What Color Light Helps You Wake Up?

Yellow is the best color light to wake up to simply because it feels like sunrise and also boosts your mood instantly. Your mind and body will carry this good feeling throughout the day. I experimented a lot with LED lights of different colors for different uses. Among these lights, I found yellow and blue to be most effective for waking up and staying alert.

I did read some research studies about the effects of blue and yellow on the human mind. But most of these studies were inconclusive.

So, I did a small test on my own!

Why Did I Try Led Lights To Wake Up?

When you wake up early in the morning to sunrise, it’s such a beautiful feeling. But a lot of us are living in city apartments where sunlight doesn’t enter. Or, you might be waking up at a different time of the day.

I had that same problem. I live in a small apartment in a crowded neighborhood. So, I rarely can see the sun from my windows.

So, I thought, maybe I can use an LED light to recreate that morning sunlight.

It was tough to find a suitable light for this purpose. I needed something light and yellow. But normal LED bulbs just produce  a bluish white light.

After much searching, I settled with a RGB smart LED light. It had millions of color combos and also had the color I needed.

I programmed the light in a way that it turned on with yellow light during my waking hours. So, as soon as I opened my eyes, I could see my whole room turned yellow and helped me to get into senses a lot faster.

After further research, I also experimented with blue light as well. It was effective, but for totally different reasons.

Read Also: How to Use LED Light Colors for Different Moods

Yellow Resembles The Sun And The Best Light Color To Wake Up To

Yellow is a high energy color. Because of its vibrant nature, it can quickly draw attention and create a sense of excitement inside your body. That’s exactly what you need when you wake up.

Right after you open your eyes, your body and mind is still in a state of sleep. But if you wake up to yellow light, your brain becomes attentive and excited. That feeling itself is enough to take you away from your bed.

You need to keep that yellow in a light tone. Even if you keep it saturated, don’t expose yourself too long. Because deep yellow light can quickly make you feel overwhelmed and fatigued.

During the two week when I woke up to the yellow light, I was able to leave my bed faster and got some energy from the get go. I also noticed that it also made me a bit erratic and aggressive, especially if I went to sleep in a bad mood.

Yellow does bring in some aggression. So, I recommend keeping the brightness of your smart lamp low and also lower the color temperature if you can.

Blue Suppresses Melatonin, But Is It Good For Waking Up?

Blue is a short wavelength color and has a profound effect on our sleep. When you see blue light, it activates melanopsin in your body and then suppresses the production of melatonin.

The result is you won’t feel sleepy. That’s the reason, it’s best to avoid blue lights right before you sleep. Especially, deep dark blue lights.

As I started waking up to blue light, I felt a different experience compared to yellow light. While yellow light made me feel excited and happy, blue light made me super alert in no time.

Because of the sudden suppression of melatonin, your brain wakes up fast and the sleepiness goes away. You’ll start to feel more attentive and focused out of nowhere.

Blue light also has a calming effect on your brain and that can help you to wake up with a soothing feeling.

My Recommendations

Use yellow for a week and then blue for another week and feel the differences. Some people will react better to blue lights. If you have anxiety issues, it’s best to avoid yellow. Others like me will respond to yellow light better.

The trick here is to make your body used to a particular light and associate it with waking up. If you do it on a regular basis, you will be able to wake up quickly and with a better mood.