Morning light: how to reset your body clock and sleep better
Ten minutes outdoors in the morning may do more for your sleep than an expensive pillow. Here is how circadian rhythms work and how to use light to your advantage.
Your brain has its own "clock" — a group of cells that sets the rhythm of sleep and wakefulness, body temperature, appetite and hormone release. This clock does not run at exactly 24 hours, so it needs adjusting every day. The main signal for that is light.
Why do you need as much light as possible in the morning?
Bright light in the first hours after waking tells the brain that the day has begun. In the evening this helps you feel sleepy earlier and fall asleep more easily. Even on a cloudy day there is many times more light outdoors than in a room with a lamp.
- Go outside within the first hour after getting up for at least 10–15 minutes.
- Combine it with a walk and you also get some light exercise (see "Walking: the most underrated exercise").
- Have breakfast by a window rather than in a dark kitchen.
How does evening light keep you from falling asleep?
Bright cold light late in the evening tells the clock "it is still daytime" and delays sleep. An hour or two before bed switch to warm, dim light, turn on night mode on your screens — or better, put the phone away.
Who needs a light routine the most?
People who work in an office and hardly go outside during the day; frequent flyers who cross time zones — for them light becomes the main tool against jet lag; and older people: sensitivity to light declines with age and the routine "blurs".
A good morning is light, water and a filling breakfast. Together they set the rhythm for the whole day.
You can add the Cellergize Morning drink with vitamins and amino acids or caffeine-free Energy Enhancer patches to your morning routine. And for the evening, when the lights are dimmed, LifeWave has the Silent Nights patch to help you relax before sleep.