[news] Should You Follow Your Brain Cycle to Plan Your Day? Apr 01, 08
Should You Follow Your Brain Cycle to Plan Your Day?
Do you ever wonder why at different times of day you feel more energetic, while at others you feel more relaxed? Or why you may feel slightly stressed when you wake up, while at the same time your mind is still groggy?
These patterns of experience are partly due to your expectations and life experiences. For example, you may feel more stressed when you leave work because you suddenly have the space and time to realize how you had been feeling during your workday. You may feel more relaxed in the evening because you are at home doing something you enjoy. However, to a great extent these patterns can be explained by circadian (daily, rhythmic) changes in your brain and nervous system.
Many hormones and parts of the nervous system have a daily cycle. During certain times of day their activity or levels in the blood are high, while at other times they dip down. Five of these daily changes that appear to affect stress and activity levels are:
1. Cortisol levels. Cortisol is one of the body’s prominent stress hormones. Its level peaks just before we wake up to prepare the body for the stresses of the day. This peak appears to be caused by the fact that you are waking up, rather than being a high point in a natural cycle. Cortisol’s lowest level is in the early afternoon.
2. Testosterone levels. Testosterone can promote all different kinds of activity. Its daily rhythm peaks in the morning.
3. Sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system. The sympathetic nervous system is responsible for our body’s fight or flight response. Its morning peak also appears to be related to waking up rather than a daily cycle.
4. Parasympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system. The parasympathetic nervous system balances the sympathetic nervous system, and is responsible for our body’s rest and digest functions. Its activity starts to rise in the evening and then peaks in the middle of the night.
5. Brainstem-evoked potential. A brainstem-evoked potential is an electrical reflex of the brainstem. When the brainstem is stimulated by visual or auditory signals, a positive electrical potential in the neurons is evoked. The brainstem’s response is slower in the morning, which may explain why your mind may be slower then.
These hormonal and neurological patterns may lead you to think that the brain is more wired to do physical activity in the morning, and cognitive tasks later in the day. Knowing this, should you organize your day to fit these patterns?
Our biology evolved over millennia of human history and may not have adapted sufficiently to our modern circumstances. Thus, this pattern need not be our destiny. We can turn it around to suit our lifestyle.
To balance the influence of your inherent patterns, you can activate your parasympathetic nervous system by performing mind-body exercises at various times of day. For example, when you feel tired and groggy in the early afternoon, it’s helpful to take a short walk while focusing your mind on your feet. Another strategy is to drink a few glasses of water. Water will expand your intravascular volume and increase your blood’s overall circulation throughout your body, including your brain.
In the evening, when you have finished dinner but are still a few hours from going to sleep, cortisol is coming down to its minimum and your parasympathetic drive is increasing. At this point you can do a relaxing exercise such as abdominal breathing that will allow you to be conscious and alert, but still enable you to fall asleep later.
The main thing, however, is finding some way in the space of your day that you can exercise to help you feel good about exercising. More important than when you do it, is making sure that you do get some exercise during the day.
Dahn Yoga centers around the world (http://www.dahnyoga.com) teach mind-body exercises that activate your parasympathetic nervous system, creating a relaxed state of concentration. It is a different form of yoga that focuses on mastering your brain. Dahn Yoga exercises include deep abdominal breathing and deep stretches that can help move fluid circulation toward the heart.
Some Dahn Yoga exercises are even directly for the brain, such as tapping on your skull to increase blood circulation to the brain, and brain wave vibration, an exercise that specifically moves your brainstem in order to increase its blood circulation. More blood circulating to the brain brings it more of the oxygen and nutrients it needs to work optimally. To do brain wave vibration, just move your head back and forth rhythmically for five minutes while you focus on your brain.
For more information on strengthening your mind-body connection and its benefits, visit the websites of the International Brain Education Association (http://www.ibrea.org), and of Ilchi Lee (http://www.ilchi.com), the founder of Dahn Yoga.
