5 reasons why you should experience sunrise or sunset

Over the last few years, I have become slightly addicted to filming sunsets. As a former night owl, what surprises me most is that I am equally obsessed at filming sunrises.

In this video, I share five great reasons why experiencing sunrise or sunset is good for your health and good for your soul. There is a calmness and sereneness that I experience when I’m surrounded by the warm glow of the sun at sunrise or sunset. And it’s a feeling that I don’t experience at any other time of the day. It’s not something I’m always able to do (due to the weather or other commitments) but I’m forever chasing it when I can.

As a parent of a four year old and a six year old, I don’t have a lot of spare time. But the time that I do have to myself is usually when my kids are asleep and during the summer months this happens to coincide with sunrise and sunset.

As any parent knows the time when your children are asleep is particularly valuable. This is the time when you can decide what you want to do without fear of being constantly interrupted for a snack. And I’ve found one of the very best ways for me to deal with life’s ups and downs is to carve out time for myself regularly to go and experience sunrise or sunset.

Here are 5 reasons why you should experience sunrise or sunset:

1) It benefits your mental and physical health. It forces you to go outside and studies show that there is a strong connection between time spent in nature and reduced stress, anxiety and depression. And once you’re outside, you can experience the sunrise or sunset by walking, running or cycling and any of those are good for your physical health.

2) Sunrise will inspire you. There is a reason why the sun coming up has been a constant source of inspiration for poets, writers and romantics.

3) it slows down time. It has the power to stop me in my tracks and I feel completely immersed and at peace in the experience. And given that the rest of my life feels quite hectic and busy, with lots going on these experiences allow me to totally clear my mind for a short period which is why I think I pursue this as often as I can.

4) It lifts your mood. This amazing event which happens twice a day has an amazing ability to transform my mood. For me there is no better stress reliever or way to end the day than to watch the sun going down.

5) it’s free! The sun rises and sets every single day and there’s nothing to stop you from going to experience this. Apart from bad weather or heavy clouds, when you might not be able to see it very clearly.