How Much Difference Can a 10-Minute ‘Sunlight Snack’ Really Make to the Winter Slump? I Tried It for Two Weeks

As I write this, I’m wrapped in a dressing gown, my grandmother’s chicken soup bubbling away on the stove in a desperate attempt to stave off a cold, and I’m wondering whether October is too early to turn on the heating. Summer, it seems, is well and truly behind us.

As much as I love how winter incoming means more cosy evenings on my agenda, I’ve never been particularly good at embracing the darker months. The clocks haven’t even gone back yet, and I can already feel my enthusiasm for early mornings dwindling.

And I’m certainly not alone. Research from Dreams found that almost half (45%) of people feel the darker mornings and evenings negatively impact their energy levels, while 42% notice a dip in their mood. More than one in five even say the darker days affect their sleep.

I don’t have a diagnosis of seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a form of depression associated with seasonal changes, but I certainly recognise a shift in my mood, motivation and energy levels as the days become shorter. And while I’m usually the first person to advocate for a little comfortmaxxing, there’s only so much sleep hygiene you can practice, supplements you can invest in and wellness hacks you can try before admitting defeat. Winter can be rather miserable.

But what if the answer to feeling a little brighter during the darker months was something simpler? Enter: the ‘sunlight snack’, a wellness concept encouraging us to seek out small, regular doses of natural daylight.

We've already established that exercise snacking—short bursts of movement scattered throughout the day—can have benefits for our physical and mental wellbeing. Which got me thinking, if bite-sized workouts can help boost our mood and energy levels, could the same principle apply to sunlight?

After all, natural light plays an important role in regulating our body clock, and research suggests it can influence dopamine activity, too.

Curious whether just ten minutes of morning light could make a meaningful difference to my wellbeing, I decided to put it to the test for two weeks. Keep scrolling to discover if it shifted my mindset, but whilst you're here, you might want to explore our other MC-approved morning hacks. We've got guides to drinking bone broth for breakfast, low-effort wellness habits, and the most common everyday energy drains. Plus, read how I got on when I tried the psychological sigh to reduce cortisol, too.

I Tried a 10-Minute ‘Sunlight Snack’ Every Day for Two Weeks

What Is a ‘Winter Slump’, and How Does It Affect Our Bodies and Minds?

If you’ve ever found yourself struggling to get out of bed in the winter months, or noticed that your usual enthusiasm for an early morning workout has mysteriously disappeared, you’ll be familiar with the winter slump.

Although not a medical diagnosis, the term describes a dip in energy, mood and motivation some of us experience as daylight hours decrease.

For others, these seasonal changes can develop into something more serious. According to the NHS guidance, SAD is a form of depression that typically occurs during autumn and winter, with symptoms including persistent low mood, fatigue, difficulty concentrating and losing interest in activities previously enjoyed.

“Light is one of the most important signals that keeps our circadian rhythm clock synchronised with our environment,” explains Dr Shirin Lakhani, an expert in women’s hormonal health. “When daylight becomes more limited in autumn and winter, our exposure to light changes, which can influence the timing of melatonin release, sleep patterns and mood.”

Our circadian rhythm is essentially the body’s internal clock, helping regulate everything from sleep and hormone production to energy levels.

“The shift to darker evenings can trick the brain into thinking it’s later than it really is, leading to earlier releases of melatonin, the hormone that promotes sleep,” adds Dr Suzanne Wylie, GP and medical adviser for IQdoctor.

How Does Sunlight Help Improve Symptoms of a Winter Slump?

There’s good reason to believe that getting more daylight could help us feel better during the darker months.

Light is one of the strongest environmental signals regulating our circadian rhythm. When daylight enters our eyes, specialised cells in the retina communicate with the brain’s internal clock, helping our bodies distinguish between day and night. Morning light is particularly useful for reinforcing this sleep-wake cycle.

“The body’s internal clock regulates sleep, hormones and energy levels. When daylight hours shorten, this shift affects melatonin production, making us sleepy sooner, and reduces serotonin levels, which impacts mood and motivation,” adds Dr Wylie.

And research suggests that exposure to brighter light may have benefits beyond helping us feel more awake. A 2024 study found that greater exposure to bright light was associated with more regular sleep patterns and fewer depressive symptoms.

Of course, this was observational research, so it doesn’t prove that stepping outside every morning will improve your mental health. Nevertheless, it offers an encouraging reminder that our relationship with daylight deserves more attention, particularly when the temptation to hit snooze and spend five more minutes in bed becomes almost impossible to resist.

What Is a Sunlight Snack, and How Do You Do It?

Think of a sunlight snack as a small serving of natural daylight, ideally enjoyed shortly after waking. The concept is simple—spend at least ten minutes each morning somewhere bright, whether that’s drinking your morning coffee in the garden, going for a walk or stepping outside for a breath of fresh air before opening your laptop.

