For those as deeply entrenched in the world of beauty and wellness as we are, the magical (read: scientific) powers of infrared are well known.
While healing light (and heat) frequencies such as infrared may not be breaking news, they can be challenging to understand. Infrared is available in convenient personal products designed for targeted healing.
However, if we don’t have access to these things, the sun provides natural infrared as well.
No, not that scalding, summer, mid-afternoon, hot-hot heat.
We’re talking about the glorious and ephemeral morning sunrise. The spectrum of light emitted by the early-morning is near-infrared, or NIR. This light, though gentle and diffused, can penetrate our skin and eyes in a good way.
Looking at the sunrise first thing in the morning instead of our cellphones’ contrived blue light, sets us up for a great night of sleep that evening and a bright-eyed, go-get-em morning the following day.
That’s because this particular type of light helps us produce melatonin in the mitochondria that leads to rest at the appropriate time, and we get better quality sleep, to boot. That means better memory retention, clearer skin, boosted immunity, brighter moods … and so many other benefits that accompany clocking those valuable, regenerative Zs.
Not to mention, melatonin actually has antioxidant effects, which can boost cellular energy and slow aging.
It’s also beneficial for our brains in other ways. Recent studies show that the NIR light of a sunrise can improve neurodegenerative processes, boost brain metabolism, and calm brain inflammation.
Yeah. Imagine what could happen when you don’t snooze your alarm 11 times. Consider us reformed as morning people.