I have an unfortunate predilection for screens at night; they empower my hyperactive mind, allowing me to make progress on projects despite the darkness. Even more unfortunate are the consequences of this unnatural light time: nighttime alertness, frequent tossing and turning, and many mornings welcomed with less than six hours of sleep.
Bright lights keep us buzzing late into the night due to our circadian rhythm, the body’s internal clock. It plays an important role in the normal functioning of body And mind. It is too inextricably linked to light. Before the widespread availability of electricity, human activity was closely synchronized with these natural light cycles, as was the case for every other living thing on the planet. Over time, however, experiencing light in the dark changed from a rare luxury to an everyday occurrence.
I wondered what my life, mind and body would feel like without the disruption of electric light. What if, instead of ending my night when I look at the clock and realize what time it is, I gave myself the gift of darkness and let my body decide when it’s ready to wind down, instead of my LED-addicted mind?
I gave myself a week to find out.
Hello darkness: my experiment without light
When my friend Franco and I agreed to house-sit on a remote farm in the Atlantic Forest of Bahia, Brazil, I knew it was the ideal location for such an experiment. It was a world away from our apartment in the chaotic heart of Buenos Aires, the South American ‘city that never sleeps’. And there was no sign of light pollution. On the farm we could fall asleep to the symphony of forest life, and wake up to flocks of toucans and troops of monkeys calling to each other as the sun rose.
It was certain: I spent my days working outside on the shady veranda. As soon as the sun set at 6pm, I turned off my computer and phone and used only candles and a red light headlamp for lighting. (Red light though It has been shown to minimally suppress melatonin, similar to fire, because it has no blue wavelengthsso I thought the disruption to my circadian rhythm would be negligible.) I planned to wear my Fitbit to measure sleep duration and depth before and during the experiment.
The benefits of natural light
The body has a mind all its own, and light input is one of the signals that instructs it when to relax and when to step up. Darkness tells the brain to produce the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin, while light activates the wake-up hormone cortisol. This is why screens can keep you tired and excited for hours, while the glow of the morning sun on your skin improves your mood in seconds and makes you feel sleepy both physically and mentally at night. In short, cortisol-boosting sunshine during the day and melatonin-boosting darkness at night make for energetic days and restful nights.
However, in these biology-defying modern times, these patterns are almost reversed. Screens in the dark can be the biggest culprit. According to sleep psychologist Leah KaylorExposure in the dark to blue light, which is concentrated in screens and white LED lights, is basically the same as absorbing nighttime sunlight. This means that you expose yourself to the same wavelength as sunlight. “Essentially it tells the brain to wake up and be alert,” Kaylor explains.
In her book The inner clock: living in sync with our circadian rhythmsauthor Lynn Peeples explains how a lack of darkness can wreak havoc on our biology. “Artificial light at night has been linked to depression, poor blood sugar control, obesity, reduced sperm quality, increased risk of premature birth, increased susceptibility to infectious diseases and further unwanted health problems,” she writes.
When I spoke George Brainard, PhDa biologist who directs the Light Research Program at Thomas Jefferson University, he noted that my sleep experiment mirrored the experiments being conducted in space. His team helped NASA develop a lighting system to improve sleep onset and quality in astronauts, based on circadian-optimized lighting that dramatically dims and switches to red-shining wavelengths. I felt reassured when I heard this.
The night’s own illumination
The nights are long near the equator, and at first the idea of living by candlelight every night sounded crazy. But as soon as the sun set on the first night, I immediately felt the cool darkness calm my body and mind.
It was a strange feeling; the soft light made me sleepy, but it was too early to go to sleep. So I settled into a special wakeful peace, read a book by candlelight and kept a diary. I wasn’t so tired that I fell asleep, but I enjoyed an overwhelming sense of calm. There was nothing to do, nothing to accomplish, nothing to work on. It may sound similar to what you’ve heard yoga teachers say before Savasana. The fact that I found this such a shocking sensation shows how deeply ingrained the productivity of all the hours is in me.
When it was time for bed, I crawled between the sheets with a wonderful feeling of drowsiness that put me to sleep within minutes. The next day I woke up to the 5am sunrise with a renewed sense of energy and focus.
Throughout the week, I spent evenings enjoying a variety of non-electrified activities: meditating, yoga, journaling, and reading. I went to bed earlier, fell asleep faster, and consistently logged at least eight hours of sleep. According to my Fitbit, my average amount of deep and REM sleep has increased significantly, with fewer awakenings during the night.
Getting rid of evening screen time also created space to observe the beautiful lights of the night itself. I had almost forgotten how strong a shadow the full moon can cast as Franco and I took a nighttime walk along the quiet country road carved into the forest, with trees casting inky silhouettes against the silvery night. The lack of work with screens left an empty space in which I could let my thoughts wander, creating more opportunities for conversation and insight.
One night, as the sun sank below the jungle-choked hills, Franco and I tended a bonfire and let it burn until we had enough coals to shovel under our makeshift grill. We used it to prepare our dinner in the Argentinian asado style. We sipped homemade caipirinhas and talked about things you only think about when you’re not caught up in endless commotion, including the likelihood of alien life, whether time travel is theoretically possible, and the fact that the stars we saw probably died thousands of years ago.
Living in unity with the Light
In a world without electric light, I fell asleep faster, slept better, woke up more energized, and generally felt more relaxed. But my favorite part of the experiment was the unexpected space it created for quiet contemplation and connection with the world and people around me.
Brainard, both a yoga practitioner and a biologist, pointed out that yoga is essentially the unity between you and the world, and between body, mind and spirit. He noted that in this experiment I chose to live in unity with the natural environment, allowing it to guide my body into instinctive energy cycles. It was a form of yoga.
The bond Brainard described was palpable in those evening hours by candlelight, in conversations under the stars about the vastness of the universe, in the way my body instinctively knew when to rest. Living with the Sun and Moon grounded my awareness in the present moment, allowing me to discover, or perhaps rediscover, the deep peace that comes from living in harmony with biological rhythms. I plan to extend my experiment indefinitely.
#days #electric #light #learned #dark