Day 296 of 365 - Natural Time
The Mayan civilization is known to have been very advanced in mathematics and science. They also recognized the observable natural cycles of the body, along with those of the natural world, and created different calendars for different purposes as a result. Their concept of time was also cyclical, and related to movements of the planets, the moon and the sun.
Our bodies are known to function on a circadian rhythm, primarily based on the influence of daylight and darkness. Our internal clock is located in a nucleus of the brain, near the crossing of the optic nerves. This tells us how important the influence of daylight is for us. Related to sleep, more melatonin is secreted when it's dark, to signal the brain to sleep. Melatonin is suppressed when daylight occurs.
We might usually think of our sleep/wake cycles first when we consider circadian rhythm, but it affects other functions too. There is an interplay between the influence of light and genetic signalling of hormones, which affects other bodily functions like hunger, metabolism, immune responses, mood and mental clarity. We can get a pretty good idea of how these are impacted when our internal clock gets disrupted. Most often this is due to outside factors, like travelling across time zones or doing shift work. Chronic disruptions of our internal clock can increase risk of health issues.
Paying attention to body rhythms is important to our overall health, not just sleep. Supporting our natural rhythms, internally or externally, is good for our health. Hormones for hunger and metabolism rise and fall over the day. Immune function is elevated at night, during the body's rest and restore phase. Inflammatory responses also tend to rise at night and be more inhibited during the day for the same reason, which is why fever usually rises at night. People with mood disorders have disrupted circadian rhythms, perhaps in part due to fluctuations in serotonin levels.
However, it is also thought that internal disruptions in genetic signaling and hormone release can cause disruptions to our internal clock. That would explain why, even someone who keeps a pretty regular sleep routine might have sleep disruption. As I've mentioned other times, my sleep consistency has declined with menopause, pointing to some kind of hormone disruption in the process.
The way the human body functions is a fascinating interconnection of many systems. Thus, a disruption in one causes changes in many others. In some ways, the more we learn, the more confusing it can get. However, an ongoing regular strategy as a baseline, to support health and healing would be to keep to routines for sleeping, activity and eating, to allow our body systems to work in their natural ways as much as possible.
Many of our modern lifestyle habits are disruptive to our natural time cycles. Artificial light, which keeps our brains on alert way past dark, is one of them. But, so are any of our habits which put us into overdrive in any way.
It's kind of ironic that the traditional concept of retirement is one of 'taking it easy'. For many, it's much too dramatic a change from our hectic lifestyle to be comfortable doing that. It was certainly a shock to my husband's system recently to be working full time one day and not at all the next! I think a more gradual easing in would benefit most of us more than an abrupt stop. So, if going from full time to part time work is an option, for example, the body and mind would likely have an easier adjustment.
One of the advantages of my senior years, is feeling like I have more flexibility to follow natural rhythms. When I'm not 'on the clock' to be somewhere, I can listen better to my body and go with the flow of my day. I'm looking forward to more of that in the coming months.
Our bodies are known to function on a circadian rhythm, primarily based on the influence of daylight and darkness. Our internal clock is located in a nucleus of the brain, near the crossing of the optic nerves. This tells us how important the influence of daylight is for us. Related to sleep, more melatonin is secreted when it's dark, to signal the brain to sleep. Melatonin is suppressed when daylight occurs.
We might usually think of our sleep/wake cycles first when we consider circadian rhythm, but it affects other functions too. There is an interplay between the influence of light and genetic signalling of hormones, which affects other bodily functions like hunger, metabolism, immune responses, mood and mental clarity. We can get a pretty good idea of how these are impacted when our internal clock gets disrupted. Most often this is due to outside factors, like travelling across time zones or doing shift work. Chronic disruptions of our internal clock can increase risk of health issues.
Paying attention to body rhythms is important to our overall health, not just sleep. Supporting our natural rhythms, internally or externally, is good for our health. Hormones for hunger and metabolism rise and fall over the day. Immune function is elevated at night, during the body's rest and restore phase. Inflammatory responses also tend to rise at night and be more inhibited during the day for the same reason, which is why fever usually rises at night. People with mood disorders have disrupted circadian rhythms, perhaps in part due to fluctuations in serotonin levels.
However, it is also thought that internal disruptions in genetic signaling and hormone release can cause disruptions to our internal clock. That would explain why, even someone who keeps a pretty regular sleep routine might have sleep disruption. As I've mentioned other times, my sleep consistency has declined with menopause, pointing to some kind of hormone disruption in the process.
The way the human body functions is a fascinating interconnection of many systems. Thus, a disruption in one causes changes in many others. In some ways, the more we learn, the more confusing it can get. However, an ongoing regular strategy as a baseline, to support health and healing would be to keep to routines for sleeping, activity and eating, to allow our body systems to work in their natural ways as much as possible.
Many of our modern lifestyle habits are disruptive to our natural time cycles. Artificial light, which keeps our brains on alert way past dark, is one of them. But, so are any of our habits which put us into overdrive in any way.
It's kind of ironic that the traditional concept of retirement is one of 'taking it easy'. For many, it's much too dramatic a change from our hectic lifestyle to be comfortable doing that. It was certainly a shock to my husband's system recently to be working full time one day and not at all the next! I think a more gradual easing in would benefit most of us more than an abrupt stop. So, if going from full time to part time work is an option, for example, the body and mind would likely have an easier adjustment.
One of the advantages of my senior years, is feeling like I have more flexibility to follow natural rhythms. When I'm not 'on the clock' to be somewhere, I can listen better to my body and go with the flow of my day. I'm looking forward to more of that in the coming months.
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