The Benefits of Early Morning Sunlight

The Benefits of Morning Sunlight & How to Make it a Habit

Light exposure regulates your circadian rhythm — your body’s internal clock.
Sunlight in the morning, preferably in the first 30 to 60 minutes after waking, has been shown to increase alertness, boost mood, lower stress, and improve sleep quality.
Oura members can tag “morning sunlight” to see the effects of it on their daily Sleep Score and Readiness Score.

It may sound too good to be true, but sunlight first thing in the morning may be a game-changer for your health.

Not only does morning sunlight boost your energy levels, but it may also improve your sleep at night. And some science suggests that there are plenty of benefits of morning sun exposure that can improve your overall health as well.

One reason: Your circadian rhythm is regulated by light exposure, and intentionally viewing morning sunlight prepares your body and mind for the day ahead. The best part? It’s free, accessible, and research-backed.

Member Tip: To measure the effect of light exposure on your sleep, use Oura’s Tags feature to track habits like morning sunlight, evening sunlight, or a sunlight alarm.

Does Sunlight Wake You Up? Understand the Role of Light on Circadian Rhythm

Your circadian rhythm is your body’s 24-hour internal clock. It’s modulated by biological processes, such as hormones, that respond to external cues. The most influential cue is light exposure. Humans are designed to wake when the sun rises and sleep when it sets.

In other words, before clocks were invented, this internal response to light was the primary timekeeping mechanism. In your brain, light-sensitive cells in your eyes transmit signals to the brain’s suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), which is the central pacemaker of your internal body clock.

Your body is most sensitive to light during three times of day: roughly the first hour after waking, two hours before your bedtime, and during the night. You can leverage these three phases of daylight as a way to regulate your circadian rhythm.

In the natural environment, the visible spectrum of light changes throughout the day. To synchronize your internal rhythm, you can mimic this by using or limiting artificial lights that mirror the naturally occurring light spectrum.

Time of day	Type of light	Examples
Morning	White or blue	Morning sunlight, LED lights, fluorescent lights, screens
Afternoon	Yellow and orange	Sunlight when it’s lower in the sky, orange light bulbs, lamps
Evening	Red or darkness	Red light bulbs, candles, blackout blinds, eye masks

3 Benefits of Morning Sunlight

1. Morning sunlight can help you wake up.

In the morning, sunlight exposure suppresses melatonin and increases cortisol. While cortisol gets a bad rap, it’s essential for feeling alert in the morning. This is known as the cortisol-awakening response. In fact, studies have found that low waking cortisol levels are associated with fatigue.

On the other hand, levels of melatonin, a sleep-inducing hormone, are low in the morning, then steadily rise throughout the day and peak in the middle of the night. When melatonin levels remain higher in the morning, it can make waking up difficult. This tends to happen more in winter, when mornings are darker.

2. Morning sunlight can improve your sleep quality.

By regulating your circadian rhythm, sunlight can improve your sleep. In the morning, sunlight suppresses melatonin to help cut out sleepiness. Then, as melatonin rises, you start to feel tired in the evening, helping you to fall asleep more easily. In fact, studies have found that daylight exposure increases sleep duration, improves sleep quality, and aids in getting to sleep earlier.

Plus, when you get sunlight exposure in the afternoon, you’re exposed to yellow and orange light, corresponding to the position of the sun in the sky. These particular wavelengths consolidate your circadian timing, signaling to your brain that it’s time to start slowing down.

Member Tip: To understand how long it took you to fall asleep last night, take a look at your Sleep Latency, one of the contributors to your Sleep Score. Ideally, you want to fall asleep within 10 to 20 minutes of your head hitting the pillow.

3. Morning sunlight can boost your mood and lower stress.

Morning sunlight can increase cortisol, the stress hormone. But ironically, this small stress spike can actually lower stress levels for the rest of the day. This is a type of hormetic stressor, a beneficial stressor that can make you more resilient to stress.

Alongside a cortisol increase, morning sunlight initiates a cascade of positive changes associated with better mood and mental clarity, including an increase in serotonin. Serotonin is a feel-good chemical that boosts your mood, and later, converts to melatonin.

Studies have also found that morning blue light has an antidepressant effect and can be used as a treatment for seasonal affective disorder.

Member Spotlight: When we asked Oura members for their most effective ways to improve their heart rate variability (HRV), sun exposure consistently cropped up.

Additional Benefits

Sun exposure is associated with a range of additional benefits:

It can boost the body’s vitamin D supply.
It can treat certain skin conditions like eczema.
It can improve symptoms of depression or other mental health conditions.
It can improve cognitive function.
It may regulate appetite.

The Benefits of Morning Sunlight & Dementia – Search Videos

As the weather warms and the days grow longer, it may be a good idea to take a loved one with Alzheimer’s disease outdoors for a walk. A new analysis found that exposure to bright light may help to improve memory and thinking skills in people with dementia.

For the study, researchers pooled results from 12 high-quality studies that looked at the effects of light therapy, or exposure to bright, simulated daytime sunlight, on people with dementia. Light therapy is commonly used for people with seasonal affective disorder, which causes the onset of depression during the winter months when the days grow short and sunlight diminishes. Exposure to bright UV light via light boxes for an hour or so several times a week is known to boost mood and promote sound sleep in people with seasonal affective disorder.

