What is the best way to wake up?

Q: I have heard a lot of tips on preparing for a good sleep, but what about awakening? What is the perfect way to start the day?

Your schedule often defines exactly when you get out of bed. But to the extent that you can shape your routine, experts have several thoughts about the healthiest morning habits.

“I’m always joking that the best thing is to get a puppy,” said Mariana Figueiro, who studies airy and health at the Iwan School of Medicine on Mount Sinai.

She only half joking. Two keys to a well waking routine, she said, enter every day at a consistent time and watch the morning sunlight-they come with a regular morning walk for dogs.

We talked with four other rhythmic experts of sleep and circulated, who everyone agreed with Dr. Figueiro about the importance of these two morning habits. Here are their other recommendations – a dog or without a dog.

Stay consistent.

Assuming that you had the flexibility of the choice, is there the perfect time to wake up?

Not really. As long as you sleep for seven to nine hours each night, there is no “best” time to wake up, said Dr. Daniel Barone, deputy medical director Weill Cornell for Sleep Medicine.

It is more significant that you stick to at the same time, said Dr. Katherine Sharkey, an associate professor who studies to sleep at Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University.

Your body works on circulated rhythms, which regulate not only the sleep cycle, but also metabolism, appetite, hormones, mood, body temperature and cognitive functions.

Waking up at a consistent time can support in the velvety operation of the body function, said Helen Burgess, a co -director of the Sleep and Okrokowy laboratory at the University of Michigan.

Waking up much later or sooner than you get used to feeling sleepy or uncoordinated. A longer period of researchers Links found between irregular sleep patterns and increased risk Obesity, diabetes, mood disorders, heart and cancer disease.

Don’t let the weekends reject you.

If you feel tired enough to sleep on weekends, said Dr. Figueiro, you probably don’t get enough rest during the week. In such cases, Dr. Sharkey suggested sticking to typical waking up and nap later that day. This can support synchronize circular rhythms.

If you think you absolutely have to sleep, Dr. Barone said that you can probably escape with an extra hour. Long and you can experience drowsiness, digestive problems and problems with focusing, just like Jet Lag. (Sleep experts operate the term “social delay” to refer to the effects of being slow and sleeping on weekends.)

Look for sunlight.

As soon as you wake up, open the blinds and turn on the airy. Then, as much as you can – preferably in an hour, said Dr. Figiero – try to go outside. Dr. Sharkey said that watching every airy, especially sunlight, helps signal the body that it is during the day.

When the airy hits the eyes, it releases Path between yours The brain and adrenal glands that tell your body to release cortisol. She added that this hormone makes you feel vigilant, which in turn can augment your mood.

Some limited tests Suggest that watching morning sunlight can also improve the sleep of the next night. When the sun hits the eyes, said Dr. Sharkey, that triggers a metaphorical stopwatchwho begins the countdown to sleep, later telling his body when to free melatonin’s sleep hormone.

Dr. Barone said that even on dull days morning sunlight is forceful enough to regulate the body clock. But if you wake up when it’s still gloomy, he said that it could be useful to include powerful artificial airy, such as airy. He said that you can also try to wake up to the alarm at sunrise, which gradually becomes brighter to imitate the rising sun.

Experts said that there is no specific amount of time in the morning sunlight, but the larger exposure is better (if you protect your skin). Dr. Burgess said the time is the best, but even 15 minutes is better than nothing.

Skip the nap button.

Tripping of your alarm may seem like a gift for yourself, but this is not the best way to start the day, said Ann E. Rogers, a sleep researcher and a professor of nursing at the University of Emory.

Dr. Sharkey said that the desire to nap is the way your body was that you need more sleep. And if you have flexibility in the schedule to hit a nap, the experts agreed that it is better to set the alarm to the later end of the nap window and get up. In this way, your body can get an additional rest that it wants – uninterrupted.