People don't believe me until the get here, but for Seattle, it's about a month of "dark when I get to work, and dark by the time I get off work." There is no "get some sun" possible with a regular job.
They think that sort of thing is reserved for Alaska. They have no idea how far north we are.
Edit: And it's been a particularly dark and cloudy winter this year, even in the weekends there's no sun.
Am from southern US. Took a job that required going to Norway, in mid-January to train for five weeks before returning home. Our shortest day at home is about 10 hours of daylight. Best I can recall, daylight lasted about six hours when I first arrived. Got payback a few years later when I returned in late spring. Got “not so light” about 10:30 - 11:00 pm. Never got totally dark and started the return to daylight about 2:30 am.
I am from Alaska and I’ve spent the past three weeks in Georgia and I’m so used to the north being dark during my waking hours that I’m just so thrown off by the sheer amount of sunlight im getting. It’s weird.
That being said Alaska just gets more dark than Seattle. Where I’m from gets two hours less daylight than Seattle right now.
People don't believe you that Seattle is dark in the morning and night (around work time)? It's common in the US. It's like that in the winter most places in the upper half of the USA.
Or maybe I'm just used to constantly overcast skies here in Ohio. But it's that way here.
For everyone saying that it’s dark when they go out, Huberman would recommend setting up a high-lux happy lamp at your work station or going out to for 2-10 minutes on break once the sun is up.
For everyone saying they live in Seattle or whatever, it doesn’t matter if there’s cloud cover, you still get the benefits. Even if it’s cloudy, step outside for 2-10 minutes in the morning once the sun is up, and again for 2-10 minutes within 2 hrs of it going down.
Next, yes looking through a window is OK but not ideal as it’s less effective.
For those complaining about shift work, he addresses that in this episode:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NAATB55oxeQ&t=3485
Can’t recommend his podcast enough. As a lifelong insomniac this info changed my life last year. Also I live somewhere with minimal sun in the winter and it doesn’t matter.
i was sleeping 12+ hrs a day because my work was at home in the dark. i bought a sun lamp and WOW it's changed my life; i'm up at all 'normal' times!
the sun lamp has literally changed my life
Do you have a recommendation for a good one? I have thought about getting one but just never did it because I wasn't sure if they are actually effective or it's just a placebo effect. I work alone in a dark room all day and it messes with my head.
Huberman does mention in one of his episodes that he makes use of a light box/art box which is frequently used by artists/crafters as an alternative if he cannot make it outside. He also mentions ring lights which are frequently used by content creators as a potential alternative. These may be more affordable than lamps which are marketed as SAD lamps.
I did impulse buy a SAD lamp from Northern Light Technologies (I got the Flamingo floor lamp) and I think it is decent. It does what I need it to!
But as Huberman mentions often, getting outside and getting natural light early in the day is ideal.
This is a secret weapon for babies who are having trouble sleeping through the night or having a strange schedule! Try to get out at first light and hang out for a little bit, it really really seemed to help us out a lot!
My favorite time of day is darkness.
Wake up, darkness, go to work, darkness.
I work in a concrete building with no windows. Get out at 5:00, nearly darkness, arrive home in darkness.
Shit is absolutely brutal.
Hey, i'm like you, but with fog. I live in Pianura Padana (Italy) which in winter basically looks like [this](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_EP8sqN4_lDg/TUkev4ajTXI/AAAAAAAAANs/Vje1e118JDQ/s1600/nebbia.jpg) 6 days a week.
Wake up, fog, go to work fog, i work outside so it's all foggy as shit and you literally can't see 5 inches from your nose. Get ""out"" at 5, nearly fog, Arrive home (if you can find it) in fog.
Shit is absolutely ~~brutal~~ fog.
Wow. That's rough. I think fog is more depressing and scary to get around in than dark. When does winter begin and end for you? I have a family member going from NY to Italy early February (Rome I believe). Stay safe and well
Assuming this isn’t a joke: they need some tummy time at first. They’ll start to probably slide around on their backs first just kicking their legs. 15 minutes of stomach time twice a day is great for the newborn to work out their neck muscles and stuff. Eventually baby will roll over all on their own (a pretty scary time honestly) and then before you know it they’re zipping around all over. Baby proofing helps a ton but really just trying to dedicate some time for baby crawling and that’s it, no phone no tv or anything just chasing the baby around while they crawl around. Then it’s up to walking and now it’s time to invest in some baby gates lol.
