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We are more dependent on light than one think in everyday life. There is a circadian rhythm in the body that is controlled by light. A rhythm that affects down to the cell level and is easily disturbed when daylight intake becomes too small. Research has shown that, among other things, sleep disorders can be reduced by camping and allowing the body to adapt to natural light and darkness.

Sleep researchers from Sweden and the US let people with sleep disorders camp completely without artificial light for a while. Already after a couple of days, the body had adapted to the biological circadian rhythm that is controlled by daylight. Sunlight contributes to the cortisol level in the body rising during the morning and decreasing later in the day. The content of the hormone melatonin, which causes feelings of fatigue, increases when daylight decreases and is at its highest at night. These hormones control how the cells in the body function and we feel good when they function as intended.

In today's society with light, sound, noise and constant connection, we are influenced by the environment in more ways than we can imagine. Many have not understood that the body's cells feel worse and do not function optimally when we are exposed to and expose ourselves to the blue and white light that the body interprets as daylight. Our bodies still function as when humans lived in caves, hunting and gathering their food every day and protecting themselves from wildlife. Our cells are still programmed to function according to a circadian rhythm outdoors and with daylight as the light source.

What the researchers managed to see is that the people who participated in the sleep study and camped without artificial light, were morning people when they returned to their everyday lives. They had adjusted to a life that follows the light of day. The advice from John Axelsson, professor of sleep science at Stockholm University, is that if you have difficulty falling asleep in the evening, you should be out for at least an hour in the morning and if you wake up late at night to not be able to fall asleep again, you should be out in the afternoon and the evening. Or camp without artificial light for a while to give the body a chance to adjust.

Circadian rhythm Tentipi light by fire sleep well blogLena Bjelfman dog fire light evening camping blog Tentipi

But how does it really work for modern people?

We, who live far from the equator and have varied lengths of days and nights, are more affected by daylight or the absence of daylight than those who live where day and night are about the same length. Man has not changed at the cellular level, to live with this change, but needs to take all the tricks one can find to counteract depression and unwanted effects of more or less light than we can actually handle.

dog sled snow Lena Bjelfman Tentipi light sun blogOne piece of advice is to be outside during the bright part of the day, preferably during the first hours when you wake up. You feel good to be out as much as possible, but need at least an hour, according to the researchers.

During the winter, the National Health Service recommends that we eat a supplement of vitamin D. Vitamin D is produced in the skin when it is exposed to sunlight and the vitamin participates in the process of absorbing calcium from food. The skeleton and the immune system are negatively affected when the vitamin D levels is too low.

Tentipi encourages everyone who can, to be out camping to take advantage of the natural light and when darkness falls be together around the fire in the middle of the tent. The caveman in us slows down and enjoys sitting and talking, listening and telling stories around the warm and safe fire. The body calms down, the melatonin levels rise and when the fatigue comes, it is cosy to lie and watch the last embers burn out, listen to the sounds of nature and look forward to a good night's sleep. It often takes a couple of days and nights for the body to get used to sleeping in a tent, so do not give up after the first attempt.

Lena Bjelfman, who is responsible for finances and production at Tentipi and lives in Moskosel in Lapland in the north of Sweden, knows what it is like to live with short days during the winter.

– Despite the darkness, you can drive a dog sled without a headlamp when there is snow and moonlight. It is important to take advantage of what can be done and try to keep away the thoughts of what is not possible.

– And we need to eat vitamins D because we do not get enough sunlight during the winter, Lena says.

Moon dog sled Lena Bjelfman sky light blogLena Bjelfman Tentipi sled dogs night dark light blog snow

Thank you, Lena Bjelfman, for the images.

 
 
 

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It was the first day of the trip, adventurer Mike Fuchs and his friend Eric Folz had just a couple of hours before been dropped off as far north as they could possibly come in Svalbard when they saw them. Two polar bears, one mother and its cub. A situation that could become deadly if the bears decided to have a closer look on their new visitors.

“I know how protective the mothers can be of their cubs. We had to set up our camp in a place that provided a good overview of the location so we could spend the night bear watching. It was both a scary feeling seeing them so early into our trip, but it was also very fascinating”, says Mike Fuchs.

Wouldn't it be exciting to spend the night right in the middle of a zoo? – That is exactly what you can do at Skånes Djurpark, a wildlife park in southern Sweden. At their campsite, Camp Oak, you stay in the park after it closes and will make yourself at home in a Nordic tipi from Tentipi. When the night comes you might just fall asleep to the wolves’ howls.

Skånes Djurpark is a Wildlife Park with a long history, it dates back to 1952. It focuses on animals from the Nordic area and has always lived by the ruling with “no animals in cages”. The animals live in large paddocks that recreates the animals’ natural environments.

Lennart Pittja is a Sámi entrepreneur with a mission: with his world-renowned eco-tourism company he wants to spread the knowledge about his people – the Sami, indigenous of northern Scandinavia and Russia. With over 20 years of experience as a wildlife guide and nature photographer in the arctic region he started Sápmi Nature Camp. Where his guests stay in Nordic tipis from Tentipi on his reindeer herding land outside of Gällivare, in northern Sweden.

At Sapmi Nature camp you can experience real winter, see the northern lights, eat traditional Sami food, and have a cultural exchange in a genuine atmosphere. The scenic location has gained attraction from around the world. In 2017 it was listed by National Geographic as one of the top 21 places in the world to visit if you care about the planet.

Prepare before setting out for winter camping. Here are nine tips and tricks from Tentipi about what you need to think of before you go: the right tent for winter camping, how to pack the snow, comfort in snow, which tent pegs to use, where to pitch the tent, about snow weight, what heat sources can be combined with the tent, how to make a fire safely and other equipment.

Choose tents according to occasion, different tent types work differently at winter camping. When it’s icy, the tent needs to be more robust than a tent which is exclusively used in summer. The tent frame needs to withstand a certain amount of snow and functional ventilation is important. If you want to use a heat source, for example a fireplace or a stove, the tent needs to have ventilation openings both at ground level and at the top.  Without a heat source, a smaller tent is preferable, as it heats up faster when the air volume is smaller.

A tent from Tentipi is a Nordic tipi and the tent has eight or nine sides, if it is not the smallest that has six sides. In the smallest tent you can stand straight if you are less than 160 centimetres long and in the largest you can get together several thousand people. The tent is versatile in more ways. Continue to read to see why these tents are so flexible and adaptable. This blog post is about the smaller tents in Tentipi's range, tents used by adventurers, families, hikers and others who want to live close to nature for a shorter or longer period of time.

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