Body Rhythms: Everything in the Universe Moves in Waves

We all have body rhythms. The question is, how in sync is our lifestyle with these rhythms? Are you an early riser, or do you fight yourself to get up in time to meet your responsibilities?

In a perfect world our responsibilities would revolve around our body rhythms, not the other way around.

I used to give a lecture called "Do Exercise and Relaxation Go Together? You Bet!" I cited Irving Dardik, a surgeon who developed a controversial Super Wave theory to treat patients with chronic diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. Keep in mind that he developed these treatments when we as a culture were not as aware of the relationship between our habits and our wellness.

In 2002, diabetes and heart disease were not viewed as "lifestyle" diseases the way they are today. Irving noticed that in cultures closer to the equator, where life revolved around a more natural cycle, the populations didn't have these diseases. In our culture we get up to an alarm, we eat on the run, we can be in a constant state of stress. This, he felt, wears us down because our natural rhythms are like a wave. With chronic stress, we flatten that wave, which he proposed caused disease. Instead of following our natural rhythms, we have become an "always on" culture.

He went on to develop an exercise protocol, renamed the "cyclic exercise protocol," that increased heart rate variability. Instead of steady-state exercise (warming up for 10 minutes, exercising at a steady pace for 20 to 30 minutes, then cooling down), one would exercise very intensely and then sit down and stop. I remember thinking this was too extreme at the time. Dardik's premise was that one's heart rate variability is a predictor of health.

Today, heart rate variability is a popular way of assessing health and optimal performance. Heart Math, founded over 35 years ago, created products that assess Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and guide one into what they term "coherence." Their programs teach meditation and breathing techniques, showing graphs of HRV and of one's autonomic nervous system.

Fast forward to Douglas Rushkoff, whose book Present Shock explores how the digital age may be changing our lives in ways we never considered. He maintains that we thought the digital age would give us more free time and less stressful lives. The opposite has occurred: we have more information and messages to ingest. It is not uncommon to see couples at a table texting someone who is not in the room and ignoring the present company.

What I found interesting in terms of rhythms was Rushkoff's mention of working with brain chemistry in a 28-day cycle, with each week governed by a different neurotransmitter: "The first week is acetylcholine, the second week is serotonin, the third week is dopamine, and the last week is norepinephrine." According to Rushkoff, an acetylcholine week is a great time to introduce new ideas; a serotonin week is very productive; a dopamine week is "when you are going to go ski and party"; and norepinephrine, the fight-or-flight neurotransmitter, puts everybody in an analytic, structural, organize-the-calendar mode.

I think it is important for us as individuals to understand our own rhythms so that we can live in harmony with them. Balance is always the objective!

Whispers of the Breath Diva:

In this moment I can sink into my heart and breathe deeply. In this moment I am self-aware.