Want to be a Morning Person?

An NPR story (http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/07/31/207319883/want-to-be-a-morning-person-take-a-few-tips-from-campers?sc=17&f=1001) provides ideas about how you can shift from being a night to a morning person.

"Everyone has a clock inside their brain that tells the body when to sleep.  But unlike a wristwatch, the brain is flexible.  It can slow down or speed up, depending on how much light is around.  That includes rays from computers and phones.  Too much artificial light at the wrong time can change sleep patterns and make us groggy in the mornings."

To find out how our internal clocks might be changed, Kenneth Wright and his team at the University of Colorado, Boulder, "...gave eight volunteers wristbands that measured their light exposure and sleep times.  For the first week, the participants went about their normal activities, going to work or school.  'Then we took them all on a camping trip,' Wright says.  'They slept in tents, and they received only natural sunlight and campfires.'

"In the wilderness, the subjects got the same amount of sleep as back in civilization.  But their internal clocks jumped ahead two hours, on average, Wright says.  So they went to bed earlier and woke up just after the chemicals in their brain told them it was time to rise and shine.  They found that a week of camping — completely away from all electrical lights and computers — quickly synchronizes the body's internal clock to the sun.  And it helps night owls, who have problems getting up, rise earlier and be more energetic in the morning.

Wright observed that you don't need to go on a camping trip to change your clock: "We can achieve earlier bedtimes by having people be outside more, especially in the morning. You could start your day with a morning walk.  Raise the shades in the house.  Or if you read the newspaper, do it outside.  On the flip side, reduce exposure to light at night by dimming the lights or computers.  This is especially important within the hour prior before bedtime."

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