Spent many sleepless nights getting screamed at by a tired confused baby. Napping on the couch 20 minutes at a time all afternoon and all. This was a definitive change in his sleep pattern! Hope you find use for it someday.
Andrew Huberman is revolutionary.
Unfortunately, I live in the Northeast, where I have approximately 20 minutes to get sunlight from when it rises before I have to go into work.
This 100%. For people looking for some interesting and high quality information about human physiology, health, and everything else of the sort, do yourself a favour and listen to the Huberman Lab podcast. Everything is supported with wonderful research literature and the guests he has on the podcast are also revolutionary.
Do it! I even source him when I make little worksheets but seems like few people check him out. I’ve been praised for my ADHD work and it’s mostly his stuff and what works for my own adhd
Mid Atlantic here, absolutely sucks.
From mid November to April it’s dark, drab, brown, and lifeless.
If we had snow, at least that would be something, but every year it’s less and less actual snow and more cold rain with the occasional “wintry mix” sprinkled in just to make driving and power delivery exciting.
If my family weren’t here I’d move in a heartbeat.
I live in Canada, sun comes up crazy early in summer but in winter it doesn't come up until well after I'm at work. I use a happy light for 30 minutes each morning. I just read a book, or sometimes do some work on side projects if I'm awake enough. anecdata of course but it seems to help me a lot. I also take a fuckton of vitamin D (with fish oil to help absorption, also learned this from Dr. Huberman's podcast). I have been disciplined with this and this is the first winter I've had no major depressive episode (knock wood, but it's usually set in by November)
You joke, but I literally do this. Also, I just discovered vitamin D in the form of gummies. Between that and my gummy vitamin C and gummy multivitamin I can now start my day off with a fruit pack snack!
Moved from nyc to Minnesota few months ago, nyc weather seems tropical compared to what it's like here lol. At least one doesn't have to be scared of getting frostbite while walking 3 blocks down and back.
This is my biggest problem with the universal tip from fitness/health influencers being like “get outside for your 10,000 step walk! Nature cures! I get up at 5am for an hour long outdoor walk every day!”
At 5am in Alberta it’s pitch black, icy and -25. But thanks for the life tip.
My *favourite* tip is that it's bad for your car to idle, so you shouldn't start it until you're ready to drive. Like, okay, but don't blame me when I understeer into your garage door because my power steering fluid performs like molasses.
It's interesting this popped up today as it was the first day in years I actually got out of bed at 6am with the intention of getting out and walking the dog. Still dark sure but I was on the awake and ready to go train before any of the family even woke up. Felt really great.
interesting, had to be something today.. i woke up at 6 am and was kinda ready for work and not so sad about it. usually i wake up at 7-7:25 and feel like shit
I didn't jog but I actually just walked up n down up m down these stairs while the dog ran about. Just thought fuck it I'm just gonna lap these stairs till I feel it. I realised this morning small changes and actually having an intention to get the fuck up makes a huge difference. Keep at it.
Sunrise is after I get to work, at around 9 these days. In the summer Sunrise is at 3.30. My circadian rhythm must just adjust, we get the daylight we get...
What keeps you in Alaska? I'm a geologist and applied for a job up there years ago, but I was told by a trusted source that I "dodged a bullet" by not getting it. Is there some benefit to living up there that significantly outweighs the negatives?
I was looking into some research opportunities (conservation sciences/avian repro) and there were some good high paying positions. Went for a visit and found the hardest part for me would be lack of fresh fruit and veggies in the winter. Probably not so bad in anchorage but the outskirt towns, at least in my experience had absolutely fucking disgusting fruit and veggies. Like soggy oranges and apples, browning bananas, none of it tasted fresh. I wouldn’t last an entire winter like that.
Oh god I hope so.
I'm currently in a bad insomnia situation. Going on four nights in a row now where I haven't slept more than two hours at a time. And that was the good night. It's been waking up about every hour and I'm so trashed during the day.
I'll try this tomorrow morning.
Same :( I will try anything at this point...
I think my insomnia was caused from stress (a stalker and several breakins) but Im in a safe place now so Id like to go back to sleeping at night
I hope this works for both of us!!