This analysis looked at 766 men and women with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia who had participated in various studies of light therapy. Most were in their 70s or 80s. Among the study groups, 426 had been randomly assigned to undergo light therapy, while the remainder served as controls. Light therapy sessions typically lasted from several minutes to up to two hours, and from a couple times a day to up to five times a week.

The analysis, published in the journal Brain and Behavior, found that those who had light therapy tended to score higher on tests of memory and thinking skills.

Exposure to bright light “improved cognitive function in patients with dementia,” the authors wrote. “This suggests that phototherapy may be one of the most promising non-pharmacological interventions for improving core symptoms of dementia.”

While light therapy seemed to provide a cognitive boost, it did not seem to have a significant effect on behavioral issues related to Alzheimer’s disease. Such symptoms include aggression, depression, wandering, asking the same question over and over, and other behavioral or psychological problems. There was some suggestion that light therapy might help to ease agitation in people with dementia, though the effects were not statistically significant. Light therapy also did not seem to have a significant effect on sleep.

Earlier research has suggested that light therapy, in various forms, can provide benefits for people with Alzheimer’s disease, including easing agitation and symptoms of depression. Light therapy is also far safer than antipsychotic drugs, which are often prescribed to people with Alzheimer’s to ease agitation and aggression but which can have serious side effects.

Similarly, spending more time outdoors getting natural sunlight may also have benefits for people with Alzheimer’s disease. Exposure to bright light early in the morning might be particularly beneficial to signal to the brain that the night is over, helping to reset the brain’s natural circadian rhythms.

Experts recommend that those with Alzheimer’s have regular exposure to natural light in their homes during the day and go outside whenever possible. If you’re caring for someone with Alzheimer’s, take them out during the day for a walk, or allow them to sit outdoors in the sunlight. Try to bring more natural sunlight into rooms where people with Alzheimer’s spend their time. If getting outdoors is difficult, use bright indoor lamps that use natural sunlight-simulating bulbs.

By ALZinfo.org, The Alzheimer’s Information Site. Reviewed by Eric Schmidt, Ph.D., Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation at The Rockefeller University.

Xinlian Lu, Chengyu Liu, Feng Shao:“Phototherapy Improves Cognitive Function in Dementia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.” Brain and Behavior, April 5, 2023

Source: Let the Sunshine In – Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation

However, it remains uncertain whether brief exposure in the morning is sufficient to trigger these positive effects.

5 Tips to Get More Sunlight in the Morning (Even In Winter!)

To get sunlight in the late afternoon, which can help set up your body to release melatonin before bedtime.

Immediately open your blinds or curtains. As soon as you’re awake, bring as much light as possible into your environment.
Start with 5 minutes. Stanford neuroscientist Andrew Huberman, PhD, advises getting 5 to 10 minutes of sun exposure on a sunny morning, and 15 to 20 minutes on a cloudy day. On dark mornings with inadequate light, turn on as many bright indoor lights as you can to mimic the effect.
Get sunlight first thing in the morning, within 30 to 60 minutes of waking. Huberman recommends getting your morning sunlight within this time frame. He also suggests repeating this protocol in the late afternoon for orange/yellow light exposure to trigger the release of melatonin.
Consider using a sunlight alarm or go au naturale. Early risers can try leaving their blinds or curtains open at night to wake up naturally at sunrise (unless you have light outside your windows at night, which can disturb your sleep). Also, during the shorter winter months, there may not be enough morning light to wake you up. Sunlight alarms are good alternatives, mimicking sunrise at your chosen time.
Take your daily habits outside. Try to “stack” your habits so that you can do multiple things at once. For instance, take your morning work call or drink your first cup of coffee outside. Whether you’re stretching, journaling, or eating breakfast, try to take it outdoors to make the most of it.

Kandi Burruss Reveals Her Aunt Bertha of ‘Old Lady Gang’ Has Alzheimer’s

The Benefits of Morning Sunlight & Dementia – Search Videos

FAQs About Sunlight in the Morning

What are the benefits of morning sunlight?

The benefits of morning sunlight include improved alertness, better sleep quality, reduced stress, and boosted mood. Research also shows that early morning sunlight benefits your circadian rhythm, helping your body know when to wake up and when to wind down at night.

Does sunlight wake you up?

Yes — sunlight first thing in the morning helps suppress melatonin and increase cortisol, both of which signal to your body that it’s time to be alert. This is why many people notice that getting sunlight in the morning helps them feel more awake and energized.

How much morning sunlight do you need?

Experts suggest aiming for 5–20 minutes of sunlight in the morning depending on the weather. On bright days, 5–10 minutes may be enough, while cloudy days may require closer to 20 minutes. If you’re wondering how much morning sunlight is ideal, consistency matters more than perfection.

Why is sunlight in the morning important for sleep?

One of the key morning sun benefits is better sleep at night. Morning light helps regulate your circadian rhythm, so melatonin rises naturally in the evening. This makes it easier to fall asleep and stay asleep.

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