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As the seasons change, with some regions transitioning from summer to autumn and others seeing the end of winter, it’s never too early to prevent or too late to combat the winter blues. Most countries experience rainfall and cold temperatures during these times, which can significantly impact your well-being. This is why we love to share the second step to a healthier and happier life. If you are inside stay within one meter of the window with your face or side facing the window. Otherwise, your eyes will still see only twilight. Addressing the symptoms of the winter blues and living a healthier, happier life involves maximizing exposure to daylight. The role of natural light in maintaining psychological well-being is crucial, particularly during the shorter and darker days of autumn and winter when daylight is scarce. Positioning yourself within one meter of a window ensures that you gain the maximum benefit from the available natural light. Therefore, prioritizing daylight exposure can be a significant step towards achieving a healthier and happier life. If you want to bring good light in your life, watch the other steps to a healthier and happier life here: Try | Home | Good Light Group | Foundation Light supports us in everything we do. Good light has a great positive impact on our experience of energy, sleep, happiness and health.

In a world that increasingly revolves around indoor activities and screens, we often neglect one of nature's most crucial gifts - daylight. We don’t neglect it when it comes to our plants but why can’t we see all the health benefits daylight gives ourselves? Both for our mental and physical well-being, good light (daylight or light that mimics daylight) has a lot of benefits. Not only does daylight help regulate our circadian rhythm and boost our mood, but it also plays a critical role in maintaining our overall health. We need the right light at the right time, and our new guide explains this in detail. What kind of outdoor and indoor light exposure you should have per moment of the day. Three simple and effective steps to live happier and healthier. The 20-20-2 rule, a rule for a healthy lifestyle when you work indoors and with screens. More info in our guide, download the full guide now on our download page

Daylight is an essential factor that positively impacts our overall well-being and plays a crucial role in maintaining good health. Just as good food and regular exercise are vital for a healthy lifestyle, exposure to natural light is also important in supporting you physiological and psychological, it positively influences your physical and mental well-being. But when it comes to health why are we only focussed on food and exercise but forget about light? Photo by Alina Diana Crisu on Unsplash Good light regulates your circadian rhythm: Daylight exposure is an important external cue that helps regulate your internal biological clock, also known as the circadian rhythm. This biological mechanism is an essential bodily function that regulates your sleep-wake cycles. Being in daylight during the day helps align our circadian rhythm with the regular time of the day, the day-night cycle. This helps improve your sleep quality and overall health. Vitamin D: To get sufficient vitamin D we need sunlight, this is a crucial nutrient that helps with calcium absorption and bone health this prevents various musculoskeletal disorders. An improved mood: Daylight exposure improves your mood and reduces symptoms of depression. When you are on holidays and outdoor all day, do you feel happier? Maintain a good eye health: Spending time in natural light is beneficial for maintaining eye health. So when you work a lot behind a screen, don’t forget to go outside or keep our 20-20-2 rule in mind. When have a lot of screen time, this can cause myopia especially with young children. Outdoor daylight provides a more balanced and less intense light spectrum compared to artificial lighting, reducing the strain on our eyes and potentially lessen the risk of eye-related issues. So, daylight is fundamental for a healthier and happier life, just as crucial as a balanced diet and regular exercise.

The best choice you can make for your health is: 1. To be outside a lot during the day, especially in the morning. At least half an hour! Daylight is the best light for our health. It has the right intensity and the right colour variation during the day. This is step one of our three steps to good light. Exposure to daylight is essential for optimal well-being. We advise you to spend two hours a day outdoors, particularly in the morning for at least 30 minutes. The importance of daylight lies in its unique properties: the right intensity and dynamic colour variation throughout the day. These factors contribute to a balanced circadian rhythm, which affects your sleep quality, mood, and overall health. Prioritizing outdoor activities or simply stepping outside for half an hour every morning can be an impactful step toward a healthier lifestyle. If you want to bring good light in your life, watch our latest videos, click here: Try | Home | Good Light Group | Foundation Light supports us in everything we do. Good light has a great positive impact on our experience of energy, sleep, happiness and health.

