By: Hettie Basil Lighttower
Some people I know claim to be a night owl, others a morning person. Which one are you? What does it mean to be a night owl or a morning person? What I know is it has to do with your “internal clock” and when you have the most energy.
I have a friend who I know full well not to call before 10 a.m. She is not a morning person. I know people who work shift work. They are grumpy all the time! But all my life my dad worked shift work and he is an exception to that. I don’t ever remember him being grumpy. I remember my mom being grumpy trying to keep us kids quiet while he was sleeping. We were sometimes on the same sleep schedule as dad. It depended on the “turn” he was on.
Our bodies do have a built in clock that naturally goes along with nature and nature’s rhythm and seasons. This clock has a name even. It is called Circadian Rhythm. It means that during times of the 24 hour day our bodies naturally want to do certain things. The term “circa” means “around” or “goes around”.
Study of this process of sleep and energy and hormones has an earliest record of the 4th Century B.C. Alexander the Great, 1700 French scientist Mairan, 1800 Patrick and Gilbert and Szymanski and more recent persons have observed and documented the diurnal processes in humans. Others have studied these processes in trees and plants.
It has been of much interest for nearly as long as time. There is an official biological clock pattern based on a person who goes to sleep around 10pm and it repeats fairly orderly every 24 hours. When we do not keep in a normal routine and sleep pattern it really can impact our health and aptitudes. Our mood and personality can be altered due to hormones out of balance simply by getting out of our circadian rhythm.
This is what an ideal circadian rhythm should look like for the average person:
7:30 a.m. Melatonin secretion stops; 8:30 a.m. bowel movement likely; 9 a.m. highest testosterone level; 10 a.m. much alertness.
By 2 p.m. best coordination; 3:30 p.m. best reaction time; 5 p.m. best cardiovascular efficiency and muscle strength; 6:30 p.m. highest blood pressure; 7 p.m. highest body temperature; 9 p.m. melatonin releases begin; 10 p.m. bowel movements suppressed; 2 a.m. deepest sleep; 4:30 a.m. lowest body temperature and by 6:45 a.m. sharpest rise in blood pressure.
Based on this example of a common circadian rhythm, how much of it hits home for you? With this information how does this help you understand strengths or weaknesses you may have in this natural way of being? Does this help to explain some things you know about yourself and your health? Perhaps if you notice a glitch or a huge discrepancy in this compared to yourself, you now know seeking medical advice may be helpful.
Are you someone who doesn’t get this much sleep at night? Is your blood pressure higher or lower at different times than what this suggests? I realize these are a lot of self-reflective questions of which only you know the answer to and really only you need to know the answer to them.
Do you have a daily routine that supports your circadian rhythm? Another thing to consider is that our bodies heal and repair and recover during our deepest sleep. How much deep sleep do you get per night?Per week? Per month or year? These are things to evaluate and improve on where you can. Your body will thank you.
If you get your circadian rhythm in order you may find yourself with more clarity, reaction, thoughtfulness and taking less medications. Good luck and keep doing what you need to do for yourself. Be well.
Send in your notions and comments to [email protected]. And remember, kindness is contagious~*