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Respect Your Wake/Sleep Cycle
A client recently told me this revealing story about the power
of routine. While in college she knew a young man whom every one
admired. He just seemed to do everything "right". He
excelled at his schoolwork, was liked by everyone, had a
pleasing and peaceful energy, had many accomplishments
and many connections. She asked him what his secret was.
He said he had only one secret to his seemingly boundless
and balanced energy ? he went to bed every night at the
same time and got up every morning at the same time. As I write that I can just hear some of your cries of "I can?t do
that ? it is impossible." And "I have too much to do." And all
the other assertions about impracticability. But it is not practical to oppose your biology. Our bodies are regulated by consistent internal rhythms ?
our circadian rhythms. Sleepiness, dreaming, body
temperature, hormone secretion, digestion, heart
functioning and more are all regulated according to our
consistent daily biological rhythms. Regular wake sleep cycles are key to maintaining your
biological rhythms. The single most important thing that you
can do to regulate high, clean and balanced energy levels is
to have a consistent wake and sleep time. The key regulator for your circadian rhythms is to go to bed
and get up the same time every day. If you go to bed and get up at odd times your circadian
rhythms will become desynchronized and you will feel all
kinds of malaise ? fatigue, nausea, irritability, confusion,
lack of drive and inspiration- in short low, poor mood and
energy. When you sleep in on the week- ends (or other mornings) to
make up a sleep deficit, you let your body slip into what is
called free running. Free running is a disruption pattern-
your biological clock gets confused and your energy
plummets. Essentially, it is like you are living in jet lag. Every
extra hour that you sleep in confuses your biological clock by
one hour. Resetting your biological clock ? and regaining
your energy potential ? takes one day for each hour that you
sleep in. Even if you have gone to bed late the night before it is best to
get up at the regular time. Eat breakfast, do some work and
then - when your energy levels begin to dip naturally later in
the day - take a nap. The number one rule for maintaining your biological clock-
and therefore the quantity and quality of your energy - is
rising at the exact same time every morning. Mary Ann Copson is the creator of the Evenstar
Mood and Energy Management System for Women.
With Master's Degrees in Human Development and in
Psychology and Counseling, Mary Ann is a Certified
Licensed Nutritionist, a Certified Holistic Health
Practitioner, a Brain Chemistry Profile Clinician, a
Professional Life Coach and Human Development
Consultant. For resources about reconnecting to your
natural rhythms through better management of your
physical, emotional, mental, psychological and spiritual
energy visit http://evenstaronline.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mary_Ann_Copson
This article courtesy of http://www.cyclesfoundation.org.
You may freely reprint this article on your website or in
your newsletter provided this courtesy notice and the author
name and URL remain intact.
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