In today's modern life, we spend a lot of time behind screens, for work, education, or entertainment. A life without screens unthinkable. This trend has led to a significant rise in screen time, raising global concerns about health and also eye health. One effective rule for maintaining good eye health and general health is the 20-20-2 rule. The 20-20-2 rule is a simple and impactful concept. The idea is to take a break from the screen every 20 minutes, focus on the sky for 20 seconds, and spend two hours outside in daylight each day. 20 minutes of screen time Spending extended periods in front of screens is not beneficial for the eyes. It can lead to eye strain, dryness, discomfort, and, over time, may contribute to vision issues. Taking a break every 20 minutes helps relief the eyes and maintain eye health. 20 seconds looking at the sky After every 20 minutes spent using a screen, walk to a window and look at the sky for 20 seconds. It takes about 20 seconds for your eyes to completely relax. Need some help with the 20 minutes and 20 seconds? There are some free apps you can download like Eye Care 20 20 20 that can help. 2 hours outside The final aspect of the rule is spending two hours outside preferably in the morning. Natural light exposure is not only healthy for the eyes but for the entire body. Regular outdoor time improves sleep, mood, and overall health. Daylight always provides the right light intensity and spectrum at the right time, unlike artificial indoor lighting. You can focus your eyes at different distances and adapt to different light conditions, this is good for visual acuity and flexibility. Children The 20-20-2 rule is particularly important for children. The rate of myopia, or shortsightedness, is escalating worldwide, with children being at significant risk because their eyes are still developing. Myopia occurs when the shape of the eye is too long, causing light to bend inaccurately and results in blurred distance vision. Screen time and a lack of outdoor activities and light intensities are factors that contribute to myopia. For more info in English: Healthline For more info in Dutch: het oog ziekenhuis Or go to the website of Jantje Beton

Good sleep When our biological clock is properly aligned with time we are fit during the day, our mood is upbeat and we rest well during sleep. Good sleep is essential for our well-being. It is closely linked to the synchronization of our biological clock with daylight. When these are aligned, we experience several benefits: increased alertness during daytime, improved mood, and effective rest during our sleep. Therefore, prioritizing good sleep by getting sufficient daylight or being in electric light that mimics daylight can have a significant impact on our overall wellness! If you want to bring good light in your life, watch also the other steps to a healthier and happier life here: Try | Home | Good Light Group | Foundation Light supports us in everything we do. Good light has a great positive impact on our experience of energy, sleep, happiness and health.

Holidays, a time away from the hustle of our routine life, and perfect to take your time to relax. A time free from daily tasks, and a perfect time for your interests or hobbies, travel, or get some rest, a good moment in which you spend a lot of time outdoors. But what makes this time a time that you are exceptionally happy and feel healthier? Photo by Leo Rivas on Unsplashed If you go on holidays or have some time off, you spend a significant amount time outdoors. Much more than during other times of the year. Without intention or knowingly you help your circadian rhythm get in track with regular time. This is very beneficial to your health. You sleep better, have a better mood and more energy. When on holidays most of the time the weather is good and you often walk, cycle or exercise more which also contributes to your overall health. Spending more time in daylight plays a crucial role in your physiological and psychological health. Sunlight also promotes the synthesis of Vitamin D, a vital element for overall health and immunity. Regular exposure to daylight helps maintain your body's internal clock (circadian rhythm), which regulates your sleep-wake cycle with the time of the day and improves your sleep quality. You feel more rested in the morning and more energy during the day. So hope you had a happy and healthy holiday and spent a lot of time outdoor!

The daylight detector uses light to adjust our biological clock with the time of day. In the morning the intense daylight activates us. In the evening, when the sun goes down it prepares our body for a good night’s sleep. The daylight detector serves a crucial role in regulating our biological clock with the time of day. During morning hours, this detector responds to the daylight, sending signals to our brain that promote alertness and activity. As the sun sets in the evening, the diminishing light signals our body to prepare for a good night’s sleep. These signals between the daylight detector and the biological clock helps to maintain an alignment between our internal physiological processes and the daily 24-hours cycles. If you want to bring good light in your life, watch also the other steps to a healthier and happier life here: Try | Home | Good Light Group | Foundation Light supports us in everything we do. Good light has a great positive impact on our experience of energy, sleep, happiness and health.

Our board member Jan Denneman was interviewed by the Dutch news website NU.NL about how to maintain the holiday feeling. One day you're lounging on a beach, and the next, you're back at your desk. To avoid plunging straight back into the daily grind, here are some tips to extend that vacation feeling. Photo by Standsome Worklifestyle on Unsplash We Need More Daylight Jan Denneman, president of the Good Light Group Foundation, believes the vacation euphoria slips away so quickly primarily due to our limited exposure to natural daylight. "Most people work in environments, like offices or hospitals, that lack sufficient natural light. Regardless of how you spent your vacation, you likely spent more time outdoors than during a typical workweek.” Daylight plays a pivotal role in regulating our biological clock. Receiving adequate daylight helps synchronize our internal clock with the day's rhythm. "It ensures our day-night cycle aligns with the actual time," Denneman states. This alignment is crucial since our biological clock significantly impacts our sleep quality. The combination of fewer daily tasks and improved sleep during vacation naturally enhances our overall mood. Seek the Light Even after returning home you can maintain that relaxed feeling. Firstly, spend more time outdoors; morning light is particularly beneficial. "Even on an overcast day, the outdoor light is sufficient." For those confined indoors, positioning your desk near a window can be beneficial. "The closer, the better. But even a few meter away offers some advantages, although the light intensity diminishes." Lastly, Denneman suggests using specialized desk lamps for good light. These lamps project adequate light into your eyes, a standard rarely met by conventional indoor lighting. More info about how to get good light indoor Read the full article