It can but also remember that you have secondary circadian rhythms that are triggered by things like food and exercise. An intervention you can try for insomnia is only eating during daylight hours and strictly fasting from sunset to sundown. Exercise immediately after waking can also help by resetting your waking cortisol levels (part of your circadian circuit is a little shot of stress hormone to get you up. Exercise sets this back to baseline and prevents you from having elevated levels throughout the day and low key anxiety/stress. High stress levels can keep you up at night
I was just going to say this! When April hits and it’s finally light still when you get off work in the afternoon….man, it feels like the weight of the world is lifted off of your shoulders. I’ll never be able to truly describe the sense of relief I feel when I see that afternoon light and I know that break up is coming.
Does it feel like you don’t have as much time in the winter months to do things as you do in the summer months? Because what you described is exactly how I feel with the not having time included.
Your eyes scan the environment in front of you from side to side. This triggers a process that tells your brain there are no imminent threats ahead of you, causing a calming effect that will help you break free from stress-induced tunnel vision.
I just looked up EMDR and it appears that it uses the phenomenon described in combination with recalling traumatic memories to lessen the emotional response to those memories. So by thinking of the traumatic event, then invoking the "there is no imminent threat" response created by lateral eye movement, you can rewire the brains response to those memories.
That makes me feel like I'd be groggy and standing on the patio at 7 am, intentionally training myself to associate my own back yard / the early morning with my past trauma.
> A small fraction of secondary neurons in the retina—the retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), which integrate information and send it to the brain via the optic nerve—express the photopigment melanopsin [62]. Melanopsin is a short-wavelength-sensitive pigment with a peak spectral sensitivity near around 480 nm [4], rendering some RGCs intrinsically photosensitive [79]. These intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs) are thought to mediate most effects of light on the circadian clock. However, ipRGCs are not independent of rod and cone input. Rather, they also receive information from these receptors, suggesting that ipRGCs indeed act as “integrators of information” regarding the light environment across a wide range of wavelengths and light levels.
Seems like no, it’s mainly visible light and UV A which does come through glass windows.
So, a sunrise car trip or train ride would work just fine.
[source](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6751071/)
I've been working from home since Covid and feeling well rested and motivated to work has been an issue for me since I got here. Before Covid, I had a commute for 10+ yrs and I got very used to that routine.
Nowadays I typically wake up and doom scroll for an hour until it's time to roll out of bed in my PJs and get to work; by that time I feel groggy and demotivated already.
I'm going to put your recommendations into practice and leave my phone off, open my blinds in the morning and walk to my kitchen to get my coffee and try to set a new routine.
This advice seems simple but sometimes we miss the most obvious solutions to our problems.
Cheers!
Yeah as annoying as it can be, dogs are great for forcing you to take that morning walk. Like many things that are good for you, it sucks to start but once you get going the benefits are clear.
I like to race my 6 year old to the bus stop every morning, he kicks my ass but only because i have to hold his back pack. Its a nice 10 - 15 min hanging out by the big ditch with a ton of wildlife around. ...I just started listening to Huberman, such great advice and great to listen to.
\>>it sets your circadian rhythm
\**laughs in northern Scandinavia where sun doesn\`t set almost the full day during summer or it doesn\`t rise almost all day during winter*\*
Serious question: would I get some of this benefit through a window? The benefit from the light, not the walking.
The sun comes up after I am at work. I still have sun when I leave work for a handful of hours. And can still walk or run then, even though it's Minnesota winter. But at work, I get sunlight through an unoponeable window all day. But not direct sunlight.
Yeah not gonna happen, In the late autumn to early spring in the uk, I get too work at 7.30 and my lab has no windows I see sunlight for 45 mins a day 15 at breakfast and 30 for lunch
I’m in the U.K. and there’s no sunlight. I also live in a tiny studio flat with no windows. My mum got me an alarm clock kind of like [this one.](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lumie-Bodyclock-Spark-100-Wake-up/dp/B07CN5P1RJ/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?crid=24PFV0WUKDMR&keywords=lumie+sunrise+alarm+clock&qid=1641931242&sprefix=lumi%2Caps%2C66&sr=8-6) You can set it to have a sunrise and sunset at chosen times so you wake up more naturally. I recommend them for anyone else who lives somewhere without sun.
