Introduction
There is a factor, unknown to most people that can help optimize the effects of sleep on your body, and enhance your general health as well as revitalize you. What then is this factor? Sleep secrets.
The quality of your sleep, and daily energy levels depend critically on YOUR UNDERLYING INNER SLEEP SYSTEM. It is this inner sleep system that plays a key role in:
- When you go to sleep and when you wake up
- How energized you feel in the morning and throughout the day
- When your body produces feelings of “sleepiness” to send you a signal that you later interpret in a way like…I feel tired, I feel sleepy, I better go to bed
Unfortunately, most people don’t know how to use this system to their advantage…
What you are about to discover, is how you can use a simple little known method, within the first 1 minute for at least 30 seconds after waking up to your advantage, and so boost your energy levels in the morning dramatically. The good thing about this system, is that you can easily learn how it works, test it and will notice the effects immediately you apply it. The fact is this: YOUR BODY’s NATURAL BODY TEMPERATURE RHYTHM PLAYS A KEY ROLE IN HOW MUCH ENERGY YOU HAVE! This is the secret which has been hidden out in the open for ages.
In elementary school (primary school) and early secondary school science, we were taught that our body temperature stays constant at 98.5 degrees Fahrenheit or 36.6 degrees Celsius. However, this is not actually true at all times. Every day, your body temperature fluctuates by about 6 degrees. This daily rise and fall of your body temperature, is known as your Body Temperature Rhythm or your Circadian Rhythm.
In the morning your body temperature rises around 6 am, and continues to rise until noon where it undergoes a slight drop. It then recovers from this drop, and continues to rise until the evening hours, where it drops all through the night as you sleep.
This daily, continuous rise and fall of your body temperature plays a major role in:
- When you feel sleepy
- When you feel energized
The simple explanation is this.
When your body temperature is dropping, you will feel “sleepy” and move towards the tired “side”. This gives a signal to your body, hormones kick in and you feel sleepy.
When your body temperature is rising on the other hand, you tend to feel energized, relaxed, lively, alert and more awake.
Energy in 30 seconds
If you were or still are a movie addict, you will recall the “vampire” movies about creatures that sleep or are inactive, in the daytime but are awake or fully active at night and drink blood.
Well there is a hormone in your body called Melatonin, some people jokingly refer to it as the “vampire or sleep” hormone. The longer your eyes are exposed to darkness, the more of this hormone is released inside your blood. On the flip side, the instant your eyes are exposed to light, the level of melatonin in your blood begins to decrease rapidly. This is the hormone that brings about the drop in your body temperature, Melatonin also makes you feel sleepy.
When you wake up in the morning, you have a huge quantity of melatonin inside your blood. This is the main reason why you may feel like a “zombie”, lethargic, listless, drowsy and groggy when you wake up. When you combine this with a low body temperature in the morning, most people experience very low energy levels. Therefore, they erroneously think that the tired, drowsy feeling means they need more sleep. They then sleep longer for additional hours, and unknowingly do damage to their sleep systems. However, the irony of the whole thing, is that you don’t feel that way because your body needs more sleep, you feel that way because you have been sleeping excessively. What then can you do to curtail and possibly reverse this vicious cycle?
The answer is simple: When you wake up, you MUST expose your eyes to natural sunlight within 1 minute of waking up for AT LEAST 30 seconds.
Once you do this, you will notice that the tired feeling you usually get in the morning fades away and your body becomes more and more energized.
How it works and why it works
When you expose your eyes to light your melatonin levels begin to drop and your body temperature begins to rise, as you gradually feel more awake in the morning.
BUT: Why do you feel less energetic on cloudy and rainy days? This happens because, LIGHT SHINES WITH DIFFERENT LEVELS OF INTENSITIES!!
Therefore, staying indoors is the equivalent of spending the day in darkness for your eyes!! Light intensity is measured in units called “luxes”. 1 Lux is roughly equivalent to the light your eyes would get if you were sit in a pitch dark room with 1 candle.
- During sunrise and sunset, your eyes get about 1,000 to 5,000 Luxes of light!
- In the afternoon on a sunny day, your eyes get about 100,000 Luxes of light!
- Inside your home or in an office, your eyes get about 100 to 500 luxes of light!
Since the level of melatonin in your blood is dependent on the intensity of light coming into your eyes, staying indoors and not been exposed to high intensity light, is practically the same as being in complete darkness for your eyes. Therefore, if you stay indoors for the first hour or two after waking up, you will feel tired and will wonder why. This is the reason why. Inside your home, at least 50% of the light is usually being blocked by your windows, drapes and shades. This means your eyes will get probably a maximum of 200 to 300 Luxes of light. This will keep your melatonin levels high, prevent your body temperature from rising and keep you low on energy. This results in a perpetual vicious cycle, which keeps lowering your energy and weakening your immune system day by day.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the summary is this. The more your eyes are exposed to sunlight, within 1 minute of waking up for a period of 30 seconds, the more the levels of melanin in your blood will decrease. This will cause your body temperature to rise, which will give you a boost which in turn makes you feel more energized, resulting in you being wide awake.