Circadian Rhythms + The Power of Light on Your God Designed Body.
God has created us with many biological rhythms. Certain ones that have really intrigued me in the past year are our circadian rhythms.
Our circadian rhythms impact our mental health + hormones.
What are Circadian Rhythms?
According to the National Institute of General Medical sciences, Circadian rhythms are physical, mental, and behavioral changes that follow a 24-hour cycle.
Why is This Knowledge Important?
Circadian Rhythms Impact Your Entire Body, Examples:
Hormone balance
Mood
Eating habits and digestion
Body temperature
How Can I Support my Rhythms?
One powerful, God designed way: Light Exposure.
Light, melatonin, and other melatonin receptor agonists can significantly impact circadian (“body clock”) physiology, particularly the timing of circadian rhythms (PMID: 26568121).
Exposing your eyes to natural light upon waking.
Using light devices as needed.
Avoiding the use of light-emitting devices, like tablets and cell phones, for several hours prior to bedtime because it may prevent melatonin suppression.
Intentional cues: a morning + evening routine that sends your body a cue that it is time to sleep or wake.
Chrononutrition: I cover this in my course! But there are resources out there you can research on your own.
Watching the sunset + using candle lit or red night at night vs blue light.
What I have personally witnessed works with clients:
Intentional Sunlight Exposure
Light device therapy, especially if you struggle with seasonal affective disorder or cannot get morning light. Please do your research, as there can be contraindications + if you are not my client, I cannot answer specific information.
Supporting your stress response cellularly + emotionally.
Helpful Ways to Assess Your Circadian Health:
Keep a sleep diary + take note of when you fall asleep, when you wake up, how many times throughout the night you wake up, and total sleep time. This can help you tune into patterns.
Measure your body temperature upon waking, if you wake up with a temp less than 97.5, this is a cue to do some metabolic + circadian rhythm investigation.
Advanced: DUTCH testing with a focus on cortisol awakening response. This is a super expensive test and while provides great insight, there are also so many other interventions that can take place before this is needed though.
Helpful tools to Research:
LED Sun Lamp Mood Light and Sunlight Lamp
Takeaways
Though there are helpful tools out there, health habits do not always need to be super expensive + fancy. You do not need the tools I recommended, but they can be helpful.
Sometimes it can look like paying attention to the sources of light you are allowing yourself to be exposed to + being mindful to watch the sunrise + sunset.
Other times it can look like giving your body cues via light choice its time to wake or sleep.
Life is full of free medicine, are we paying attention?
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