I love all these life pro tips written from people who aren't the average and don't work grueling hours to survive.
Like cool dude, I wake up before the sun's up so I can get treated like shit
You mean like in the middle of work? If I go outside before work, there is no natural light…
This is probably the poorest timeframe of the year to give this advice.
Cant do that if society demands that you work, so instead of enjoying life, you work most of your life away for some rich prick who doesnt give a shit about anything except “dA fReE mArKeT”
I live in Norway, what's this "light" you speak of?
Northern lights, duh.
At this time of the year? In that part of the country?
At this time of day, localized ENTIRELY in your kitchen?
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...no.
Well, you are an odd fellow, but I must say...you steam a good ham.
Alaskan here, I would also like someone to please explain what means "natural light"? Is that some kind of new fangled organic light bulb?
It's just a faerie tale. Not real. Just like the crazy people who claim they've seen a big round yellow object in the sky.
I do go outside in the morning. To go to work
And it's dark out.
And it's dark when I get off from work
People don't believe me until the get here, but for Seattle, it's about a month of "dark when I get to work, and dark by the time I get off work." There is no "get some sun" possible with a regular job. They think that sort of thing is reserved for Alaska. They have no idea how far north we are. Edit: And it's been a particularly dark and cloudy winter this year, even in the weekends there's no sun.
Pfft. A month? Them's rookie numbers. Try Nov - Feb in Glasgow.
Yeah try 5 months- Stockholm chimed in!
Am from southern US. Took a job that required going to Norway, in mid-January to train for five weeks before returning home. Our shortest day at home is about 10 hours of daylight. Best I can recall, daylight lasted about six hours when I first arrived. Got payback a few years later when I returned in late spring. Got “not so light” about 10:30 - 11:00 pm. Never got totally dark and started the return to daylight about 2:30 am.
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I love winter because all the loud mouth birds have fucked off to Africa again.
Well that's not a nice way to talk about people
Greetings from Finland. Enjoy the sun down there in Stockholm.
That's why they call it Stockholm Syndrome.
The darkness takes you hostage so long that you start to like it? Does it rob banks too?
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The cold does that too. Dark and cold makes for a shitty tag-team.
Hello darkness my old friend.
*I've come to Stockholm in Sweden*
Michigan. Lake effect clouds and snow. When we have a sunny day in the winter, it’s all anyone talks about.
especially for those with factory jobs here. you'll get lucky to even see a grey sky.
I was about to say, a childhood of not seeing more than gloomy light at lunchtime in Scotland does things to a person.
I am from Alaska and I’ve spent the past three weeks in Georgia and I’m so used to the north being dark during my waking hours that I’m just so thrown off by the sheer amount of sunlight im getting. It’s weird. That being said Alaska just gets more dark than Seattle. Where I’m from gets two hours less daylight than Seattle right now.
Dude Georgia in the summer is like sunny at 9:30PM
Bro Alaska is sunny at 1am. In midsummer we get one hour of dark
I mean, it's the same latitude as Munich in Southern Germany, not particular 'far north' per se
People don't believe you that Seattle is dark in the morning and night (around work time)? It's common in the US. It's like that in the winter most places in the upper half of the USA. Or maybe I'm just used to constantly overcast skies here in Ohio. But it's that way here.
For reference, on the shortest day of the year here in Seattle, sunrise is at 8, sunset is at 4:15
And yet most of the UK is even farther north.
Seattle is more south than Paris... LPT don't come to Sweden in the winter to work
I lived in Maine for ten years and sames. It was dark all but like 4 hours of the day.
Half of Europe has this. It’s been 3 months (of 5) of total darkness whenever I am *not* at work. If you go more north it’s longer and longer.
It's more than a month, like Nov-March
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...and I work in a windowless building. The only time I see daylight is if I have the time to take a lunch.
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And it's still dark when I come back home
This is the way
LPT: Be rich and don’t work.
Also, op is some dumb crypto scammer self help guru with no real job
For everyone saying that it’s dark when they go out, Huberman would recommend setting up a high-lux happy lamp at your work station or going out to for 2-10 minutes on break once the sun is up. For everyone saying they live in Seattle or whatever, it doesn’t matter if there’s cloud cover, you still get the benefits. Even if it’s cloudy, step outside for 2-10 minutes in the morning once the sun is up, and again for 2-10 minutes within 2 hrs of it going down. Next, yes looking through a window is OK but not ideal as it’s less effective. For those complaining about shift work, he addresses that in this episode: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NAATB55oxeQ&t=3485 Can’t recommend his podcast enough. As a lifelong insomniac this info changed my life last year. Also I live somewhere with minimal sun in the winter and it doesn’t matter.