Our body has a daylight detector: Light-sensitive cells in our eyes called spheres. These connect to the part of the brain called the biological clock that regulates our body’s daily rhythms. The discoverers of how the biological clock works were awarded the Nobel Prize. The daylight detector in your eyes plays the most important role in regulating your daily rhythms. This detection mechanism (the spheres) connects with your biological clock which regulate various bodily processes. The spheres in your eyes are responsible for converting light stimuli into signals. These signals are then sent to the brain, which processes this information, ensuring that you feel energised during the day and sleepy at night. This is why you need the right light at the right time. When your eyes get bright light at night, for example from screens, or when you are indoors with insufficient light, these spheres send the wrong signals to your brain, causing your biological clock to become desynchronised from the external time of day. If you want to bring good light in your life, watch also the other steps to a healthier and happier life here: Try | Home | Good Light Group | Foundation Light supports us in everything we do. Good light has a great positive impact on our experience of energy, sleep, happiness and health.

A blog by Jan Denneman for Swiss Sense. The holidays are almost at an end! It is a perfect way to relax and get away from the daily grind. After your vacation you feel completely recharged. How does that actually work, that recharging? Why do you suddenly have more energy after the vacations? And can you hold on to that vacation feeling? The power of daylight Fewer obligations and new experiences certainly contribute to your vacation feeling. But the real cause for the vacation feeling is daylight. We are made for daylight. Light, and especially daylight, has the greatest impact on the biological clock in our brains, setting it in sync with real time every day. This keeps the processes in our bodies synchronized with the 24-hour rhythm of day and night. So does our sleep-wake cycle. Therefore, according to Jan Denneman of the Good Light Group, much more attention should be paid to the effect of light on our health. Those who see enough daylight sleep better Daylight affects our biological clock and is therefore very important for our sleep and health. With enough daylight, you are more alert, productive and in a better mood. So the next time a colleague is grumbling, it's best to send him or her outside! How too little daylight disturbs your sleep If we are indoors most of the day, our biological clock lags about twenty minutes a day. After just a few days, that's one to two hours! You can compare it to jet lag, which is why we call it social jet lag. Like regular jet lag, it also causes problems with sleep. As an example, let's assume you've had a week of too little daylight. If you want to go to sleep at eleven o'clock, your body is only in the eight or nine o'clock position. You are still far too alert to sleep well because you still have too much cortisol hormone, which is our stress or vigilance hormone, in your body. Your body has not yet produced enough melatonin, which is just so important for good deep sleep. Perhaps you sleep in, tired from the whole week, but you do not achieve the deep sleep your body needs to recover. You then wake up unrested, less productive and in a worse mood. On vacation, your biological clock gets reset During our vacation and the amount of daylight our eyes see, our biological clock is synchronized with the time of day after just a few days. As a result, when you go to bed, your body is then ready for a good night's sleep. You sleep better, your mood improves, and there's that vacation feeling again! After the vacations we spend a lot of time indoors again, where we see too little daylight. Our bodies can't cope well with this and this often causes the vacation feeling to disappear quickly. The light inside is too weak during the day and too strong at night for our biological clock. The clock cells cannot make out what time it really is and start to lag: social jet lag. Three steps to good light Fortunately, you can do something yourself to keep the vacation feeling. Here are my 3 tips: 1. Make sure you are outside as much as possible during the day, take a walk in the morning, have lunch outside or take a lunch walk. 2. Make sure you sit near a window inside as much as possible, preferably within one meter distance. 3. Install good light. Good light is the right light at the right time. Provide plenty of light during the day and build it down to less and softer light at night. Normal indoor lighting is not strong enough for our biological clock. Fortunately, today there is special lighting that is strong enough. That way you can keep that vacation feeling all year long! Do these tips not work for you? Then there's nothing left to do but go on a well-deserved vacation! More info

With the help of light, our biological clock keeps our body in balance with the time of day. Our sleep improves and during the day we feel more rested, have more energy and feel better! Light plays an important role in regulating our biological clock, synchronizing our body's internal rhythm with the external time of day. This improves our sleep quality, resulting in more energy during the day and an improved overall well-being. Our biological clock, also known as the circadian rhythm, is sensitive to light stimuli. Exposure to natural light or good electric light, helps to regulate our sleep-wake cycle, allowing us to fall asleep more easily and experience a deeper sleep at night. Daylight, particularly in the morning, triggers light-sensitive cells in our eyes, which send signals to our brain to regulate our circadian rhythm, but more about this subject in one of our next blogs. Electric light needs to mimic daylight: “the right light at the right time”. If you want to bring good light in your life, watch also the other steps to a healthier and happier life here: Try | Home | Good Light Group | Foundation Light supports us in everything we do. Good light has a great positive impact on our experience of energy, sleep, happiness and health.