Step into Mother Nature’s information highway

Light plays such a massive role in the quality of our health.  Light helps signal to our brain it's the morning it locks in our circadian rhythm which controls the release of hormones, not just in the morning but throughout the day.

 Light interacts with our body through our skin when it hits the receptors in our skin and also when it enters our eyes, which are the two ways that our body receives information from light. You got it… Light is information of the highest order. Getting our body into a state where we can receive that light does powerful things for our body and allows us to stay in a state of homeostasis. Light literally tells our body what to do when to do it.

Rise + Shine

Getting out in that early morning light and getting as much of your body exposed to that sunlight is vital. It tells our body to release hormones and syncs up our day. It tells our body, hey, maybe it's time for digestion. Sunlight powers up the release of serotonin to the brain because our brain is receiving information that it's morning time and that its time to wake up and be stimulated. 

Sleepy Time

In the evening, light plays just as an important role in helping us wind down for sleep. If we're out in nature, the last colour we see from the sun is red; and that tells our brain it's time to relax and it's time to start to release melatonin, one of the most important chemicals that leads to a good quality sleep. If we interrupt that balance by incorporating lots of unnatural lights at the end of the day that's literally telling our body it's daytime, so I'm not going to set my brain up for sleep, but instead remain stimulated and awake.  

The dreaded scroll

The same with device screens – if I'm looking at a phone or a computer screen or a TV screen before bed, research shows that one hour of screen viewing delays release of melatonin by three hours in the brain.  That night time scrolling habit on the ‘Gram or TikTok around 8 or 9 PM is going to delay the release of melatonin to midnight. It’s no wonder when we're going to bed that we just sit there awake because we've been stimulating our brain into thinking it's daytime. The best way to stimulate melatonin is to just not use screens in the evening but simple things like turning off half the lights in the house means it's going to replicate outside or even switching over to ‘dark mode’ on your phone will help. Ever wondered why, when we're out in nature camping, we always feel tired earlier? That's because our bodies have synced up with the natural rhythm of earth and sun.

Step into nature

Light plays a massive role on our body and being aware of light and the effects it can have, both positively and negatively, will allow us to thrive in a more balanced way. It will allow us to sleep better and allow us to feel more energised in the morning.  If you work indoors all day, get out every couple hours, and get some sun on your skin. This will allow your brain to sync up with the natural rhythm of the earth and the sun; if your circumstances don’t allow for that simply get by a window to get some of that magical sunlight. Take a late afternoon walk if you can… bathe in the twilight and allow it to support melatonin.  We are all looking at ways to improve our health so if you can – choose to use Mother Nature’s best information highway and see how it benefits your sense of wellbeing.