如果你⻓期受失眠困扰，我想你⼀定已经读了很多关于“睡眠卫⽣”的东⻄：那些你应该在睡前做的事情，来确保你的睡眠质量。但这不是我今天要谈论的内容，尽管这些“睡眠卫⽣”⾮常⾮常重要。要想获得真正良好的睡眠，你应该关注的不仅仅是睡前的⼏个⼩时，⽽是从你早上睁开眼睛的那⼀刻开始的整个⼀天。

If you chronically struggle with sleep, I bet you have already read a lot about “sleep hygiene”: the practices that you are supposed to follow before bedtime to ensure you have a good night rest. But that’s not what I’m going to talk about here, though it is very very important. What you should do to induce good slumber does not just start a few hours before you hit the sack, it should start the moment you open your eyes in the morning.

我希望这篇⽂章可以帮助你了解光线如何影响你的睡眠周期，以及你可以如何利⽤光线来帮助你睡得更好。

I would like you to understand how light affects your sleep cycle and how you can use light to help you sleep better.

光对人类生存和健康的重要性不需要我再解释。就睡眠而言，光线对于我们生物钟的设定以及我们睡眠的时间和质量都至关重要。

The importance of light to human survival and health does not need my explanation. As far as sleep is concerned, light is critical to setting our circadian rhythm and determining when and how well we sleep.

我们眼睛中⼤多数的光线接收器都是在负责识别形状、亮度和颜⾊，让我们可以“看”到周边的东西。然而，有大约 1% 到 2% 的接收器则有着完全不同的⼯作，与视觉无关。它们负责告诉身体⼀天中的时间，并调节我们身体相对的⽣物反应。这些受体被称为“⿊视蛋⽩”。你有可能从来没听说过这个词，因为科学家发现这个东⻄还不到20年！

The majority of the light receptors in our eyes are responsible for identifying shapes, brightness and colors, so we can actually see. However, about 1 to 2% of the receptors have a completely different job that has nothing do with seeing, but have everything to do with telling the body what time of the day it is and regulating how our bodies should respond. These receptors are called “melanopsin”. You may have never heard of it, because they were discovered by the scientist less than 20 years ago!

即使你眼睛是闭着的，含有⿊视蛋⽩的细胞也会对光线和⿊暗做出反应。当光线照射到这些细胞时，细胞会向中脑发送电⼦信号，然后中脑会随之调整瞳孔的大小。当这些信号到达控制我们生物钟的下丘脑时，它会指令身体应该作出什么样的反应，是开始释放褪⿊激素为睡眠做准备，还是提供充足的能量来满足你⽩天的活动需求。

The cells that contain melanopsin respond to light and darkness, even when the eyes are closed. When light hits these cells, cells send electronic signals to the midbrain, which then acts to resize the pupil. When the signals arrive in hour hypothalamus, which is the area that control our circadian rhythm, it then decides how the body should respond, whether to release melatonin to prepare you for sleep, or rev up the energy level to make sure you are ready for activities.

这显示了光对于调节我们睡眠周期的重要性。这其实是我们的祖先⼀贯的生活⽅式：日出而作，日落而息。但现代⽣活已经把我们的昼夜节律和⽣物钟搞得⼀团糟：⽩天呆在用⼈造光的室内，晚上则用人造光来延⻓醒着的时间。难怪现在这么多⼈有睡眠问题，很难得到自己迫切需要的滋养性睡眠。

This tells us the importance of light in regulating our sleep cycle. This is how our ancestors have always lived: get up when the sun is up, wind down when the sun goes down. But in the modern world, we have confused the hell out of our circadian rhythm, by staying indoors with artificial light in day time, and use artificial lights at night to prolong waking time. No wonder so many people have sleep problems and find it hard to have the restorative sleep they desperately need.

利用光线帮助睡眠的最佳⽅法之⼀是让自己在早晨接触⾃然光。最好是早上⼀起来就做，但如果这很困难，试着在早上抽出⼀些时间到外⾯去。开动一下你的创造力：在阳台上用早餐？提前⼀站下地铁，步行到办公室？上午利用⼯作的间歇，到外⾯去？早⼀点起床？在室外⾄少10 到 20 分钟的时间，当然时间越长越好。

One of the best ways to use light to help with your sleep is to expose yourself to natural light in the morning. It would be the best to do it first thing in the morning, but if that is difficult, try to fit in some time in the morning to be outside. Get creative, have your breakfast on the balcony？get off the subway one station earlier and walk to the office？take a morning work break and get outside？get up a little earlier？Make sure you spend at least 10 to 20 minutes, of course, longer is better.

