Guest Contributor Series

This week’s Hack Your Health Journal article was written by Thaddeus Owen, light researcher, educator, and co-founder of Dreamwalkerz.ai and Primalhacker.

Thaddeus has studied and taught about light and health since 2009. In this two-part guest contributor series, he shares why he believes light may be one of the most overlooked foundations of health and how something as simple as getting outside at dawn may influence sleep, energy, recovery, and overall well-being.

The following article is written by Thaddeus Owen and reflects his research, experience, and perspective.

In Part 1 of this series, I explained why dawn light matters for circadian timing, melatonin production, and overall health.

Now let’s discuss exactly how to implement a morning sunlight practice.

How Long Should You Be Outside at Dawn?

Clinical and experimental work supports a practical window of roughly 10–30 minutes of bright outdoor light soon after waking. Many protocols suggest about 30 minutes to obtain robust phase-advancing effects, while other experiments show the phase-shifting response is approximately linear over a range starting from short pulses, and the earliest part of a light exposure delivers the majority of the effect.

Practically, aim for 18–20 minutes if you can; if your schedule allows only 2–3 minutes, that is still meaningful and better than nothing.

How to Do This in Everyday Life

Timing

Get outside within 60 minutes of sunrise.

Sunrise times change daily with season and latitude. Use your phone – the built-in Clock/weather apps or sites like NOAA Solar Calculator or timeanddate.com will show sunrise time for your town.

Plan to be outdoors as close to that sunrise time as possible.

Location

Go to a spot where you can get open-sky light – a yard, balcony, parking lot, front stoop, or down the street.

You do not need to see the disk of the sun to receive the entraining light signal. Sky brightness alone provides effective cues.

Duration

Aim for 18–20 minutes.

If pressed for time, 2–3 minutes is still helpful.

If you can only manage 5–10 minutes each day, that will still help shift and stabilize your rhythm compared with no morning light.

Let the Light Reach Your Eyes

Slide sunglasses down your nose or remove heavily tinted lenses so the ocular photoreceptors and ipRGC pathways receive light.

Do not stare at the sun.

The non-image-forming photoreceptors in the retina that entrain the clock are most sensitive to short-wavelength light in the blue band but also use inputs from rods and cones and the twilight color shift.

What If You’re Stuck Inside?

Open a door or a window and step into the open air if possible.

Window glass reduces portions of the solar spectrum and typically reduces the stimulus to the circadian system compared with being outdoors, so open the window or step outside if you can.

If you are in a car, roll the window down for a few minutes.

What About Clouds, Buildings, and Bad Weather?

Even on overcast days or when nearby buildings block the sun, go outside at dawn.

Ambient sky illuminance and the spectral shift of dawn still reach you and carry entraining information.

The sky brightness and color progression are sufficient; you do not need direct sun exposure.

Urban Environments

If you live in a city surrounded by buildings, do not worry.

You do not need a perfect sunrise view.

The brightness and changing spectrum of the morning sky still provide valuable circadian signals.

Winter

Dawn still matters.

Dress warm and get outside.

The timing matters more than temperature.

Seasonal sunrise time shifts are why checking sunrise daily is helpful.

Practical Phone Tips

Find sunrise time using your phone’s weather app, Clock app, or websites like timeanddate.com and NOAA’s Solar Calculator.

Set a reminder to take a 15–20 minute “light break” within 60 minutes of sunrise.

If you use light-tracking or circadian apps, remember app estimates are only as good as the local sunrise data and do not replace going outside.

Safety and Common-Sense Notes

Do not stare at the sun.

If you have photosensitive conditions or take medications that increase sun sensitivity, consult your clinician before changing sun exposure habits.

For skin cancer risk management, morning sun close to sunrise has much lower UVB intensity than midday sun. Still use personal judgment based on your skin type and local UV index.

Bottom Line

Getting outside as close to dawn as possible provides a simple, low-cost, evidence-based anchor for your circadian system.

It helps set the melatonin clock for later that day, improves sleep timing and quality for many people, and is consistent with epidemiological signals that sensible sun exposure has broad health associations.

Aim for about 18–20 minutes if you can, but even a few minutes counts.

Use your phone to check sunrise times and make a small daily habit of a “light break” at dawn.

References

Chang AM, Santhi N, St Hilaire M, et al. Circadian phase resetting by a single short-duration light exposure. Journal of Biological Rhythms. 2017.

Arendt J. Clinical applications of melatonin in circadian disorders. Sleep Medicine Reviews. 2010.