How Getting Sunlight in the Morning Can Help You Sleep Better

Getting exposure to sunlight in the morning can help you sleep at night because it helps reset your body's inner "sleep clock." Light is an important cue for your body’s sleep cycle. The light you are exposed to during the day helps your body figure out when it’s time to go to bed (and when it’s time to wake up).

Exposing yourself to light for its health and sleep benefits is called light therapy. If you have a sleep disorder, getting light early in the day can even be part of your treatment plan. Natural sunlight is the most potent form of light therapy, but light boxes that emit artificial light can be helpful alternatives for those unable to get outside in direct sunlight each morning.

This article goes over how you can use light therapy in the morning to help you feel more ready for bed in the evening.

Why Sunlight Helps You Sleep

Sunlight affects your sleep because it affects your body and its natural rhythms. Your circadian clock, an internally driven 24-hour cycle that help to set your sleep/wake cycle, is most sensitive to light at the following times:

• About one hour after waking up in the morning
• About two hours before your bedtime
• Throughout the night

When you get bright light in the morning it can help you feel more alert during the day and has a later effect that helps you to feel sleepy in the evening and fall asleep earlier.

However, if you are exposed to bright light within two hours of your bedtime, it can make you less sleepy and fall asleep later.

A Word From Verywell

Studies have found that daylight exposure increases sleep duration and improves sleep quality. Sunshine may play a role in regulating hormones, your body's internal clock (circadian rhythm), and sleep patterns by affecting the melatonin secretion in the evening hours prior to bedtime.

— SMITA PATEL, DO, MEDICAL EXPERT BOARD

How Sunlight Affects Your Body

Some ways that sunlight affects your body include:

• Being in the sun warms you up. Your body temperature also changes when you sleep.
• First thing in the morning, your body makes a stress hormone called cortisol. Having too much of this hormone at night can keep you awake.
• Sunlight helps your body make a brain chemical called serotonin that plays an important role in your well-being.

Your body senses when it's daytime and when it's nighttime by being exposed to light. If you didn't get cues from light, your body would run on a pattern that is set by your genetics called tau.

The problem with tau is that it does not always exactly match the 24-hour day. Over time, day-to-day differences add up.

Society also relies on light cues. For example:

• Many businesses open in the morning and close at night
• Kids leave for school in the morning and get home in the afternoon
• Some people work a "9-to-5" schedule at their job

Light Therapy for Sleep Disorders

The cycle of your sleep is a key part of your circadian rhythm. If something goes wrong with your circadian rhythm, it affects your sleep and can result in a sleep disorder.

Getting light in the morning can help with certain sleep disorders:

• Delayed sleep phase syndrome in which you go to sleep late and wake up late
• Insomnia, or an inability to get enough sleep

Those with delayed sleep phase syndrome or insomnia may find that using light therapy, also called phototherapy, to start the day improves their sleep patterns.

Taking a melatonin supplement may also help people regulate their sleep patterns. The hormone is naturally made by the brain and tells your body when it's time to go to sleep and time to wake up.

Light Therapy for Conditions that Affect Sleep

Research has shown that light therapy can also help people with certain medical conditions that affect their sleep, including:

• Dementia and Alzheimer's disease
• Parkinson's disease
• Depression
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Seasonal affective disorder (SAD)
  

Natural Light vs. Light Boxes

The type of light you get matters as much as when you get it. For example, artificial light inside a building does not have the same effect as unfiltered sunlight.

Artificial light boxes act like sunlight. However, they are not the same. The intensity of the sun's light is 100,000 lux. A light box can produce about 10,000 lux or less.

A light box can cost several hundred dollars. If you're able to go outside, you can get sunlight for free. While it might be cheaper, some people don't have the chance to get real sunlight.

For example, you might work at night or have to get up before sunrise. You might have to avoid the sun because of a medical condition or treatment. You may live in a region with limited direct sunlight, particularly in winter. In these cases, a light box could be a way to get the benefits of light therapy.

How to Use Morning Light Therapy

You'll get the most benefit from sunlight if you can get it first thing in the morning. Try to get outside in the first hour after you wake up.

Spend 30 to 45 minutes in direct sunlight. Don't wear a sun visor or sunglasses. If the light is filtered, it won't have the same effect.

Sunlight is less intense first thing in the morning. It can still damage your skin, but not as much as it would later in the day. Wearing sunscreen can help keep your skin safe as you soak up the morning light.

How to Get More Early Light

Taking a walk first thing in the morning gets you sunlight and exercise at the same time. If you have a porch or patio, you could have your breakfast outside. Just make sure the sun is getting on you (don't sit under an umbrella or awning).

If the day is overcast and cloudy, you can still get sunshine. Light from the sun that's filtered through clouds or rain can still have positive effects.

Once you figure out what works, stick to a regular schedule. Waking up at the same time every day and getting morning sunlight is a good combination.

You might not be able to keep the routine all the time, but do your best to find ways to include light therapy of some kind in your day.

You can get a little bit of sun by opening the windows at home or in your car when the weather is nice.

Summary

Getting sunlight when you first wake up in the morning can help you sleep better at night. There are different ways to get more light early in the day. Going outside in the sun is free, but you can also buy special lamps to do light therapy inside.