如果多云或下⾬怎么办？你仍然需要到室外去！光亮度的测量单位为“勒克斯”。你知道吗，即便是阴天，室外的光亮可以达到1万勒克斯左右。但即使在灯光明亮的百货公司，也只是 400 到 500勒克斯左右的光亮。没想到，是不是？所以说，即使在阴天的户外呆上10分钟，对你调整⽣物钟仍然有很⼤帮助。

What if it is cloudy or rains? You still need to do it. The measurement of light brightness is called “lux”. Do you know, even on a cloudy day, it’s going to be around 10,000 lux outside. But in a department store with bright lit lights, what you get is only around 400 to 500 lux. Surprising, isn’t it? Therefore, even 10 minutes outside on an overcast day will still help you synchronize your circadian rhythm.

当然，晚上的蓝光更是搞乱了我们应有的昼夜作息。我们上⾯谈到的⿊视蛋⽩对蓝光尤其敏感。即使没有⼀直在看⼿机、平板或电脑，仅室内的灯光就会对我们的睡眠周期造成极⼤的⼲扰。你的⼤脑和身体⼀直处于困惑的状态：我到底该不该开始释放褪⿊激素？似乎是时候了，但感觉好像还是⽩天！我读过研究报告说，过多的蓝光与减肥困难有关系，因为蓝光让⼤脑认为距离休息时间还很远，所以⼤脑会告诉身体说：现在仍然是⽩天，我需要更多能量，我需要更多的⻝物！

Then there is the blue light in the evening that messes us up. Melanopsin we have talked about above is particularly sensitive to blue light. Even without continuous exposure to phones, tablets and computer, just the indoor light bulbs are very disruptive to our sleep cycle. Your brain and body are confused: shall I or shall I not start releasing melatonin? Seems it’s time, but it still feels like day time! I have read research that links blue light exposure to difficulty of losing weight, because the light makes the brain think it’s still far away from rest time, so the brain tells the body it’s still day time and the body is saying: I need more energy, I need more food!

就像早上需要自然光的照射⼀样，晚上我们需要保护眼睛免受蓝光的侵袭。最好在睡前至少两个小时停止看屏幕。如果你可以佩戴防蓝光眼镜则更好。我在⻩昏时会戴上普通的防蓝光眼镜，然后在睡前1到2小时戴上更⼤的那种护⽬镜式防蓝光眼镜。这个眼镜不仅能阻挡蓝光，还能阻挡其他⼲扰睡眠的光谱，包括绿光，让⼀切看起来都带点红色，从而模仿⻩昏时的光线。这些⼯具在我失眠康复期间给了我极⼤的帮助。我甚⾄可以感觉到睡前⼀⼩时戴上它和睡前两⼩时戴上它的不同。现在我仍然每天都⽤。

Just like you need natural light exposure in the morning, you need to protect your eyes from the onslaught of blue light in the evening. Stop looking at screens, preferably, at least two hours before you go to bed. Better yet, use blue-light-blocking glasses. I start putting on my regular blue-light-blocking glasses at dusk, then put on my more heavy-duty, goggle-like glasses 1 to 2 hours before bed time. These glasses not only block blue light, they also block other spectrums of light that interferes with sleep, including green light, making everything look reddish, thus mimicking the light at dusk. These tools have helped me tremendously during my insomnia recovery days. I can even feel the difference it makes if I put the goggle on one hour before bed vs two hours before bed. I still use them every day.

但是不同的⼈可能有着完全不同的⽣物钟，对吧？你也许会这么说。我们不太可能都可以与自然光完全同步吧？有的⼈是夜猫⼦，但有的⼈喜欢早起，不是吗？是的，⼈的⽣物钟不太⼀样，可能有不同的⼊睡时间和睡眠周期。这些在调整⽣物钟需要考虑进去。但是，它并不像你以为的那么⼀成不变。

But different people may have completely different circadian rhythms, right? You may say. We cannot all be completely in sync with natural lights? Aren’t some people night owls and some morning larks? Yes, people are different and may have different wake-and-sleep cycles, and they should be taken into consideration. However, it may not be nearly as fixed as you might think.

