showering in the dark is a great way to get murdered. “You could slip and fall and break your coccyx or neck,” they muse while discussing the downsides of this trend. Dr Radhika Bapat, a clinical psychotherapist and a critic of the trend agrees, “We do not currently have gold-standard clinical evidence showing that dark showering directly produces meaningful health benefits. What we do know for a fact is that people have falls in bathrooms, especially older people. A wet, slippery environment with reduced visibility may feel therapeutic right up until it becomes orthopaedic,” she adds.
“Focusing on resting and relaxing your mind and body is more effective than following strict routines. There’s no one-size fits all when it comes to our sleep and wellbeing. We’re all different, so find what works for you and avoid what doesn’t help, regardless of what you hear out there,” says Dr Verma.
My grandmother probably took her fair share of dark showers too, though not because a wellness influencer told her they would calm the nervous system, but because reliable electricity and a functioning bulb were luxuries, not bedtime aids. Which only makes today’s sleep rituals feel a touch absurd: what was once a household inconvenience has somehow returned as self-care.
Long story short, dark showering is probably not something you want to rely on as your primary sleep aid. It may feel therapeutic, but if sitting in a dark, damp bathroom has become necessary to usher in a good night’s sleep, it may be time to speak to a sleep doctor.
What to do instead when sleep feels elusive
- Dim the lights an hour before bed to support your body’s natural wind-down process
- Keep your bedroom cool, quiet and as dark as possible
- Cut back on late-night scrolling and bright screen exposure
- Stick to a more consistent sleep and wake time, even on weekends
- Avoid caffeine too late in the day
- Keep bedtime rituals simple, calming and easy to repeat