Circadium Rhythm, cha, cha, cha!

What is it about the time change in the Fall that drives me especially into a state of bewilderment until the days start to feel, or start to get longer, around mid-January? I am one who counts the number of days from the time that we go back to Standard Time, the first weekend in November until December 21^st, the Winter Solstice. Countdown… from then on, let there be light!

Yes, yes, time is just a construct, yet it affects my mood. In the dread of “falling back” around 6:00 pm I am ready to call it a day in its entirety.  And although I am not one whose life is dictated by a clock, so I can be on to “wake up” with the sunlight and “wind down” with the onsetting sunset, the hard change to our societal clock of time does have an effect when I have to be places at a certain time. In general, this time change thing throws me off. Our clocks and watches abruptly tell us now that by 4’ish the night is coming. What time is it anyway? For my primitive self, light is light and I wake up, and dark is dark, and I hibernate for the evening. Those evenings become too long and I just can’t even see straight!

Historically, we humans followed our circadian rhythm sleep-wake cycle, this meant that as the light of day started weaning, we naturally started to wind down, and consequently, as the light of day started shining upon us, we started to feel awake for the brand new day. Even Mother Nature knew when she gave us fire as a light for nighttime use, to make it [fire] at lumens low enough as to not interfere with the production of melatonin and therefore not interfere with our circadian sleep-wake cycle. It is said that “way back when” during the long nights of winter, humans would trek off to slumber when the sun went down, yes as early as 4:30 let’s say, and that they then would wake around 1 or 2 am and they would have a winter sleep sort of ritual to lull themselves back to sleep until the sun rose the next morning.  And to reiterate, if there was a fire, the light emitted would not send the mind into wake mode. Very interesting huh!

However, in modern-day times we have too much to interrupt our circadian rhythm. Just look around you, it is nighttime and your neighborhood could look like Disneyland, all bright and cheerful. There is increasingly more light pollution and more disruption from technology screens, and we wind up trying all sorts of sleep aids, including melatonin (naturally secreted) to help us drift off to sleep.

Exposure to bright artificial light in the late evening can disrupt this process and prevent your brain from releasing melatonin. This can make it harder to fall asleep. Examples of bright artificial light include the light from a TV screen, a smartphone, or a very bright alarm clock.

I for one use a mask to sleep, because one small detection that the light of the sun is coming up, I am right up with it even if I went to bed late or did not get enough rest.  23andMe says that generally, I am a night person, meaning that I am in bed by 10 and up by 7 am. Pretty accurate on the getting up part, but going to sleep, ugh. There are many interruptions. Although I have an alarm set for 9:04 pm or 21:04 to start winding down, meditate, and relax, my rewards system says, ah how about just a little bit more of doing this or watching that… Sleep hygiene is paramount, and is a habit to develop. I have a routine that most nights I do follow. Yet I still have a habit to form, an automatic response to develop when that 9:04 pm time comes around (yes 9:04, the rebel in me, not the automatic 9:05), I head for the sleeping quarters and start my sleep hygiene routine.  

As we age it is even more important that our sleep hygiene does not get hijacked by automatic responses… remember what I just said… well let’s just change the last part… “the alarm goes off and my reward system says, ah, just one more episode, yet my executor knows better and says, no, no, start to wind down…” this is the type of automatic response I seek to respond to every single night of the year! Our brains, geeeezzzzz.

What does light have to do with it?: Now let’s bring Mother Nature into the mix, she has something to do with light! When we look at Lumens 1800 to 2200K  this is a very warm light with an almost pink tone. This type of light works very well for mood lighting, lighting that isn’t stimulating, romance lighting, the list goes on. Candles, for example, have a Kelvin temperature, we refer to it as Lumens, of around 1800 to 2200K, which is also the temperature that gives off the coziest light in a room. This lighting also does not interfere with Melatonin secretion which normally occurs when exposure to the bright white light diminishes. Bright light, we understand, releases Cortisol, and we do not need heavy amounts of Cortisol released at night as Cortisol serves as a wake-up call to the body, raising our core body temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure from a sleep state, and is also a factor in normal digestion.

This natural release of Cortisol needs not be confused with the over-production of Cortisol that occurs during a stress response. A stress response is a whole different story! Responding to every stress trigger we may encounter throughout a given day, whether real or perceived, causes spikes in cortisol that disrupt this important, natural rhythm. If stress is a normal part of your daily life, then this has an even greater impact on your cortisol circadian rhythm and may mean that you need extra support to reestablish a healthy hormone balance in your sleep hygiene.

A recent study by researchers at the Imperial College London in England published in Nature Neuroscience suggests that practicing a bedtime routine might be even more critical than experts once thought. Preparing for sleep may be a tendency embedded in the brains of all mammals, including humans, and is part of the survival instinct.¹  

In Summary, so much depends on sleep to stay healthy and bright. As a Holistic Health practitioner, I can’t emphasize more the importance of sleep; the importance of a routine; the importance of meditation; the importance of a personal ritual every night, and of course good sleeping quarters such as a quality mattress, inviting sheets, and avoidance of any type of screens in the bedroom, this includes television). All of this helps in getting enough sleep to feel up to the game during wake hours. As early as the 1800s, those well-versed in sleep and its effect on human functioning, yes we will call them Sleep Experts, have recommended keeping good habits of healthy sleep hygiene.

For further information on how you or a loved one could benefit from a Holistic Wellness, Whole Health path, please do not hesitate to contact me at sixto@drsixto.me.

To your Whole Health and Wellness, naturally!

Dr. Sixto J. Sicilia

Holistic Health & Nutrition Practioner

Founder, issimoUSA