(Thinkstock)We’ve
heard it before: “Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and
wise."
But
does waking up early make us happier?
A
recent Daily Mail article claims so. Simon Parke, author of “Solitude:
Recovering the Power of Alone,” writes that waking up early — he recommends
an intimidating wake-up call of 5am — lets us begin the day in peace:
“Watching
dawn break through the kitchen window really does ‘make light of the day’
whatever it may hold,” he
writes.
“In
the uninterrupted stillness — people don’t phone, text or email at this time —
you hold the new day like you hold a new-born child, wondering what will be.”
Parke
isn’t alone is praising the wee hours of the morning.
Gretchen
Rubin, author of “The Happiness
Project” claims that her resolution to get up earlier boosted her
happiness:
“One
of the great challenges of a happiness project is to think about time: whether
the structure of our ordinary days reflects our values, interests, and
temperament. Sometimes, making a shift like waking earlier or changing a daily
routine can make a big difference,” Rubin
wrote in Psychology Today.
[See also: Sleeping can help fight stress]
“I spend the hour from 6:00 to 7:00 working at my desk, and I love the light, and the quiet, and the sense of focus and freedom from interruption that I have during that hour.”
Last year, a study supported these observations by Parke and Rubin, finding that early risers were less likely to suffer from depression and stress than their sleeping-in counterparts.
“There are morning people and evening people, and morning people tend to be healthier and happier as well as having lower body mass indices,” Dr Joerg Huber of Roehampton University summarized the study.
Would you wake up earlier for a health-and-happiness boost?
I woke up at 6am this morning. It was not a fun experience. But by the time I was home from the gym, I felt refreshed and ready to get on with my day, considerably more energized and upbeat than I would have been had I pressed the snooze button a few times and skipped the squats. So I guess I’m on Team Early too.
Early risers, share your secrets. What are your wake-up strategies?
Here are a five ways to wake up looking great, which will make your early morning even better.
More from Shine on Yahoo! Canada
8 surprising health benefits of sleep
Does happiness depend on where you sleep?
The truth behind common sleep myths
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