The Simplest Habit to Upgrade your Sleep & its FREE !!
Morning Light Exposure – The Simplest Habit to Master Your Sleep
When you think about improving your sleep, you probably start at the end of the day with bedtime rituals: a calming tea, relaxing stretches or melatonin supplements. Maybe you have even tried mouth taping (yes I am a mouth taper too!!!) or sleeping apps or frequency devices (vagus nerve stimulation is the newest hype).
But one of the most powerful and FREE modalities is often overlooked:
Early morning natural light exposure !
I’m not talking about getting outside “whenever”. Human biology reacts to specific light frequencies at a specific time. Early morning light sets your circadian rhythm – your body’s internal clock – so your brain knows when to stop melatonin production in the morning and start it again at night roughly about 12h later. And the good news is, a consistent 15 minutes of morning light can reset your whole hormonal system.
Why Morning Light ?
Special cells in your eyes detect certain blue light and UVA frequencies and tell your brain’s master clock in the hypothalamus: “The day has begun.” However, what most people don’t have on the radar is that natural light needs to reach your retina, which can only efficiently happen without sunglasses, windows, or glasses blocking the signal. You don’t look directly in the sun (this would be dangerous), instead you turn your head towards light.
Timing matters: The earlier you get light, the stronger the signal. Within minutes of sunrise, blue light begins to shift your hormones. About 30–90 minutes later, UVA light strengthens the signal, boosting cortisol, dopamine, and serotonin while priming your skin and metabolism for the day and the later UVB light exposure (Vitamin D synthesis gets much more efficient !!).
My Personal Wake Up Call
When I moved back from Singapore to Germany, I felt the darker mornings destroy my very stable sleep naturally established in Asia through a lot of light exposure. That’s when I dove into circadian biology. I stopped checking my phone first thing in the morning and instead went outside – even under grey skies. Sometimes it was 10 minutes on my balcony with my morning matcha, sometimes a 20min walk in nature. Within weeks, my deep sleep returned and I felt much more like myself again.
Why You Already Know This Works
Think of how you sleep on a beach vacation or during a summer camp as a kid: you are outside in nature all day, syncing with the sun. Your circadian clock runs perfectly. Studies confirm that even one single weekend outdoors can reset your sleep-wake rhythm to improve your sleep, mood, energy and performance.
How You Can Fit It In Your Busy Schedule?
•Drink your coffee or tea outside in the morning (10 min)
•Walk, cycle, or take your kids to school (20–30 min)
•Stack it onto habits you already have – just do them outside !
If nothing else has worked to improve your sleep, start with natural light – build on this basic principle and put everything else you have learned about a good night’s sleep on top.
And don’t forget: the flip side matters too. Dim lights and screens at night, so your melatonin can do its job. But I’ll get to that later …
