Every morning at 7 a.m., Jane Walsh rolls out of bed and onto her yoga mat. For the next half an hour — before coffee or breakfast or feeding the cats — she bends and stretches her body. “It sets the tone for the rest of the day,” says Walsh, 58, who works in public relations in New York City. She’s kept this schedule for as long as she can remember, even in her 20s after late nights out. Without her morning routine, “my mood isn’t as stable, and I don’t feel as good overall,” she says — and when she does sleep in, she feels like she’s missed out on something. Walsh is what researchers describe as a lark: a person who rises early and is more active in the morning, compared to a night owl who thrives after dark. Everyone has a chronotype, or circadian tendency — a natural inclination to sleep and wake at a certain time. Our internal clock is about 30% to 40% dependent on genetic factors, says Philip Gehrman, a clinical psychologist who directs the Sleep, Neurobiology, and Psychopatholog...
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