![]() “When we lose access to that, our natural rhythms of motivation and reward and reinforcement and sleep are impaired.” “We process light neurologically as a tool for our circadian cycles,” said Jenney Howe, a child and adolescent psychologist and owner of Jenney Howe Consulting, in an interview with the Deseret News. So it follows that when the light outside and the clock don’t seem to match, our body gets confused. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine called the “daily cycle of natural light and darkness” the “most powerful timing cue to synchronize our body’s internal clock.” Time was first defined by how much sunlight illuminated the world naturally, so wouldn’t it make sense that our bodies - as a natural phenomenon - be linked to that too? In early timekeeping, a sundial was used to tell the time of day based on where the sun was in the sky and the amount of light it was giving off - there was more sunlight in the middle of the day compared to less light in the beginning and the end of the day. It’s like a never-ending battle our body is forced to fight, making the adjustment every six months.Ī permanent schedule would be ideal for our bodies, but then the question arises, should standard time or daylight saving time be the permanent standard across the United States? How does light affect us? With every time change, our natural sleep cycles are jolted once again. That’s the should-be natural rhythm of nature and just when we sink into that, we lose or gain an hour, starting the whole process over again. But, “when we receive more light in the morning and darkness in the evening, our bodies and nature are better aligned, making it easier to wake up for our daily activities and easier to fall asleep at night,” the American Academy of Sleep Medicine said. So it makes sense that when daylight saving time makes us wake up in the dark, it disrupts our natural sleep cycle. Anna from the popular animated movie “Frozen” may have got it right when she said, “The sky’s awake, so I’m awake.”
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