The free, biology-backed habits that support energy, better sleep, and a nervous system that can recover.
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Fresh off a weekend that reaffirmed what we believe.
Our doctors just got back from a weekend at the Dells with the Chiropractic Society of Wisconsin, and the speakers this time were a little different. It was a group of MDs — a former ICU director, the head of a major hospital system, a cardiologist, and a research scientist — all of whom have stepped away from conventional medicine over the last several years for various reasons.
What struck us was how much overlap there was. At one point, one of the doctors mentioned that when a baby nurses, the baby’s saliva actually mixes with the mother’s system, changing the composition of the breast milk in response. He seemed surprised when we all laughed. We told him that in chiropractic, we call that innate intelligence. Your body is always paying attention to what the internal and external environments need and adapting accordingly.
That kind of synergy kept showing up all weekend. And the through-line of most of what was shared came down to something simple: we are biological beings, and we are living increasingly far from what our biology was designed for.
The energy source you can get for free
If you spend any time online, you have probably seen ads for red light therapy panels. NAD supplements, anti-aging products, sleep optimization devices, and the list goes on. The market for energy and longevity products is enormous right now, and a lot of them are things your body doesn’t actually need when we can give it the right amount of sunlight.
Dr. Ryan Cole, one of the weekend’s speakers, opened his talk with a line that made us all chuckle: “I am not sponsored by Big Sun.”
He spent an hour and a half on the topic of light and energy. Maybe five minutes of that was on red light therapy products. The rest was about natural sunlight, why it matters, and what happens when we stop getting enough of it.
What morning sunlight does that no device can fully replicate
The window between 6:00 and 9:00 AM is when the sun emits the most red and amber light. That light spectrum stimulates a cascade of biological processes in the body. Dr. Cole connected it to energy levels, sleep quality, skin health, and more. His point was straightforward: the full spectrum of natural sunlight is something we were designed to absorb, and no manufactured product can fully replicate it.
We have shifted dramatically over the last 150 years from lives spent largely outdoors to ones spent almost entirely indoors. Under fluorescent lights. In front of screens. Inside cars, where the windows filter out much of the natural spectrum. That shift has happened faster than our biology has had time to adapt.
One thing that does not get talked about enough is how morning sunlight sets your internal clock. When your eyes take in that early light, your body’s circadian rhythm gets calibrated for the day. That means better energy during daylight hours and a stronger signal to wind down when it gets dark. Getting outside in the morning is one of the most direct ways to support better sleep that night.
Your skin’s ability to tolerate the sun without burning also builds over time with consistent, gradual exposure. If your eyes and skin have been sheltered all winter, they need time to recalibrate. That is not a reason to stay inside. It is a reason to start building the habit back.
Sunglasses, melanin, and what we were never taught about sunlight.
This one often surprises people. When you wear sunglasses, you block the light your eyes need to signal your melanin to respond appropriately to UV exposure. Eye-to-skin communication is part of how your body calibrates how much sun it can tolerate. When you short-circuit that signal by covering your eyes, your skin loses some of its natural ability to protect itself.
Dr. Cole was not suggesting anyone stare into the sun or skip protection in extreme conditions. The point is that our instinct to always block, filter, and shield ourselves from the natural environment may be working against us in ways we have not fully considered.
Grounding: your body as an electrical system
In chiropractic, we talk about the nervous system as the body’s communication network. The brain sends signals down the spinal cord and out to every cell, tissue, and organ. What Dr. Cole added was the reminder that your body is also electrical in a more literal sense. It emits light. It conducts a charge. And it is designed to exchange electrons with the earth when your feet or body are in contact with the ground.
This is called grounding or earthing, and while it sounds simple, the implications are real. Direct contact with the earth helps move electrical charge through the body, supporting cellular function, calming the nervous system, and helping discharge some of the erratic energy that builds up from chronic stress.
In chiropractic, the term subluxation literally means “less light.” When the nervous system is under interference, the body’s ability to communicate, to energize, and to self-regulate is diminished. Removing that interference through consistent chiropractic care is one part of restoring that electrical coherence. Getting your feet on the ground is another.
In winter, direct contact is harder, especially here in Wisconsin. Dr. Cole mentioned that even a copper wire connected to a grounded stake in the earth, held for a few minutes, still provides some benefit. But when the weather allows, take off your shoes. Sit on the grass. Let your body do what it knows how to do.
Melatonin: the 5% most people know about
Most people know melatonin as a sleep supplement. What few people know is that the pineal gland accounts for only about 5% of melatonin’s effects in the body.
The other 95% is happening inside every one of your cells. Melatonin is one of the body’s most powerful antioxidants, and it is produced at the cellular level by the mitochondria. When that process is disrupted, the downstream effects go well beyond sleep. Your cells lose some of their capacity to fight infection, manage inflammation, and recover from the demands of daily life.
What disrupts it? Blue light at night is the main culprit. Scrolling on your phone for thirty minutes before bed does not just make it harder to fall asleep. It suppresses cellular melatonin production throughout the body. That is the kind of fatigue that eight hours of sleep does not always fix, because the quality of recovery happening at the cellular level has been compromised.
You do not have to be perfect. But reducing screen time in the hour before bed and protecting the sleep environment from artificial light make a real difference in how your body recovers overnight.
Simple habits worth building back
Nothing shared this weekend was complicated or expensive. In fact, most of it was free. Here is what stood out:
- Get outside between 6:00 and 9:00 AM. Even ten minutes. Let the natural light reach your eyes. This sets your circadian rhythm, supports melatonin production, and builds your tolerance for sun throughout the day.
- Put your phone out of arm’s reach before bed. Not across the room as a rule, but far enough that reaching for it requires you to get up. That one small friction makes a surprising difference in whether you actually do it.
- Get your feet on the ground. Especially during warmer months. After dinner, go outside. Sit on the grass. Let some of the day’s accumulated stress discharge. Then skip the phone so your nervous system has a chance to wind down before sleep.
- Build the habit before you need the result. If your nervous system has been under fluorescent lights and screens for most of the year, one afternoon outside will not undo that. These are habits you build back gradually, and the benefits compound over time.
What this has to do with your spine and nervous system
Your body is a self-healing, self-regulating system when it has what it needs. Sunlight. Grounding. Rest. A nervous system that is communicating clearly from brain to body.
Consistent chiropractic care removes the interference in that communication. Regular adjustments help your nervous system stay responsive, adaptable, and better equipped to make use of everything else you are doing to support your health. The two work together.
If you are someone who comes in only when something hurts, this is worth reconsidering. The nervous system benefits from regular care the way the body benefits from regular sleep. Both matter. Neither is optional.
You do not have to change everything at once
Pick one thing from this post and do it for two weeks. Morning sunlight. Phone off earlier. Feet on the ground after dinner. See what you notice.
If you are not yet a practice member, we would love to connect. Initial evaluations are available at cookchirocenter.com/contact-us.
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