(Or sunrise if you’re an early riser!)
Manage Stress. Improve sleep. Build Wellness.
Sitting, watching. Gazing. Pausing to look at the beauty of dancing colors in the sky, the slow and steady movement of the sun. At first, it moves so slow, almost imperceptible, but in direct contrast to the horizon it seems to race, is it picking up speed? An animal rustles nearby, foraging or searching for its next meal. You notice. Relaxed and aware.
With so much of our time commonly spent producing, scheduling, running errands, or solving problems, the fast pace of our days can become a normal hum. Stepping out of this productive tempo can be quite a change of pace. It can feel relaxing, decrease stress from the day, and even feel meditative.
Watching the sunrise or sunset, for me at least, feels relaxing and almost luxurious. And it turns out, there are multiple reasons why it could also benefit your health!
Broaden Your Vision to Relax Your Nervous System
The Nervous System is composed of multiple parts, for the discussion today we will focus on just two aspects of the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS).
- Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS), also known as fight, flight, or freeze
- Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS), also known as rest-and-digest
To reduce it for the context of this discussion, things that threaten us will activate the SNS, while things that help us feel safe or relaxed will activate the PNS.
Overactivation of the SNS is becoming more and more common and has been associated with a range of health conditions both in the cardiovascular system and throughout the body (1). It has also been shown that those who suffer from Chronic Pain and other conditions, including Ehlers Danlos Syndrome and Hypermobility Syndrome. commonly have overactivation of the SNS.
Increasing PNS activation and reducing SNS activation will likely have a positive effect on most people’s lives. However, for those who feel chronically stressed, have a history of trauma, and/or a condition that increases SNS activation, it is particularly important to decrease activation of the SNS and increase PNS activation.
Watching the sunset can help with both!
How can this be?
Activation of different parts of the nervous system affects vision; and conversely, how we see can affect what part of your ANS you are activating, PNS or SNS.
When our SNS is activated our eyes narrow, paying close attention to the immediate threat. The eyes’ positioning is fixed, called sharp central or foveal, and lined up so you are staring straight at something or someone you need to focus on. Imagine staring at a snake crossing the walking path, watching its every move so you can know if and when you need to jump aside. (2)
Alternatively, when we are relaxed and PNS is activated, our peripheral and panoramic vision becomes more active. This gives us the ability to look around, view the entire sunset, and truly appreciate the colors and textures in the sky. This can be a result of a relaxed state or a state of unfocused awareness. Unfocused awareness would be what you feel if you are on a hike with a friend, watching out for rocks or roots, but not hyper-focused on anything specific. (2)
A cool fact: As peripheral vision is a different system it has some different physical characteristics. Mainly, the neurons associated with panoramic vision are larger and more robust, making peripheral vision helpful in processing the information as well.
This is a phenomenon you may have noticed, for example after getting into a groove on your computer for a couple of hours you look up and move around. It is common to feel stiff, tired and stressed. Part of this is likely your nervous system getting stressed after extended eye focus.
How can we counteract this? Tap into the PNS by utilizing our peripheral vision (7).
So, stepping outside, taking a deep breath, and watching the sunset may help you to both process information from the day and allow your nervous system to relax. Over time, this can have huge effects on overall health and well-being.
It’s an easy way to get into nature
Watching the sunset means spending time outside, whether on a beach or on your front porch, it means walking out your door into nature. While we have more work to do to understand the intricacies of how nature affects our health, studies have shown that spending time in nature has health and cognitive benefits. A growing body of research shows that time spent in nature improves mood, lower blood pressure, lower stress hormones, reduce SNS arousal, and more. (3)
Sometimes it can be challenging to “get out into nature”. I find that commonly “getting into nature” is defined as a 2-day backpacking trip or a weeklong trip to your favorite beach town. However, research done at the European Centre for Environment & Human Health at the University of Exeter found that those who spent just two hours a week in natural environments reported better health and well-being than those who did not (3). Meaning that building up to spending just two hours a week in nature, that is under twenty minutes a day, could prove to help your overall wellbeing.
While there are many ways to do that, watching the sunset regularly also fits the bill.
It could improve your sleep
The Circadian Rhythm is our internal clock, telling the body when to sleep and wake, it also controls the release of the majority of hormones in the body. A common result of a disrupted Circadian Rhythm is challenged falling and staying asleep, generally meaning less sleep. Lack of sleep can drastically affect the quality of life, and has been connected to depression, cognitive impairment, obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and mood disorders (5).
One way the Circadian Rhythm gets interrupted is due to artificial light. Without the existence of artificial light, people commonly fell asleep shortly after sunset and awoke shortly after sunrise. Currently, we are surrounded by artificial light, therefore, it can be challenging for the body to know when it is time for sleep AND time to be awake.
Watching the sunset is one way to help the body know that night approaches and it is time to settle down and rest. The hormone Melatonin is particularly important in helping the body wind down (4). The color of light at sunset, orange and red, help release melatonin, thus helping us fall asleep (5). Watching sunset followed by darkness helps to increase natural melatonin release, which in turn helps to improve sleep quality. Alternatively, the color of light at sunrise, blue light, helps to suppress melatonin (5), which helps our body wake up.
Watching the sunset or the sunrise are both ways to help get the body back into its natural rhythm.
An alternative to meditation with the same benefits
Fred Previc, Author of Dopaminergic Mind in Human Evolution and History, is a neuroscientist who argues that one of our visual systems specializes in the visual field above the horizon. Previc explains that this visual field observes “extra personal space”, looking over the horizon and noticing what is outside of our personal space. (6)
The area of the brain that processes this information has also been shown to be highly activated in meditation and mystical experiences (6). So, by looking up to watch the sunset we activate the same area of the brain as meditation. This may account for the feelings of calm often associated with watching the sunset or staring up into the treetops.
Activating the same part of the brain as meditation can have many positive health effects. Research has shown meditation to help:
- Decrease anxiety and depression rates
- Improve PTSD Symptoms
- Decrease overall stress levels
For those who don’t like the idea or the action of sitting in meditation, watching the sunset over the horizon may be a great alternative.
Sometimes we need a reason to allow ourselves to enjoy the simple pleasures of life like watching the sunset. As discussed above, there are many reasons why it may benefit our health to take a step out the door and watch the sun sink down, taking a few moments to watch and be.
Interested in guidance or coaching to make consistent postural, lifestyle, or fitness changes?
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References:
- Central Sympathetic Overactivity: Maladies and Mechanisms – PMC (nih.gov)
- https://betterhumans.pub/use-your-eyes-to-reduce-stress-fd8b27834f6f
- https://e360.yale.edu/features/ecopsychology-how-immersion-in-nature-benefits-your-health
- Melatonin: What You Need To Know | NCCIH (nih.gov)
- https://www.sleepassociation.org/blog-post/how-light-and-sunsets-affect-circadian-rhythms-and-sleep/
- https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mind-wandering/201607/look-the-surprising-joy-raising-your-gaze
- https://musicmindandmovement.com/blog/broaden-your-vision