2013 年，在科罗拉多⼤学博尔德分校进行的⼀项研究中，⼋名睡眠周期截然不同的⼈在荒野中露营了⼀个星期。在这⼀个星期⾥，他们接触到的所有光线只是自然光和篝⽕。研究的发现非常令⼈震惊。尽管参与者的睡眠时间⼤不相同，但所有⼋个⼈都随着自然的⽇出和日落而改变了他们的⽣物钟。他们平均⽐平时早睡了⼤约两个小时。

In 2013, in a study conducted by University of Colorado-Boulder, eight people, with quite different sleep cycles, camped in the wilderness for one week. During this week, the only light they were exposed to were natural lights and campfire. What they have found was quite shocking. Despite very different “regular” sleep schedules, all eight people shifted their circadian rhythm in sync with the natural sunrise and sunset. On average, they fell asleep about two hours earlier than in their normal lives.

Sasha Stephens 是“轻松睡眠方法”的作者。（这本书很棒，对于我克服睡眠问题有极⼤帮助）她曾经坚信她不是⼀个喜欢早起的人。她甚至因为这个原因决定放弃正常的朝九晚五的⼯作。但是在克服了睡眠问题之后，现在的她喜欢⼀⼤早起床，简直就是从床上一跃而起！

Sasha Stephens, the author of the wonderful book “The Effortless Sleep Method”, which helped me a great deal in overcoming my sleep problems, used to firmly believe she is not a morning person. She even decided to give up a normal 9 to 5 job to work for herself for this very reason. But now, with no more sleep problems, she loves getting up early in the morning and literally jumps out of bed!

所以也许不是你⽣来就是个夜猫⼦，这在很⼤程度上可能与你⻓期养成的习惯和信念有关。

So the problem may not be that you are just born a night person, it may have something to do with the habits and beliefs you have planted in yourself for a very long time.

总结⼀下，这些⽅法可以利⽤光线帮助你更快⼊睡并保持更⻓的睡眠时间：

To recap, do these to make use of light to help you fall sleep faster and stay sleep longer:

• ⽩天尽可能多地接触⾃然光，尤其是在早上。

• 在晚上⼊睡前⾄少两⼩时将电⼦设备关掉。是的，它们也应该有⼀个睡眠时间！

• 睡前⾄少⼀⼩时，戴上防蓝光眼镜或调暗灯光，或使⽤红灯，保护你的眼睛免受蓝光和其他强光的伤害，帮助你的身体分泌褪⿊素。

• Get as much exposure to natural light as possible in the day, especially in the morning.

• Put your electronic gadgets to bed at least two hours before you turn off your lights. Yes,they have a bed time too!

• Protect your eyes from blue lights and other bright lights at least one hour before going to bed, by wearing special glasses or dimming your lights, or using red lights. This will help your body produce melatonin.‍

如果你的睡眠问题不是很严重，也不是长期的，这些新习惯很可能会解决很⼤⼀部分问题。但是，如果你有长期的睡眠问题，并且你对睡眠倍感焦虑，这些习惯会将你朝着好的方向推⼀把，但不太可能解决根本问题，让你永远摆脱失眠。重度失眠者需要的是全⽅位的调整：⼼理、习惯、理念、营养等。我自己经历过重度失眠的痛苦和后来的完全扭转，我也成功地帮助过客户克服严重的睡眠问题。如果你深受失眠困扰，甚⾄有时感到绝望，请相信自己是有能力走出来的。我提供⼀次免费的咨询辅导，如果有兴趣，请联系下⽅的客服微信。

If your sleep problems are not severe and not chronic, these new habits may very well solve a big part of the problems. However, if you have chronic sleep issues, and you have become anxious over the whole idea of sleeping, these will push you in the right direction, but will unlikely address the root causes and make you overcome insomnia forever. What severe insomniacs need is to tackle the problem from all angles: mental, habits, sleep hygiene, beliefs, nutrition, etc. Aside from my own journey of beating insomnia forever, I have successfully counseled people overcoming their severe sleep problems.  I offer one free coaching session.  If you are interested, please get in contact with our customer service WeChat below.