The recent eclipse got me thinking more about the sun, and since I’ve also been hearing about the health benefits of early morning light, I’m experimenting with a new morning ritual. Every day, around 6:30 a.m., I pad downstairs in my pajamas, step into the backyard, and turn my face to the rising sun.
At this time of year, the sky is still pink and the sun is still caught in the treeline beyond my neighbor’s house. The grass is cold and wet. I shiver a bit but am transfixed by the spectacle, the daily miracle, of an unimaginably brilliant ball of fire rising to light the world.
Five to ten minutes is the recommended dose of early morning light – what the body needs to regulate the circadian clock, strengthen the immune system, reduce stress and support mental health. The dopaminergic hit of wonder is an added fringe benefit.
The science of body clocks is a new frontier in cell biology, neurochemistry and medicine, with implications for everything from chemotherapy to longevity. I’ve been reading up on it and it has me thinking – again – about how we might expand our awareness of time beyond the clock. How do we reconnect with embodied time, with the kind of time that lives in tree rings and flowing rivers, in the pulse of cicada wings and waves on a shore? That’ll be the subject of the next episode of our Deep Time series.
This week, we’re re-airing one of the previous episodes, on geological time. If you like the idea of building more rituals into your life, try listening to it while on a walk. As you move, think about the layers of earth beneath your feet and imagine time in eons instead of seconds. I promise that by the time you’re done, your to-do list will feel miniscule – and your life will feel bigger.
Enjoy!
—Anne