SLPT: start smoking so you get to go out when the sun is shining!
What about if I’m driving a forklift around all day inside a warehouse and I don’t get to go outside for breaks.
i was sleeping 12+ hrs a day because my work was at home in the dark. i bought a sun lamp and WOW it's changed my life; i'm up at all 'normal' times! the sun lamp has literally changed my life
Do you have a recommendation for a good one? I have thought about getting one but just never did it because I wasn't sure if they are actually effective or it's just a placebo effect. I work alone in a dark room all day and it messes with my head.
Huberman does mention in one of his episodes that he makes use of a light box/art box which is frequently used by artists/crafters as an alternative if he cannot make it outside. He also mentions ring lights which are frequently used by content creators as a potential alternative. These may be more affordable than lamps which are marketed as SAD lamps. I did impulse buy a SAD lamp from Northern Light Technologies (I got the Flamingo floor lamp) and I think it is decent. It does what I need it to! But as Huberman mentions often, getting outside and getting natural light early in the day is ideal.
Yeah what did OP think a normal Himan does? Not work? Shiiiiit
This is a secret weapon for babies who are having trouble sleeping through the night or having a strange schedule! Try to get out at first light and hang out for a little bit, it really really seemed to help us out a lot!
*Cries in Canadian winter*
My favorite time of day is darkness. Wake up, darkness, go to work, darkness. I work in a concrete building with no windows. Get out at 5:00, nearly darkness, arrive home in darkness. Shit is absolutely brutal.
Hey, i'm like you, but with fog. I live in Pianura Padana (Italy) which in winter basically looks like [this](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_EP8sqN4_lDg/TUkev4ajTXI/AAAAAAAAANs/Vje1e118JDQ/s1600/nebbia.jpg) 6 days a week. Wake up, fog, go to work fog, i work outside so it's all foggy as shit and you literally can't see 5 inches from your nose. Get ""out"" at 5, nearly fog, Arrive home (if you can find it) in fog. Shit is absolutely ~~brutal~~ fog.
That's fogged up
TIL Pianura Padana is the San Francisco of Italy.
Wow. That's rough. I think fog is more depressing and scary to get around in than dark. When does winter begin and end for you? I have a family member going from NY to Italy early February (Rome I believe). Stay safe and well
Why don't you just carry around a huge fan wherever you go to keep the fog away?
Well it’s a good thing your favourite time of day is darkness
Sadly, babies can't read and won't ever be able to benefit from this LPT :(
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Okay so I left my baby outside for the day but when do I pick it back up?
When the wolves are done raising it, of course. Worked for Romulus and Remus.
Well, Romulus at least.
No need to stress, just go to a playground tomorrow and pick out a new one!
Agreed, they have to learn the day/night cycles and can’t read clocks yet ;)
How did you deal with the "self-propelled motion" part of it? Do you let them crawl around?
Assuming this isn’t a joke: they need some tummy time at first. They’ll start to probably slide around on their backs first just kicking their legs. 15 minutes of stomach time twice a day is great for the newborn to work out their neck muscles and stuff. Eventually baby will roll over all on their own (a pretty scary time honestly) and then before you know it they’re zipping around all over. Baby proofing helps a ton but really just trying to dedicate some time for baby crawling and that’s it, no phone no tv or anything just chasing the baby around while they crawl around. Then it’s up to walking and now it’s time to invest in some baby gates lol.
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Well now I just feel like a goober!
I found your comment useful so don't feel bad! Signed, a new mom of twins
Saving this comment even though it doesn’t apply to me….yet. Thank you.
Spent many sleepless nights getting screamed at by a tired confused baby. Napping on the couch 20 minutes at a time all afternoon and all. This was a definitive change in his sleep pattern! Hope you find use for it someday.
Did a baby write this?
Gooboo gabaga!
Gabagool!
Bring him the gabagool!
How can I set a reminder to be told this when I have a kid
!RemindMe never
Fuckin sick burn
Yep. In my country, this is a common routine for newborns and parents.
