***Be sure you optimize your daily exposure to sunlight. This is the most essential and powerful of all strategies to optimize circadian rhythm.***

• Get outside without sunglasses for 2-10 minutes (more even better) within an hour upon awakening, or as soon thereafter as possible for you. If it is overcast, longer is better. The low-angle light emitted by the sun at sunrise and just after is an especially potent signal to strengthen and align your CR. Of all the light exposure strategies that follow this should be your #1 priority. ‘If you had to pick one best thing for sleep, metabolic health, and brain function, it would be early morning outside light exposure!

• Strive to get as much natural, outside light (without sunglasses) as possible over the day – before noon is especially good. For those with a history of depression, an hour a day should be the minimum! (this can be done in multiple segments and doesn’t have to be all at once). And being outside in the shade is just fine. Natural, outside light makes us more alert, more motivated, happier, and buffers against depression.

• Exposure to late-afternoon light is a bonus! Like the sun’s rays at sunrise, sunset light is another powerful signal to optimize and entrain CR. What’s more, late-afternoon sunlight can dampen our sensitivity to artificial light exposure at night, as a bonus! (See below)

Reduce exposure to bright light after sundown and at least 2-3 hours before bedtime.

• Dim the lights in your inside/home environment and or use amber colored bulbs at night. Candlelight is especially gentle light, while LED lights are the worst.

• Use surface lighting (table/desk lamps) or indirect lighting vs. overhead lights in the evening. The receptors in the eyes for light are located in the upper portion of your eyes.

• Consider blue-blocker glasses for use after dark but know that it is light intensity not so much light wavelength that matters.

• Avoid use of devices (phones, computers, tablets) in the hour or two before bed and use the “night shift” feature now standard on many devices, if you must.

• Do not look at your phone or bright light late at night, especially from 11 pm to 4 am.

Even a quick direct glimpse can drop your melatonin and other neurochemicals and can disturb your sleep. What’s more, light at this time can decrease memory, promote a depressive state, and impair blood sugar regulation! To underscore the power of natural sunlight/darkness exposure for aligning CR, consider that published studies show that a 4-day hike into a natural environment with no artificial light exposure (camping) corrects even severe CR disruption in study subjects! Occasional camping is wonderful for nurturing CR.