Importance of Morning Sunlight

Importance of Morning Sunlight

Getting sunlight in your eyes first thing in the morning is perhaps the most important thing that any and all of us can and should do in order to promote metabolism, promote the positive function of our hormone system, and get our mental health steering in the right direction. - AH

Your body has something called cortisol. It increases throughout the day, and starts going down (around afternoon) until the time you sleep. For this system to work, you need to get more cortisol in the morning. This'll help you fall asleep better at night, maintain high energy levels during the day, and avoid energy crashes.

How morning sunlight works:
Your eyes detect light.
They tell your circadian clock "hey i see light"
Clock tells body cells "hey, it's morning, please increase cortisol"
​Cortisol increases. Your body now understands that it needs to be energized and in 14-18 hours, it needs to go to sleep.

Also, 5 minutes of sunlight viewing at 6am is 10x better for the eyes than at 1 pm. So, without this 5 minutes of morning sunlight, your body is confused, and no wonder, energy levels and sleep get worse.

As a rule of thumb for the spring/summer, get 5-10 minutes in the first hour of waking up. These mere 5 minutes will win you time, productivity, and excitement for the rest of the day. Definitely worth it.

Guidelines for morning sunlight viewing: a) No sunglasses. Eyeglasses are fine. b) Can't be through window, glass door, etc. c) You shouldn't look directly at the sun and burn your eyes(🤦) d) Receptors are only in your eyes. You can simply look outside without going outside.

Later this week, I'll share how to make this convenient/habitual. For now, just don't forget to get morning sunlight ☀️.

Here's the in-depth explanation from the podcast.

P.S. If you're enjoying these, you're welcome to invite friends/family using this link.