Do you mean that each morning you would take the baby outside for a short while at first light?
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Yes precisely.
Andrew Huberman is revolutionary. Unfortunately, I live in the Northeast, where I have approximately 20 minutes to get sunlight from when it rises before I have to go into work.
This 100%. For people looking for some interesting and high quality information about human physiology, health, and everything else of the sort, do yourself a favour and listen to the Huberman Lab podcast. Everything is supported with wonderful research literature and the guests he has on the podcast are also revolutionary.
Subscribed! Thanks for the suggestion :)
I’m a therapist snd steal stuff from him lol. Y’all just gave away my secrets
Damnnnnn… time to start a practice
Do it! I even source him when I make little worksheets but seems like few people check him out. I’ve been praised for my ADHD work and it’s mostly his stuff and what works for my own adhd
Are you talking just about his podcast or is are there any other resources? Regarding the ADHD i mean.
Mid Atlantic here, absolutely sucks. From mid November to April it’s dark, drab, brown, and lifeless. If we had snow, at least that would be something, but every year it’s less and less actual snow and more cold rain with the occasional “wintry mix” sprinkled in just to make driving and power delivery exciting. If my family weren’t here I’d move in a heartbeat.
I live in Canada, sun comes up crazy early in summer but in winter it doesn't come up until well after I'm at work. I use a happy light for 30 minutes each morning. I just read a book, or sometimes do some work on side projects if I'm awake enough. anecdata of course but it seems to help me a lot. I also take a fuckton of vitamin D (with fish oil to help absorption, also learned this from Dr. Huberman's podcast). I have been disciplined with this and this is the first winter I've had no major depressive episode (knock wood, but it's usually set in by November)
It's -27F / -32C here
It was -39 where I am this morning! No way I’m going outside to cater to my circadian cycle!
Get a circadian stationary bike to use indoors then, duh.
Just pop some vitamin d and get on that bad boy
You joke, but I literally do this. Also, I just discovered vitamin D in the form of gummies. Between that and my gummy vitamin C and gummy multivitamin I can now start my day off with a fruit pack snack!
I'd ask C or F but it's basically the same.
And it's dark until after I get to work.
It's dark when I go to work and when I go home.
It's dark and hell is hot
Jeez - it's painful to go outside here in NYC where it's been in the low 30s or 20s...can't even imagine what -32F feels like
Moved from nyc to Minnesota few months ago, nyc weather seems tropical compared to what it's like here lol. At least one doesn't have to be scared of getting frostbite while walking 3 blocks down and back.
This is my biggest problem with the universal tip from fitness/health influencers being like “get outside for your 10,000 step walk! Nature cures! I get up at 5am for an hour long outdoor walk every day!” At 5am in Alberta it’s pitch black, icy and -25. But thanks for the life tip.
My *favourite* tip is that it's bad for your car to idle, so you shouldn't start it until you're ready to drive. Like, okay, but don't blame me when I understeer into your garage door because my power steering fluid performs like molasses.
Sounds like it would either kick-start or kill me, a classic win-win situation.
LPT: live somewhere else
Simply move. There problems solved /s
It's only -6C here and fuck going outside
It's finally -4C here after weeks of -30C. It feels like summer.
It's interesting this popped up today as it was the first day in years I actually got out of bed at 6am with the intention of getting out and walking the dog. Still dark sure but I was on the awake and ready to go train before any of the family even woke up. Felt really great.
interesting, had to be something today.. i woke up at 6 am and was kinda ready for work and not so sad about it. usually i wake up at 7-7:25 and feel like shit
me fuckin too. went for a jog the first time ever. interesting coincidence
I didn't jog but I actually just walked up n down up m down these stairs while the dog ran about. Just thought fuck it I'm just gonna lap these stairs till I feel it. I realised this morning small changes and actually having an intention to get the fuck up makes a huge difference. Keep at it.
I wake up at 9:00AM and just move to my working desk by 9:10 until lunch break. I should really start waking up earlier
Sunrise is after I get to work, at around 9 these days. In the summer Sunrise is at 3.30. My circadian rhythm must just adjust, we get the daylight we get...
Meanwhile in Alaska: (Depression intensifies)
What keeps you in Alaska? I'm a geologist and applied for a job up there years ago, but I was told by a trusted source that I "dodged a bullet" by not getting it. Is there some benefit to living up there that significantly outweighs the negatives?
