Circadian Rhythms

This Sunday we jump into Daylight Savings Time moving our clocks ahead so that sunrise and sunset will be perceived to occur one hour later.  We have engaged in this spring and autumnal ritual of “springing forward” and “falling back” to “standard time” for several decades now.  Debates rage as to whether we should be engaging in these rituals. Why?

For one, we have come to realize how our bodies’ circadian rhythms linked to rotations of the earth cannot be fooled.  Our smartphones may automatically adjust but our bodies are not as easy to re-program.
The reality is, notwithstanding our machinations with respect to our clocks, we continue to sync with the Sun. Indeed most Ancient and indigenous traditions got their cues and developed all types of healthy practices with a conscious account of the Sun.

Today scientists recognize that the master clock in our brain is pretty hardwired to the 24 hour light/dark cycle.   All physiological, metabolic, and biochemical systems in our bodies get their cues from it.  It is not an exaggeration to say that most – if not all – of our modern ailments begin with lifestyles that do not respect this synchronization.  Everything from hormonal imbalances to metabolic disruptions, to inflammatory processes and compromised immunity – can be traced to the cumulative disruptions that result as we try to override these signals to accommodate the demands of our modern lifestyles.  (read “How Messing With Our Body Clocks Can Raise Alarms With Health”, NPR article.)

Only in the past few years have modern scientists begun to document how, in addition to the master clock in our brains, every cell in our body has a timekeeping mechanism. In 2017 a Nobel prize was awarded to scientists who researched how our inner clock adapts our physiology to the dramatically different phases of the day helping to regulate important functions such as sleep and metabolism.

Take your sleep, for example. We now understand that without a daily reset from the rising sun, cortisol levels can quickly become misaligned and disrupt function throughout the body. Not to mention the stresses of the modern world coupled with artificial light, which leave most with chronically elevated cortisol levels, further complicating our natural rhythm.

Ancient Chinese medicine has an elaborate understanding of how time impacts our biological functions and indeed much of what we do with acupuncture is “re-program” the body to adjust to these circadian disruptions.  In fact every organ is understood to have its own metabolism, rhythm, frequency —  its own “Qi.”   The famous Chinese Circadian Clock that informs when certain organs’ reach optimal metabolic functioning is just one example of how the concept of time plays a primordial role in how we diagnose and treat ailments.  In addition, we understand that the time of day and season that you come in for treatment must often be taken into account to properly diagnose the imbalance.  Whether it is sleep disruptions, ailments related to hormonal imbalances, or improving immune function we have approaches that take these circadian disruptions into account to formulate your individual treatments.

There are many mindful ways you can — at home — better sync with the sun and respect these rhythms to improve your health.  Here are just a few suggestions…..

Self Care – Natural Light Treatment

Before the regular use of artificial lighting, humans spent their evenings in a slow transition to nighttime darkness. With the regular use of cell phones, computers, tablets, and TVs, it is easy to see the correlation between nighttime light stimulation and insomnia for adults and children alike. Unnatural light exposure, specifically blue light exposure, throws off our body’s biological clock or circadian rhythm.

The human circadian rhythm – our natural, internal process that regulates the sleep–wake cycle repeats roughly every 24 hours.  For those of us who stay up late, our circadian rhythms begin to be stretched, and those who wake up before the body is fully rested will tend to have shorter circadian cycles. Both come with negative side-effects. If you fall into one of these categories here are some tips as to how you can get better sleep: 

• Align with nature: be outside as often as possible during the day.
• Red light as opposed to blue light is less likely to suppress melatonin and mess with the circadian rhythm. Consider changing a few of your lights to red light spectrum bulbs for the evening hours.
• Turn off all the digital devices at least an hour before you go to bed.
• If you must be exposed to light at night, say for example you work the night shift, dim your screens as much as possible and consider purchasing a pair of blue light blocking glasses.

• Author
• Recent Posts

Johanne Picard-Scott

Johanne Picard-Scott is the owner of Harlem Chi Community Acupuncture in New York City - a thriving alternative health & wellness practice in Harlem, specializing in acupuncture and herbal medicine. She is passionate about helping individuals embrace and grow confident in their innate self-healing potential and in discovering more proactive ways of reclaiming and cultivating their health.

Latest posts by Johanne Picard-Scott (see all)

• Of Medicine & Metaphor – BREATHING IN THE YUCATAN - October 11, 2024
• Suffer From Seasonal Allergies? - May 1, 2023
• Circadian Rhythms - March 9, 2023