If you, like us, have made New Year’s resolutions about improving your wellbeing in any way, we need to form new habits to get the ball rolling. We’ve checked out advice from wellness experts to offer you four hacks on how to live a better life. Best thing? These biohacks are absolutely free — anyone can implement them!
1) Get some blue light from the sun for an energy boost but avoid it at night.
Many of us need something to jolt us out of our morning lethargy. Some turn to coffee. But you can get it for free from the sun.
Lily Serna, host of Lily’s Life Hacks, says that early on in the day, lots of sunlight gets filtered out by a thick layer of the atmosphere (minimising those pesky UV rays!). But higher energy light — blue light — makes it through.
Sleep expert Tim Mocha tells Serna that blue light is the best way to reset your body clock. When blue light strikes a part of your eyes, it informs your brain to stop producing a hormone called melatonin, which is responsible for making us feel sleepy and is usually secreted at night. So when we receive blue light exposure in the morning, we naturally feel more alert.
Unfortunately, blue light can be a double-edged sword. If you are exposed to it at night — and it’s easy to, since our electronic devices like mobile phones emit it — your sleep cycle can be disrupted. This is also problematic for modern society because we spend most of our days indoors, without sunlight, and our nights in light.
For that morning energy boost, get about 10 minutes of sun, without sunglasses on, while it’s still not blazing hot yet.