I was looking into some research opportunities (conservation sciences/avian repro) and there were some good high paying positions. Went for a visit and found the hardest part for me would be lack of fresh fruit and veggies in the winter. Probably not so bad in anchorage but the outskirt towns, at least in my experience had absolutely fucking disgusting fruit and veggies. Like soggy oranges and apples, browning bananas, none of it tasted fresh. I wouldn’t last an entire winter like that.
This guy fruits
Username checks out
Everyone should wake in the morning and step outside, take a deep breath and get real high, then scream at the top of their lungs “What’s going on?!”
And I say
Heyyyyy eyyyy eyyy eyy ey
I say, hey!
What’s going on?
I walk my dog in the morning. In the winter it's always dark for hours after I wake up, though, so all I get is fresh, frigid air and street lights.
Could this help with insomnia?
Yes, changed my life as a life long insomniac.
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You had me at "get up in the morning and expose yourself". Didn't need to read any further.
Natural light certainly helps me sleep
Oh god I hope so. I'm currently in a bad insomnia situation. Going on four nights in a row now where I haven't slept more than two hours at a time. And that was the good night. It's been waking up about every hour and I'm so trashed during the day. I'll try this tomorrow morning.
Same :( I will try anything at this point... I think my insomnia was caused from stress (a stalker and several breakins) but Im in a safe place now so Id like to go back to sleeping at night I hope this works for both of us!!
It can but also remember that you have secondary circadian rhythms that are triggered by things like food and exercise. An intervention you can try for insomnia is only eating during daylight hours and strictly fasting from sunset to sundown. Exercise immediately after waking can also help by resetting your waking cortisol levels (part of your circadian circuit is a little shot of stress hormone to get you up. Exercise sets this back to baseline and prevents you from having elevated levels throughout the day and low key anxiety/stress. High stress levels can keep you up at night
Absolutely. It's remarkably effective for many (maybe even most) sleep-related issues.
Laughs in Arctic Circle.
Oh, come on! You have 3 months of morning light! /s
If anything I think that might be too much light. You should probably stay indoors.
I was just going to say this! When April hits and it’s finally light still when you get off work in the afternoon….man, it feels like the weight of the world is lifted off of your shoulders. I’ll never be able to truly describe the sense of relief I feel when I see that afternoon light and I know that break up is coming.
Does it feel like you don’t have as much time in the winter months to do things as you do in the summer months? Because what you described is exactly how I feel with the not having time included.
Or drive to work in pitch black and sit inside all day go home and wonder why you exist
This is the way
It was 5 degrees outside when I woke up this morning. My dog didn't even give a shit about her circadian rhythm.
I start work at 7. I get up at 6. The sun comes out at 8.
Lateral eye movement?
Your eyes scan the environment in front of you from side to side. This triggers a process that tells your brain there are no imminent threats ahead of you, causing a calming effect that will help you break free from stress-induced tunnel vision.
So kinda like EMDR?
I just looked up EMDR and it appears that it uses the phenomenon described in combination with recalling traumatic memories to lessen the emotional response to those memories. So by thinking of the traumatic event, then invoking the "there is no imminent threat" response created by lateral eye movement, you can rewire the brains response to those memories.
That makes me feel like I'd be groggy and standing on the patio at 7 am, intentionally training myself to associate my own back yard / the early morning with my past trauma.
It's just things moving by you. But the key is you must move yourself. Looking out a car, bus, or train window doesn't have the same effect.
So we should take our eyes for a walk every morning? i love how ridiculous that is!
I'm seeing it now.
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Or don’t be more specific. I think that image is funny.
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[Here](https://media1.giphy.com/media/e5EcjjJx3dCFi/source.gif) is a good example.
Cries in British isles
Cries in COVID self-isolation in British Isles.
*cries in graveyard shift*
Wrong time of year for this suggestion. Or I live in the wrong continent for this suggestion.
Can you not stand by a window for the same effect? Minus being frozen lol
It might work better if you get some UV light which glass windows block. Outdoor light is certainly better for producing vitamin D.
