---
title: Morning Sunlight Exposure Improves Sleep By 50%
date: 2025-08-19T03:59:43.612272
author: Charlie M.
category: SIGNAL
---
So, I’ve been trying to figure out this whole sleep thing, right? It’s like every morning around 6 AM, this beam of sunlight just pierces through my crappy blinds and lands directly on my face. Annoying? Yeah. But maybe not. Maybe it’s doing some good? I don’t know. I read somewhere—was it a friend telling me or an article, kind of fuzzy—that getting sunlight in the morning, especially when the sun’s low, can improve sleep. Like by around 50%. That's a lot, if it’s true.
And then I think, doesn’t that sound like one of those “too good to be true” things? Seems kind of random that just light would have such a big impact. I mean, I’ve downloaded all those sleep apps, and they track stuff—REM cycles, I think? They’ve never mentioned sunlight. They’re all like, “Meditate before bed,” and I did try that, though, to be honest, I just end up thinking about what’s for lunch tomorrow or getting distracted by Instagram. I eventually deleted the apps because, well, they didn’t help, or maybe I didn't give it enough time? Who knows.
Anyway, it’s linked to this thing called circadian rhythm entrainment, which sounds fancy. But I think it’s just your body’s internal clock, syncing with nature or something. And something about this melanopsin pathway, which I think is part of your eye but not in the way you usually think of vision? It’s all a bit over my head. But these pathways apparently sense light even when your eyes are closed, which is kind of mind-blowing if you think about it for too long.
So, I’m sitting there, half-awake, questioning why I stopped investing time in finding sleep hacks. All those RCTs—randomized control trials, right? I skimmed through some study that said light therapy actually worked for sleep quality. But then again, how do you even measure 'quality' of sleep? Is it just about feeling less of a zombie in the morning, or is there something more scientific? I wish I was more of a science person.
I did try regular light exposure last month. Just sat outside sipping my coffee when I wasn’t rushing. It got interrupted, as usual, by distractions like emails or the urge to scroll through Twitter. Hard to say if it really helped my sleep or if it was just coincidence when I slept better those nights. Maybe it's the fresh air more than the light? Or maybe it’s all in my head.
And I wonder, how much of this is placebo effect? Do I convince myself I’m sleeping better because I want to believe it? I tend to do that. Sometimes I just laugh at myself for investing time pondering on this when I still end up going to bed too late most nights.
I guess there’s something there, though. Maybe it’s about our ancient connection to the rising and setting sun? I mean, isn’t there some poetic justice in humans finding answers in sunlight? It doesn’t fit into the high-tech solutions we’re bombarded with these days, and maybe that’s why it’s appealing. But honestly, I haven’t got it figured out yet. Will the sunlight thing stick, or will I just fall back into old habits? Probably both. And that’s maybe okay.