Make Time for Sunrise, Sunset

Quick Win

Taking in the colors and beauty of a changing vista could help boost your mental well​-​being.

Try This Today

• Check your calendar. Find a few days when you’re available to view both the sunrise and sunset. Plan to take a walk at sunrise or find a scenic spot to sit at sunset. 
• Bring a friend. Invite someone who enjoys getting up early or sitting outside in the evening. 
• Look for patterns. Think about any patterns you observed at dawn and dusk, and how they differ from one another. 
• Factor in the weather. Think about the role that clouds or other weather features played in establishing or changing the patterns that you observed.

Why

When was the last time you took the time to take in a scenic sunrise or a romantic sunset? Enjoying simple pleasures can help you de-stress. An online survey of 2,509 people (65 percent of whom were 36 ​or​ older) found that participants ranked images of sunrises and sunsets as more awe-inspiring than photos of a clear blue sky. The study was published in 2023 in the Journal of Environmental Psychology. 

“Getting up a bit earlier for sunrise or timing a walk to catch sunset could be well worth the effort,” Alex Smalley, an environmental psychologist at the University of Exeter, who led the research, noted in a news release. “The ‘wow’ factor associated with these encounters might unlock small but significant bumps in feelings of beauty and awe, which could in turn have positive impacts for mental well-being.”