Rethink Your Bias, and Fix Your Sleep With Some Morning Sun
Hi Folks! Connor and Nick here from Healthy Living With Nick and Connor. Thanks again for being on our email list, it means a lot, and we are excited to share our weekly email with you. We hope you enjoy it! Here is what we hope you take away from this one:
Recognize your bias, think about how you could be wrong, be open to new things, and new ways of thinking.
Morning sun may just be the best thing for your sleep at night.
Just start doing. If you are stuck on something, just start doing it. If you do that, you may figure it out, if you don’t, you never will.
Starter Mindset Tip: We all have bias
We all have biases, and they are unique to each individual based on their lives. These biases influence our decisions, our actions, our interests, and our motivations. We see what we want to see, we see what we expect to see, we see what we believe, and we often dismiss ideas and changes when they conflict with our beliefs and biases. How do we stop bias from halting our progress and allowing us to make changes or try new things? We become open-minded. When we learn something new that we inherently don’t believe or think could be true, instead of thinking about reasons why you are right, think about how you could be wrong. This is how you become open-minded, how you think like a scientist, how you open yourself up to make room for change.
Health Recipe: Fix Your Sleep: Say Good Morning to the Sun
Timing: 2-5 minutes or 30-60 minutes on a cloudy day
Level of Difficulty: Easy to do, you just have to take the time to do it
Serving Size: 3 mornings in a row to start, then make it happen as much as you can
Spice Level: Mild and energizing like a protein filled breakfast
INGREDIENTS
Just you and that big bright star up in the sky called the sun
REASONING AND BENEFITS
One of the main reasons a lot of us struggle with sleep is because our internal clocks are confused and have no idea what time of day it actually is. Luckily, there is a very easy fix. Your body relies on light exposure to figure out what time of day it is, with sunlight being the most important. The issue here is that we are spending more time indoors and not catching those sweet rays in the morning, and we are exposing ourselves to brighter and brighter artificial lights later in the evening, which means our bodies are not gearing up for sleep when they should. If you struggle with sleep, the first thing you should try is this: get outside in the morning and get some sunlight in your eyes without sunglasses—but please, do not look directly at the sun. This rising low angle sun is your best friend when it comes to sleep as it will wake up your body and set your internal clock called your circadian rhythm. Another essential thing for sleep is melatonin. Melatonin is a hormone produced in your brain in response to darkness. Morning sun will shut down your production of melatonin in the morning to wake you up, and it will also tell your body to get ready to release melatonin in 12-16 hours to get ready for sleep. Those are two essential and beneficial triggers that we receive from the sun. Doing this consistently for a minimum of only three days will help you reset your internal clock so your body will actually know when it is supposed to be gearing up for sleep. Let’s repeat that one more time, only three days of getting sunlight in your eyes when you wake up will help reset your internal clock to get better sleep at night. If you have trouble sleeping, don’t go to a pill or an expensive mattress first, go hang out with your new best friend; that low angle sun.
INSTRUCTIONS
When you wake up, go outside and let sunlight enter your eyes (without sunglasses).
If you wake up before the sun, turn bright lights on when you wake up, and go hang with the sun when it comes up.
Do not look directly at the sun, this will hurt, anything that hurts your eyes when looking at it is no good, don’t do it.
Get morning sunlight as early as you can, before 10 am. After 10 am you will start losing the waking and melatonin sleep prep benefits. Any sunlight is great for you, but the window of benefit for your sleep will have passed.
If the sun is very bright, 2-5 minutes may be all that you need, if it is very cloudy, stay outside longer if possible for 30-60 mins.
Viewing sunlight through a window is good, but it will not be enough to set your clock because windows block too much of those beneficial rays. Get outside.
PRO TIP: If you don’t have time in the morning to catch the sun before you go to work, roll down your car window and stick your head out the window like a dog, and soak in some rays.
*While you are getting your morning sun, do a little exercise to start the day even better. A walk, quick jog, some jumping jacks, skipping, or a body weight workout. Maximize the sleep benefit.
** If there is a day when you do not want to do a little movement with that morning sun, read a book or try a little meditation. Optimize your time, stack these positive behaviours in your life
*** If this is a habit you can incorporate into your daily life, or at least 80% of it, your sleep will greatly improve, and you will be well on your way to becoming a sleep master.
Dessert Quote:
“If you're stuck on a problem, don't sit there and think about it; just start working on it. Even if you don’t know what you’re doing, the simple act of working on it will eventually cause the right ideas to show up in your head… Action isn’t just the effect of motivation; it’s also the cause of it. Emotional Inspiration leads to motivation which leads to desirable action. Action - inspiration - Motivation.” Mark Manson, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F@#$
Now we want to hear from YOU! Please let us know what you think of today’s newsletter, and send us an example of how you applied the health recipe to your life! We would love to share how you introduced this week’s recipe into your life’s unique menu. Thanks and have a great Sunday!
Sources and Further Learning:
Learn more about bias with this book:
Grant, A. (2021). Think again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know. Random House.
Learn more about sleep with this amazing book:
Walker, M. (2017). Why we sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams. Simon and Schuster
Learn more about sleep and listen to this Podcast:
Huberman Lab Episode 2: Master Your Sleep and Be More Alert When Awake
Learn more about action:
Manson, M. (2016). The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life. HarperCollins.
