We had a wonderful discussion at our recent ‘Off the Wagon’ workshop about the rhythms of nature and in particular, our biological and hormonal rhythms that are essential to a happy and healthy life experience. It feels like a great topic to expand upon as we begin our transition from Winter to Spring on this gloriously fine day.
We all have within us a daily circadian rhythm. We are also subject to the wider chronobiological rhythms which shape our experience. These may be weekly, monthly, seasonal or annual. On the day-to-day, our body likes to know when it can expect to wake, when it can expect to eat and when it can expect to sleep. There are so many hormonal changes required, temperature changes, activation of brain patterns, physiological engagement of key systems and so on, that it is critical that we coordinate these diverse activities in some organised fashion, and the more precise, the better. For example, our mind and body find it useful to be able to time the end of the 90 minute sleep cycle to correspond to our waking up (and the rising of the sun). (more…)