What is a wake-up light?
A wake-up light is an alarm clock that uses natural light, such as sunrise or sunset simulation to wake you up, with most models you can choose to combine a gradually increasing light with sounds of your choice to make it the most comfortable way to wake up, some of the sounds you can choose from are Fm radio, natural sounds like waves, wind, drums, streams, and birds. There are also some new models that use white noise.
Here is a little example: You set your wake up light’s alarm at 07.30. At 07.00 the light will start at a very low intensity and gradually get stronger and stronger over the next 30 minutes, and at 07.30 the light is at its brightest, and the sound alarm will start as well if you have this turned on. You will wake up feeling more energized and be in a better mood compared to waking up without light.
Natural
Using light from a wake-up light is a natural and healthy way to wake up, as the wake-up light starts to shine in the morning your brain senses the light on your eyes even while you are still asleep, and starts to produce a hormone called Cortisol, also referred to as the “energy hormone” which boosts your energy and get you in a good mood. Just like the sun used to wake us, humans, up before we started to sleep in bedrooms that shut the sun out.
Health Benefits
Waking up with light is proven to be a more pleasant experience than waking up with a sudden loud sound like a regular alarm clock. Not only is it pleasant but the light is also health benefits, it is an effective way to prevent seasonal affective disorder and winter blues, and it increases your mood and energy in the morning hours.
Comfort
It is just nothing short of a great way to wake up, and depending on if you are a heavy sleeper or not, you might even wake up before the light or the sound alarm starts. This is not the case for me, I keep my wake up light at maximum intensity and the sound alarm at a quite low level so that when I wake up from the sound of the FM radio it is not something that annoys me.