Day Three Challenge: Catch the Sunrise
Welcome to day three of our Healthy Foundations Challenge!
Good morning, today we will be focusing on how to get a better night’s sleep. By being rest focused we will start bright and early, because believe it or not, a good night’s rest starts in the morning.
Getting your circadian rhythms timed right is the goal for today. Natural light is nature’s perfect tool. Based on light, your body is designed to release specific hormones as specific times in a 24-hour period. This helps to control many systems in your body like your digestion and metabolism for example. Light exposure signals a part of the brain to “wake up” and not just for your eyes to open, but to rev up your body’s systems. Equally as important is to reduce your light exposure in the evenings (more on that in a future challenge). Without the advancement of technology in electricity, when the sun went down, we would naturally go to bed (unless we lit a candle to stay up a bit longer). In today’s world, it’s up to us to prioritize sleep and that means to pay attention to the light we expose ourselves to.
For today’s challenge, you’ll be heading outside in the morning (anytime between the hours of 6:00am and 9:00 am). Leave the sunglasses inside, you’ll want the light to hit your eyes and shine all around you.
If you find yourself waking up to a rainy/snowy day (or maybe you’re reading this after prime time morning sun), make note of this challenge to do this on a more sunny morning. You’ve now soaked up the info, but I want you to soak up some of that morning light to reap the benefits when it’s time to go to sleep.
Why is it important to focus on our sleep?
Sleep is probably the most under rated area of our health to work on. It doesn’t get enough attention that it deserves. We will give it more attention right here and continue with ways to improve our sleep during this challenge (sleep hacks, who doesn’t want more of those?). Stay committed to these daily micro challenges and you’ll be amazed at how much your sleep improves.
Here are just a few of the health benefits that adequate rest provides:
A stronger immune system response.
Anti-aging and important for skin health.
Helps with balancing hormones.
Lowers levels of inflammation in the body.
Better memory and focus.
The list literally goes on and on.
Today, enjoy taking in that sunrise and morning sunlight. Breathe it in. Watch how the rays look golden and shine. Nature is beautiful. Take notice this morning and press pause on the moment. Capture it in a photo (tag me on social if you do @holisticspark).
This habit has become one of my favorite things to do in the morning and a peaceful way to begin the day. Just as peaceful tho is the way this will impact your sleep when your head hits the pillow. Give it a try. I want to know how much better you sleep tonight.
Sweet dreams.