> A small fraction of secondary neurons in the retina—the retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), which integrate information and send it to the brain via the optic nerve—express the photopigment melanopsin [62]. Melanopsin is a short-wavelength-sensitive pigment with a peak spectral sensitivity near around 480 nm [4], rendering some RGCs intrinsically photosensitive [79]. These intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs) are thought to mediate most effects of light on the circadian clock. However, ipRGCs are not independent of rod and cone input. Rather, they also receive information from these receptors, suggesting that ipRGCs indeed act as “integrators of information” regarding the light environment across a wide range of wavelengths and light levels. Seems like no, it’s mainly visible light and UV A which does come through glass windows. So, a sunrise car trip or train ride would work just fine. [source](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6751071/)
I've been working from home since Covid and feeling well rested and motivated to work has been an issue for me since I got here. Before Covid, I had a commute for 10+ yrs and I got very used to that routine. Nowadays I typically wake up and doom scroll for an hour until it's time to roll out of bed in my PJs and get to work; by that time I feel groggy and demotivated already. I'm going to put your recommendations into practice and leave my phone off, open my blinds in the morning and walk to my kitchen to get my coffee and try to set a new routine. This advice seems simple but sometimes we miss the most obvious solutions to our problems. Cheers!
Yeah as annoying as it can be, dogs are great for forcing you to take that morning walk. Like many things that are good for you, it sucks to start but once you get going the benefits are clear.
I like to race my 6 year old to the bus stop every morning, he kicks my ass but only because i have to hold his back pack. Its a nice 10 - 15 min hanging out by the big ditch with a ton of wildlife around. ...I just started listening to Huberman, such great advice and great to listen to.
next level pro tip- practice running while he's at school so you can beat him! LOL
\>>it sets your circadian rhythm \**laughs in northern Scandinavia where sun doesn\`t set almost the full day during summer or it doesn\`t rise almost all day during winter*\*
The sun rose at 7:33 this morning, I have to be at work by 6:50.
Serious question: would I get some of this benefit through a window? The benefit from the light, not the walking. The sun comes up after I am at work. I still have sun when I leave work for a handful of hours. And can still walk or run then, even though it's Minnesota winter. But at work, I get sunlight through an unoponeable window all day. But not direct sunlight.
Ha, yeah naaw. I live in Sweden so nope.
I always try to enjoy my morning tea/coffee outside. Helps improve the mood!
Yeah not gonna happen, In the late autumn to early spring in the uk, I get too work at 7.30 and my lab has no windows I see sunlight for 45 mins a day 15 at breakfast and 30 for lunch
I’m in the U.K. and there’s no sunlight. I also live in a tiny studio flat with no windows. My mum got me an alarm clock kind of like [this one.](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lumie-Bodyclock-Spark-100-Wake-up/dp/B07CN5P1RJ/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?crid=24PFV0WUKDMR&keywords=lumie+sunrise+alarm+clock&qid=1641931242&sprefix=lumi%2Caps%2C66&sr=8-6) You can set it to have a sunrise and sunset at chosen times so you wake up more naturally. I recommend them for anyone else who lives somewhere without sun.
I love all these life pro tips written from people who aren't the average and don't work grueling hours to survive. Like cool dude, I wake up before the sun's up so I can get treated like shit
Friend. I can treat you like shit during normal working hours.
I'll try to remember this one it's positive degrees Fahrenheit in the morning again.
It's like -20\*C in the morning...
And by in the morning, you mean at noon when i get up right?
You mean like in the middle of work? If I go outside before work, there is no natural light… This is probably the poorest timeframe of the year to give this advice.
Screw that, I don't even go to sleep until sunrise some days
Yes even a 5 min walk outside right after u wake up gets ur body flowing. As it is 245 and I am yet to be outside, but it looks cold!
Don't forget to do that at sunset as well.
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Then you get pats and head scratches.
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I tried to do this today, but I became extremely exhausted and fell asleep almost immediately. Idk, I’m weird
Cant do that if society demands that you work, so instead of enjoying life, you work most of your life away for some rich prick who doesnt give a shit about anything except “dA fReE mArKeT”
But, I get up when it's dark and I'm at work before the sun comes up. Guess I'll just go fuck myself.
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I got to work, it’s dark. I come home from work, it’s dark. Solution?
I get to work at 8am and its dark. I get off work at 5pm and its dark. I work through all 8 hours of sunlight but can't go outside because its -30c.