This Is the Best Way to Lift Your Mood—You Just Have to Get Up Early to Do It

Daybreak is a world we rarely glimpse, but is worth the effort. This writer put herself through "sunrise therapy" and is here to report on the benefits—all there for the taking. All you have to do.know.
There are no guarantees that watching the sunrise will take away your seasonal sadness. The sun doesn’t have an ad budget or marketing campaign to make promises. However, sunlight is free and extremely reliable: Every day, it rises without fail, and its light brings a lot of impressive benefits. Speaking from personal experience, I can tell you that the morning sun worked wonders on my mood.

In the past, I rarely saw sunrise. Maybe on a random trip during an early hike, or at the beach when I needed a quiet moment in nature. These intermittent sunrise experiences awoke something dormant in me—a lightness, a hope, a reminder to breathe, all of which seemed to lead to a better day and a sounder night’s sleep. That jibes with what research has found: Researchers at Northwestern University have discovered that exposure to light helps reset our internal clock so that we sleep better—which also helps us maintain weight and even shed pounds. Other researchers have found that light therapy is an effective way to treat seasonal affective disorder. (With shorter days on the way, make sure you know.