188. How to Fix Your Sleep Naturally Using This Morning Sunlight Routine

If you want deeper, more restorative sleep every night, even while traveling, this episode will give you the exact science-backed steps to optimize your circadian rhythm, fall asleep faster, and wake up more refreshed. You're not sleeping well because you missed this critical habit.
It's not just about what you do before bed, it's about how you start your day. You don't need fancy supplements, expensive tools, or sleep trackers to finally rest well.
We're going to go deeper into how your body's designed to sleep naturally

and what you can do starting this morning to get the best sleep of your life.

Let's talk about the underrated secret.

The most important step for sleep happens when you... you're not sleeping well because you miss this critical habit it's not just about what you do before bed it's about how you start your day if you want deeper more restorative sleep every night even while traveling this episode will give you the exact science back steps to optimize your circadian rhythm fall asleep faster and wake more refreshed.
Welcome back to the Ultimate Human Podcast. I'm your host, Gary Brecka, and today we're talking about one of the most fundamental pillars of health that people get wrong every single day, sleep.
But it isn't your typical list of tips like don't drink coffee after 3 p.m. We're going to go deeper into how your body's designed to sleep naturally and what you can do starting this morning to get the best sleep of your life.
Let's talk about the underrated secret. Your morning determines your night.
The circadian rhythm is your body's internal clock. It runs on a 24-hour cycle and it controls your sleep-wake patterns.
And the biggest trigger for setting that clock? Light. More specifically, natural sunlight in the morning.
When your eyes register natural light within the first hour of waking, you send a signal to your brain to suppress melatonin, your sleep hormone, and start producing cortisol, your energy hormone. This one step sets your entire day in motion.
And 12 to 16 hours later, your body starts making melatonin again to help you fall asleep. If you want to reset your sleep, you don't start with nighttime routines.
You start at sunrise. When you first wake up, within the first 10 to 15 minutes, get outside and let your body know it's time to begin the day.
Stand barefoot on the earth if you can. Expose both your skin and your eyes directly to morning sunlight.
This isn't just a mood boost. It's a circadian anchor.
It tells every cell in your body what time it is. Your hormones, your metabolism, and your sleep centers all begin to sink to this clock.
If you want to take it a step further, layer in light movement during this time. Go for a walk, stretch your body, or do a short breathwork session outside in that sunlight.
Movement increases blood flow, raises your core body temperature gradually, and helps you wake up more naturally without the stress spike of caffeine. Your lymphatic system wakes up.
Your brain gets the signal that the day is in motion. This is the foundation of performance.
As soon as you return indoors, hydrate immediately. After six to eight hours of sleep, your body is naturally dehydrated.
One of the most effective and overlooked ways to combat grogginess is by drinking a glass of filtered water with a pinch of high quality salt, like a Baja Gold sea salt. This helps restore electrolyte balance.
It supports adrenal health and brings your nervous system online in a calm and energized state. Together, sunlight, movement, and hydration form a powerful trifecta that primes your body for alertness, cognitive focus, metabolic efficiency, and critically sets you up for deeper, easier sleep later that night.
You do this consistently and you will start sleeping better within a week, I promise. Your body is simply responding to the signals it was always designed to receive.
These aren't hacks, they're just human biology in rhythm with nature. Now let's fast forward to your evening.
If the morning is about setting the tone, the night is about eliminating interference. First, set a consistent sleep schedule.
Go to bed and wake up at the same time every single day, even on weekends. Set a reminder 15 minutes before bedtime to begin winding down and make sure that you stop eating two hours before your intended bedtime.
Digestion competes with your body's melatonin production and you want to give your body the best chance to transition into sleep mode. Take a contrast shower, which is a hot shower followed by just 30 seconds of cold water.
This drop in core body temperature mimics the natural cooling your body needs to begin sleep. It won't wake you up.
In fact, it supports better sleep onset. Cut the digital noise by switching your phone to airplane mode and avoiding screens for at least 30 minutes before bed.
If you must use devices, consider wearing blue light blockers. Then set your sleep environment.
Drop the thermostat to 67 to 69 degrees Fahrenheit. Yes, that cold.
Block out all sources of light and use a soft, full coverage eye mask made of cotton. The goal is complete darkness and coolness, which helps stimulate melatonin and improve your time in deep sleep.
And before you get into bed, try supporting your body with quick oral hygiene routines, like brushing using a soft-bristled toothbrush and a toothpaste that contains hydroxyapatite instead of fluoride. Floss, tongue scrape with a copper tongue scraper, and oil pull with a tablespoon of coconut oil for one to two minutes.
This is going to support oral health and reduce bacterial influence overnight. To quiet the mind, I practice a simple breathwork protocol, inhaling slowly through the nose, holding for a count of three, two, three, and exhaling through pursed lips, as if through a straw.
Repeat this cycle for 10 breaths. I've never made it to 10 breaths.
As you breathe, visualize pulling all the thoughts cluttering your mind down into your lungs, and then visualize exhaling them out of your body. This may sound odd, but it works.
This is how we shift from fight or flight into rest and repair. If your brain tends to race at night or you're a habitual overthinker, consider supplementing with magnesium threonate and folinic acid before bed.
These compounds support neurological relaxation without sedation and they help calm the mental chatter, the ruminating thoughts. But here's the kicker.
The most important step for sleep happens when you wake up. Get outside, get the sunlight in your eyes within 15 to 30 minutes of waking, hydrate, and move.
That morning light locks in your body's internal clock for the next cycle and ensures melatonin production will happen again that night. This loop must be completed every 24 hours.
You don't need fancy supplements, expensive tools, or sleep trackers to finally rest well. You need light, you need movement, you need consistency, and you need to remove the interference that prevents our biology from doing what it's hardwired to do.
If this resonated with you, if you're tired of piecing the other wellness strategies from scattered Instagram posts and headlines, then you need to join my VIP community. Inside the Ultimate Human VIP group, I go live every month, breaking down protocols like this in real time, answering your personal health questions, giving you direct access to the tools that work.
We go deeper into what we eat, how we sleep, how we detox, and how to live longer, better, and stronger. This is where you stop consuming and start

transforming. You can join us today at the link below.
Stop guessing, start knowing,

take control of your biology, and that's just science.