Light is a powerful stimulus for our mental and physical health.  Light controls when we are asleep and when we are alert. Lights directly affect how our nervous system functions.

Light affects your sleep and your energy levels


Caffeine creates wakefulness in the body and brain. It also increases the sensitivity of the dopamine receptors.<ul><li>It makes us more motivated to go out and pursue goals.</li><li>It makes us focus on things outside our immediate experience.</li></ul>However, try and taper off caffeine toward the afternoon for better sleep.

Caffeine boosts adenosine

The Basal ganglia are important for controlling and integrating thought and action. Some of the circuitry in basal ganglia pathways are involved with the “go” action and “no-go” suppressing functions. As children, we learn no-go behaviours (don’t interrupt, sit still). As adults, everything is “go, go, go” and we seldom rehearse the no-go functions.  We need to continue to keep the no-goes circuits in working order., e.g. resisting the urge to pick up your phone.

Tips to control bad impulses

Ideally, you should sleep in a cold room and cover yourself with warm blankets. If you get too hot, you can jump heat by extending your feet or hands. Take a cold shower or ice bath to heat up in the morning. You will experience a dopamine increase. When you expose yourself to cold water, you build a reservoir of heat generation.

Temperature is an important stimulus for wakefulness

Wake up, go outside and get 5 - 20 minutes of bright light exposure. 	If you get up before sunlight, use bright artificial lights.  The aim is to get as much bright light during the day and as little as possible between 10 PM and 4 AM. This will have enormous physical and mental health benefits. Bright light exposure through windows or windshields doesn’t work as they filter the light that activates your neutrons. Blue light is great to create alertness and well-being throughout the day.

The best way to get sunlight exposure

Your peak of alertness happens about 90 minutes before your natural sleep time. While it will pass, it can give you a useful indicator of your optimal bedtime. Before bedtime:<ul><li>Taper off thinking and anticipation.</li><li>Non-sleep deep rest (NSDR) is a powerful tool that helps you relax, and reduce stress and anxiety. </li><li>Yoga Nidra and Reveri (a self-hypnosis app) can help you relax your nervous system before you go to sleep.</li></ul>

Evening routine

Behavioural tools are the foundation of sleep and wakefulness. When you learn progressive relaxation techniques, you get better at falling asleep and feeling alert when you wake up.Supplements and prescription medication can be great, but they don’t rewire your brain as behavioural tools do. Supplements that can help with depth and transition to sleep:<ul><li>Magnesium threonate or magnesium bis-glycinate (100 to 200 milligrams)) makes you feel drowsy.</li><li>Apigenin (50 milligrams) is taken 30 - 60 minutes before sleep.</li><li>Theanine (100 to 400 milligrams) has positive effects on jitteriness and anxiety.</li></ul>

Behavioural tools before medication and supplements

The two most common reasons for waking up at night:<ul><li>Too much or too little exercise throughout the day. Generally, 150 to 180 minutes per week of zone 2 cardio and resistance exercise 3 or 4 times a week is sufficient.</li><li>Going to bed too late. Every hour of sleep before midnight recharges you deeper than the hours after midnight.</li></ul>

Why people wake up in the middle of the night

Naps should be shorter than 90 minutes. Most of the rewiring and neuroplasticity occurs during deep sleep and also during a short nap. Short naps accelerate neuroplasticity and learning, especially if you nap after an intensive learning session. If you have problems with the afternoon slump, delay your morning caffeine for 90 to 120 minutes after waking.

The short nap

Cortisol is a key hormone for health. Every 24 hours there is a peak cortisol release. This wakes you up in the morning and gives you focus. If you wake up early, you will get a peak early in the day. But when cortisol arrives later in the day, people get mood issues. Late-shifted cortisol is also contributing to depression.

Cortisol in the body

Dr. Andrew Huberman explains how small behaviours can make a huge impact on your health. 

 Leading neuroscientist and Stanford University School of Medicine professor Dr. Andrew Huberman goes in-depth on how small behaviors can make a huge impact on your health.  Dr. Huberman offers essential insights into how light affects your sleep and your energy levels, which supplements actually work, tips to control bad impulses, exercises to slow the aging process, and so much more.   Dr. Huberman has made numerous significant contributions to the fields of brain development, brain function and neural plasticity, which is the ability of our nervous system to rewire and learn new behaviors, skills and cognitive functioning. Huberman is a McKnight Foundation and Pew Foundation Fellow and was awarded the Cogan Award in 2017, given to the scientist making the most significant discoveries in the study of vision. His lab’s most recent work focuses on the influence of vision and respiration on human performance and brain states, such as fear and courage.    --  Want even more? Members get early access, hand-edited transcripts, member-only episodes, and so much more. Learn more here: https://fs.blog/membership/ Every Sunday our Brain Food newsletter shares timeless insights and ideas that you can use at work and home. Add it to your inbox: https://fs.blog/newsletter/ Follow Shane on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/ShaneAParrish 

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