Your mom was wrong.

For those who want booty that’s sculpted like a Greek god.

Dear friends, mortals, and people desperately trying to outrun their own mortality.

Welcome back to The Renewal. The daily email for savvy forward thinkers interested in well-being, longevity, and health. We find, explore, and uncover original content on stories that inspire.

Let me be clear.

You’re soaking up these words because I know where the rainbow ends.

Most people stroll through life, utterly oblivious to this kind of science. But not you, you had a special invite to the party.

This science? It’s like taking speed without any of the negative side effects. And guess what? You’re about to learn it.

Good news: You can harness this with barely any effort.

Bon appetit.

View morning sunlight. As soon as you can, even if it’s through cloud cover, view morning sunlight.

But my mom told me not to stare at the sun.

I get it, I love my mom too, but once she told me to gO oUTsIdE aNd pLaY. I broke my arm doing tricks on my bicycle. Should’ve let me play video games with my friends…

Rarely are moms wrong. But it happens.

Me and your mom, we actually have a lot in common. Mainly, we just want what’s best for you.

Sunlight ranks in Dr. Andrew Huberman’s (world-renowned health scientist) top five of all actions that support mental health, physical health, and performance.

1. Sleep
2. Movement
3. Nutrients (Macro and Micro)
4. (Sun)Light
5. Relationships

On a sunny morning, get outside for 5-10 minutes. If it’s overcast, make it 15-20. Aim for 8-11am, but if you missed this window then go outside now.

⏰ You want to send signals to your body that it’s time to wake up, get to work, and look sexy.

⛅️ If outside looks dark or ugly, turn on all your bright indoor artificial lights as possible — then get outside as soon as the sun is out. I moved to London this year so this rule applies pretty much every day.

🥸 Contacts or spectacles are fine. Don’t use blue blockers. Face towards the sun. Don’t look directly at sun. If it causes pain, stop (this is where your mom had it right). Close your eyes and blink as needed. This doesn’t work through windows or windshields.

Light impacts our:

• Mood
• Sleep
• Ability to wake up and focus
• Hormone levels
• Immune system
• Ability to cope with stress

Morning sunlight exposure helps kick off the ‘waking’ part of your circadian rhythm while setting a 16 hour timer for the ‘night’ part, where you fall asleep. Without it, your body can’t anticipate when to wake up and when to go to sleep.

The circadian rhythm works in unison with your cortisol. Cortisol is a hormone released by the body in response to stress.

Cortisol is your body’s tiny, screaming drill sergeant, and sunlight tells him to get to work. You want to let him cook early in the day rather than later when its time to go to sleep.

Ideally, your cortisol spikes as your roll out of bed and gradually tapers off as the day unfolds, bottoming out when it’s time to crash at night.

Later we will talk about night time light. You can’t handle any more truth right now.

Increased morning cortisol gets your immune system, metabolism, and focus dialed in from the get-go. Cortisol levels are also influenced by the number of unread emails in your inbox. I’m currently sitting at 50,535 unread emails, not exactly a model citizen myself.

To sum it up:

• The sun is more than just a lightbulb for our planet.
• Sunlight will make you smarter, sexier, and almost certainly able to outrun a moderately disgruntled squirrel.
• Look to the morning sun to set your body’s clock.
• Light has tremendous positive effects for your mood, sleep, focus, hormones, immune system, and stress levels.
• Harnessing the power of light is a zero-cost tool that will change you mentally and physically.

P.S.

During 1917 Spanish Flu pandemic and early Tuberculosis (TB) treatment, exposure to air and sunlight was a key factor in treatments. Patients were outside on beds for hours a day. 1/4 of the world currently has TB so you might be inclined to ignore all this modern science and just lick some doorknobs like it’s 1899.

I’ve been focused on getting natural light daily. I am sleeping much deeper, waking up with energy, and laughing more often. I now marvel consciously at the colors of sky, trees, breeze. It’s made a difference 1 week. Plus I don’t have TB – 75% club.

— The Renewal

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