Waking up during the winter is tough. I’m usually cold, the shades are drawn tightly, and I have to set my alarm earlier than the sun to make my commute to work on time. In short, I’m in full-on hibernation mode, and when the alarm goes off on my iPhone, I want to throw it across the room and go back to sleep.
Enter: the Why Trust Us, my new savior in the “Will I have time to make coffee before work?” game. (This is a trick—I always make time to make coffee before work, otherwise I would spontaneously combust.) But, I did want to see if waking up to a sunrise light alarm would help me wake up and get out the door sans grogginess.
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For two weeks, I set the alarm for 6:00 a.m., and every morning before 6:00 a.m. came, the light would gradually progress over 30 minutes from a deep red to orange-ish, to a bright yellow when it was actually time to wake up. The alarm sounds you can choose from are all gentle and inspired by nature, like Zen Garden and Seaside Sounds. I chose the soft chirping of Birds in the Forest to wake me up. I found that having the light turn on with my alarm meant my instinct was to actually get up—even before I am awake enough to think, I know that lights on means get out of bed and lights off means cuddle under the covers.
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I can’t be sure, but I also felt that the gradual change of the light to those brighter hues helped my body come out of a deeper stage of sleep, so that I wasn’t deep in an REM dream when my alarm went off. My only criticism is that when you turn the chirping off (by lightly tapping the top of the light) the light goes off too. I wish it stayed on so my body couldn’t greedily hide itself back in the folds of the duvet before my mind could wake up and disagree.
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The biggest surprise for me in using this light was how much I enjoyed the wind-down Sunset function. When it was time to go to bed, I would read for ten or fifteen minutes, and then set the “Sunset” evening function to Ocean Waves sounds. The orange light softly dimming into red next to my bedside was a simple reminder that it was, as nature intended, time to shut down and stop thinking and worrying. I would stop myself from picking up my loudly blue-lit phone to scroll, instead enjoying the relaxing sounds and colors that signaled it was time to sleep.
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Another benefit I didn’t use as much—but that is fascinating (especially if you have trouble nodding off)—is the evening “light rhythms” feature: a slow pulse of red light which allows you to focus on the color fading slowly in and out, time your breathing with the light, and drift off to sleep. Want to try it yourself? Below, some options that might be a fit for you.
Recommended options
How Run/Walk Intervals Can Improve Back Pain Somneo, there are also other more affordable light alarms on the market. There’s also been a trend in hue smart bulbs, which, similar to the light alarm, you can set on a timer for mornings and evenings, and adjust the warmth of the light. These are wonderfully nifty options, and you can add them to an overhead light or a lamp and control them from your phone.
+ Other Hearst Subscriptions, amazon.com
+ Philips Wake-Up Light with Colored Sunrise Simulation, $130, amazon.com
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+ A Part of Hearst Digital Media, amazon.com
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The article I Tried Waking Up to a Sunrise Simulating Alarm Every Morning—Here’s What Happened Nutrition - Weight Loss Rodale’s Organic Life.
Gina Tomaine is a Philadelphia-based writer and editor. Her work has appeared in Yoga Journal, Philadelphia magazine, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Boston Globe, Women's Health, Good Housekeeping, and Runner's World, among others. She's a RYT-200 yogi, neophyte tarot enthusiast, and unapologetic Scorpio. She enjoys the occasional piña colada. Follow her on Twitter/Insta @gtomaine.