And if the British weather has other ideas? Sitting beside a bright window can still offer some natural daylight, although getting outdoors is generally better for supporting our circadian rhythm.

For my two-week experiment, I also wanted to make those ten minutes feel like a moment of calm before the working day began, rather than another wellness task to tick off. So, I asked breathwork practitioner Nicola Cacioppo whether incorporating a few minutes of conscious breathing could make my morning ritual feel even more restorative.

“One of the wonderful things about breathwork is that we’re already breathing all day, every day,” she explains. “We all have access to it, but I think people underestimate how much we can use our breath to influence how we feel.”

Her advice was refreshingly simple: breathe gently in through your nose for four seconds, then out through your nose for six. “Nothing forced or exaggerated, just soft, comfortable breaths,” she advises. “As the practice becomes easier, you can gradually lengthen your breathing, keeping the exhale slightly longer than the inhale.”

Scientifically, we know that slow-paced breathing can have short-term benefits for heart rate and heart rate variability, both of which offer insight into how our bodies respond to stress.

But what interested me most was Cacioppo’s suggestion that paying attention to our breathing can encourage us to check in with ourselves. “Am I feeling tense? Am I rushing? Am I holding my breath without realising? Sometimes, simply noticing your breathing is enough to bring you back into the present moment.”

As someone whose mornings tend to begin with a mental inventory of everything I need to accomplish that day, I was particularly curious to see whether combining the two might help me start things a little differently.

What Does the Science Say About Micro-Habits and Our Health?

If you’ve ever enthusiastically committed to an elaborate morning routine on Monday, only to abandon it by Thursday, you’ll understand the appeal of a micro-habit.

Rather than attempting an ambitious lifestyle overhaul, the idea is to introduce small, manageable changes that are easier to stick to. And there's science behind this approach, too. University College London found that forming a new habit can take anywhere from 18 to 254 days, but missing the occasional day doesn't necessarily undo your progress.

For breathwork practitioner Cacioppo, the secret is making these small moments part of everyday life, rather than treating them as another task on your to-do list.

“You don’t need any equipment, and you don’t need lots of time,” she explains. “Even five minutes every morning is still a practice. Consistency is more important than trying to do too much.”

I Tried Sunlight Snacking for Two Weeks—Here’s My Honest Verdict

Week One

In typical British fashion, the weather took a turn almost immediately after I committed to getting more morning daylight. Grey skies, persistent drizzle and absolutely no desire to leave the warmth of my flat meant my first week of sunlight snacking looked rather different from the wholesome, sun-drenched mornings I'd envisioned. As a Health Writer who could wax lyrical about the benefits of getting outdoors, the irony wasn't lost on me that I was now finding every excuse not to.

Instead, I found myself sitting beside the brightest window in my house, allowing whatever natural daylight was available to pour in while practising the breathing technique Cacioppo had recommended.

*Four seconds in, six seconds out. Repeat.*

I'll admit that, initially, I felt slightly ridiculous. I'm usually mentally scrolling through a to-do list before I've even finished my morning coffee, so sitting still and concentrating on something as mundane as breathing felt surprisingly unnatural. I was also acutely aware that the relatively modest amount of light coming through my window wasn't quite what the research had in mind.

But I quickly began to enjoy those ten minutes to myself. There was something rather lovely about starting the day without immediately reaching for my phone, answering emails or mentally calculating how much I could accomplish before lunchtime. And while I can't say I experienced any dramatic changes in my energy levels, I did begin to notice how rarely I allow myself to do absolutely nothing.

Week Two

Thankfully, the weather improved during week two, and I could finally take my sunlight snack outdoors. I’ve long been a fan of the German practice of lüften, or ‘house burping’, which involves throwing open your windows first thing in the morning to let the fresh air in, even in the depths of winter. It’s a ritual I already swear by, and I was beginning to think a daily dose of morning sunlight deserved a permanent place in my routine, too.

And what a difference it made. Within a few days, getting outside and soaking up some natural daylight as soon as possible after waking had become something I genuinely looked forward to. My productivity soared, and I found myself sitting down at my desk feeling awake, energised and far more capable of tackling my inbox, rather than spending the first hour wishing I was still in bed. Some mornings, my ten-minute walks turned into half an hour, simply because I was enjoying myself.

Can Ten Minutes of Morning Sunlight Really Beat the Winter Slump? My Verdict

After two weeks, I can’t claim that sunlight snacking has transformed my mental health, but I certainly noticed a difference. Getting outdoors first thing left me feeling more energised, focused and ready to tackle the day.

While ten minutes of daylight isn’t a guaranteed fix for the winter blues, I was surprised by how quickly such a small change became something I looked forward to. It’s a habit I fully intend to keep up as the days grow darker.

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