19 DECEMBER 2015
SUNSHINE
Today, I am extremely grateful for sunshine. Not least because if it wasn’t for the sun, none of us would exist. A lack of sunlight is pinpointed as causing all sorts of maladies and improper brain function, which increase in prevalence as we age. So the mahogany tanned Mediterranean ladies have got it right: you need even more sun exposure the older you get.
Sunlight acts on various different regions of the brain that regulate amongst other things our natural sleep/wake cycle (circadian rhythm), nervous system, hormonal regulation, muscle operation and immunity. Exposure to dawn sunlight is nature’s organic alarm clock, which unfortunately caffeine tends to replace in the morning.*
Due to sunlight’s importance on our health, I believe that every human suffers from a degree of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). Although if you are in the southern hemisphere or a part of the world where every day is blue sky and warm sunshine you will be unfamiliar with the lower energy, hibernating feel and irritation with the constant dark and bleak, wet and cold weather that winter brings. No excuse for your lack of motivation then ha ha! Thank you, sunshine.
*Now I have the perfect excuse for a cup of tea outside in the morning! (See Day 8)