Thank you for joining the Huberman Lab Neural Network — a once-a-month newsletter with science and science-related tools for everyday life. This newsletter aims to provide you with actionable information in a condensed form.
In Episode #68, I discuss how light directs a number of key aspects of our physiology to strongly impact our overall health and well-being. Light directly impacts our mood, our sleep, our ability to wake up and focus, our hormone levels, our immune system and our ability to cope with stress. Given that light has tremendous positive effects, this newsletter aims to outline zero-cost tools to harness the power of light to improve mental and physical health.
Morning Sunlight to Set Your Mind and Body Correctly
I consider viewing morning sunlight in the top five of all actions that support mental health, physical health and performance.
These are:
- Sleep
- Movement
- Nutrients (Macro and Micro)
- (Sun)Light
- Relationships
As regular listeners of Huberman Lab can attest, “View morning sunlight!” is one of my common refrains. Viewing sunlight within the first hours of waking (as soon as you can, even if through cloud cover) increases early-day cortisol release (the ideal time for elevated cortisol) and prepares the body for sleep later that night. A morning spike in cortisol will also positively influence your immune system, metabolism and ability to focus during the day.
Further, morning sunlight helps regulate your “circadian clock” — the body’s mechanism for anticipating when to wake up and go to sleep — and it manages other biological processes like hunger and body temperature.
On a sunny morning, get outside for 5-10 minutes. You can do more if you have time, and feel free to use the time outside to exercise, walk, eat a light breakfast or journal in the sunlight. Even on overcast days, there is still enough sunlight to trigger positive effects, but you’ll need to increase the time outside to at least 15-20 minutes. If it’s dark when you wake up or if the weather prevents you from going outside, flip on as many bright indoor artificial lights as possible — then get outside as soon as the sun is out.
Contacts and eyeglasses (even those with UV protection) are fine to wear when viewing morning sunlight. However, don’t use sunglasses or blue blockers during morning sunlight-viewing — you won’t get the maximum effects from the morning sunlight. Face toward the sun. As always, never look directly at the sun or view the sun (or any light) in a way that causes pain; just close your eyes and blink as needed to protect your eyes. Note: trying to do all this through a windshield or window won’t work; too many of the relevant wavelengths are filtered out.
