Rise and shine: Unlock the powerful health benefits of morning sunlight
Morning sunlight offers a host of health benefits that can significantly enhance overall well-being, including regulating the body’s circadian rhythm, improving sleep quality, boosting mood and lowering stress.
Regulating your circadian clock
The circadian clock is the body’s natural mechanism for anticipating when to wake up and go to sleep as well as managing other biological processes such as hunger and body temperature. Viewing sunlight within the first couple of hours of waking (or as soon as you can), suppresses melatonin and increases cortisol, which, in the morning is essential for feeling alert. Elevated cortisol in the morning has a positive effect on your immune system, metabolism and focus.
Improved sleep quality
The suppression of melatonin in the morning due to sunlight exposure, helps combat fatigue. It also prepares the body for sleep that night. Melatonin then rises throughout the day, helping your sleep patterns. Afternoon exposure to sunlight won’t affect your sleep, as it’s yellow and orange light, corresponding to the position of the sun in the sky and these particular wavelengths talk to your circadian clock, signalling to your brain it’s time to start slowing down.
Boost mood and lower stress
Although morning sunlight increases cortisol, known as the stress hormone, this small stress spike actually lowers stress levels for the rest of the day, making you more resilient to stress. Morning sunlight also sees a boost in serotonin, a feel-good hormone which elevates mood. The blue light of the morning has also been found to lower depression.
5 tips to let the light shine:
Open your curtains/blinds as soon as you wake up.
Get sunlight within 30-60 minutes of waking for optimum benefit.
On a sunny morning, go outside for 5-10 minutes. On overcast days, increase to 15-20 minutes.
On dark or rainy mornings, or in the winter months when mornings are darker, turn on as many bright lights as possible.
Take some morning habits outside - Eat your breakfast, have a cup of coffee, check your emails or just soak up the sun.