Energy

Last week, I introduced the concept of Basic Lifestyle Guidelines and wrote about the first 4: Balance, Purpose, Hydration, and Sleep. This week, I’ll be covering the next 4 (Energy, Rhythm, Recovery, and Digestion) and writing a summary piece.

Today is Energy.  Sometimes we have it, sometimes we don’t.  Where do you think that energy comes from?  I mean, we know that our bodies are burning calories, mostly from carbohydrates and fats, to fuel our daily activities.  We also know that the things that excite us and interest us–that fit our purpose–can fill us up with energy.  And sometimes stress or performance-pressure can energize us.  But what about the plain-old daily energy to wake up and go to work and do stuff?

Today’s BLG really connects to the things I wrote last week about sleep and Circadian rhythm.  Our energy levels are intimately tied to that 24-hour rhythm of the sun and moon, and the primary mechanism is hormones.  The main hormone is Melatonin, which your brain produces when the amount of light coming into your eyes decreases at the end of the day.  This is a hormone that relaxes you and makes you sleepy.  The other hormone is Cortisol, which rises in response to increasing light in the morning and makes you more alert.

Here’s the text from my BLGs poster:

 “The earth spins and the sun and moon correlate with our energy patterns.  We need sun exposure, and to sleep with the moon.”

The first part is essentially just saying the same thing I explained above, that the natural light rhythms of the planet drive our own natural patterns of energy and dormancy.  The second part is prescriptive: get some sun on your skin during the day and go to sleep at night.

This prescription sounds like common sense, but it is actually neglected by a lot of people.  It’s very important for folks to recognize that their own work schedules or patterns of technology use could be robbing them of the energy they need to be effective during the day, or robbing them of a good night’s sleep & recovery.

Some folks have completely dis-regulated energy patterns and their hormones are a mess.  One route is to work with a doctor or naturopath for hormone treatments designed to set that straight.  Another route is to simply return to a consistent day/night rhythm and save the expense of hormone testing and treatments.

So, want to have more energy during the day when you need it, and therefore be more effective at whatever you’re doing?  Want to have less energy at night, so you can relax, sleep, and recover?  Simply follow that natural sun and moon rhythm:

• Wake up when the sky lightens in the morning and get some sun on your skin.
• Turn things off at night and go to sleep when it gets dark.
• Repeat daily and see how you feel.