Using Your Daily Cycles in a Better Way

-Baby, do you know you can now earn money when you sleep?

-Truly? How’s that?

-Well you just install a certain bot, it starts earning a profit on its own

-Well great! So now we can level up our wellness with a better sleeping pattern, right?

-Right!

There always seems to be that one topic that we sort of skip over or have managed to hide to some dark unknown space when we talk about wellbeing. Maybe one of them is guiding your current into proper spaces or in more simple terms, what to do when. So, maybe some of you have heard about the daily Ayurvedic Clock?

Shortly, the clock is based on the daily influences of the doshas as the body and mind follow an internal clock. You can check out quizzes for finding your spiritual dosha here and for dosha imbalance here. Many people have a natural capability or let's say, an innate memory to follow this daily clock, but there are also many who have deviated from the natural daily cycle.

Now, the skeptics would say well how can you prove that it is an "actual thing". Well, one possibly has to research deeper into the topic of how does Ayurveda "know this", but the whole idea of daily rhythms is an accepted truth in western medicine as well. The term Circadian rhythms relate to a series of internal autonomous oscillators generated by the molecular circadian clock which acts on coordinating internal time with the external environment in a 24-h daily cycle. The circadian rhythm adaptation is a process that is happening in every cell of our body. The cells communicate with the body mainly through transcription and translation feedback loops and depending on the communication and the cycles, processes of gene regulations may be slowed down or upregulated.

*Photo from Front. Physiol., 25 June 2019 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphys.2019.00682/full

The body as a whole communicates with its cells and information from the outside through the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis with the suprachiasmatic nuclei of the hypothalamus directly being responsible for the overall circadian rhythms of the body as a whole. The outside stimuli that affect these rhythms are light/dark stimulus, food, temperature, arousal actions, and possibly other chemical and mechanical stimulators So, we have a way to interact through the language of daily cycles with our environment and communicate it to each cell separately.

Circadian rhythm disruption can cause cognitive impairment, psychiatric illness, metabolic syndrome, dysplasia, and cancer. So, vice versa, possibly improving adaptations of your daily cycle might improve your well-being to a large extent.

Given previous information, is it possible that Ayurvedic medicine was able to establish the knowledge of these cycles and give them a specific format? Well, in any way the Ayurvedic Clock should serve you well in aligning the cycles. It is pretty much like free money when you align your inner environment with the outer environment, your cells with your central nervous and endocrine system so that the system itself is well-oiled and thus leaving you at better overall wellbeing.

6 am - 10 am is Kapha time. At this time, Agni, the digestive fire, is less active. If you are eating breakfast during that time, then choose lighter options, especially if you are struggling with overweight. Kapha rules the practical, earthly, regular aspect of the day so this would be a good time for forming a new habit or doing something important for yourself.

If you are a Kapha dominant person, then some of the dominant dosha related issues might be more prominent during this time like feeling uninspired, sluggish, not wanting to wake up. To battle this, you could actually try out waking up during Vata time of 5 a.m so a bit of Vata energy could help you start the day. By the way 4-6 a.m is called brahma muharta - during this time the harmonious vibrations are higher so it is a perfect time for your spiritual practices.

However, for example, if you are Vata dominant, you would probably benefit in waking up during this Kapha time because it would bring a bit of stability into your life and it is nice to set up a stable morning routine for this Kapha time of day.

10 am - 2 pm is Pitta time. The Agni is the most active so that would be the time to have your biggest meal of the day in most cases. Often this would be also the time to take up the most challenging tasks of the day as Pitta is a master of challenges. Pitta rules the dynamic, flowing, and fluctuating aspects of the day. This would be suiting time to pay attention to how you balance yourself with emotions and perhaps some of the dynamics on your weaker aspects.

For a Pitta dominant person, it might be a time of getting a bit excessive with productivity, food, or emotions which will give negative effect later during the day. It can be balanced by having a medium-sized meal plus a cooling snack 1-2 hours before or after the meal and getting in a couple of 5 min self-treatment sessions like a head massage or eye compress

If you are a Kapha person, you would possibly enjoy movement during this time like making exercise or running some errands. This leaves you feeling fresh and strong.

2 pm - 6 am is Vata time. This is the time of communication and ideas. The entertaining and innovative aspects of life give more fruition during this time of day, you would also possibly want to speak with your loved ones during this time as Vata is assisting the relationships through better understanding. The suggested time of dinner is around 6 p.m when Vata starts turning into Kapha time (Kapha time is a bit heavy to digest the food)

For a Vata dominant person, they might it find more difficult to keep discipline and regularity during that time and might even suffer from having too many ideas and less practical applications which can eventually lead to feeling worn out. One of the remedies to try out, in this case, is reducing the communication time and having some alone time. A soothing drink or a smoothie with some aromatic oil or calming music might assist. Another strategy is not to plan too complicated or "heavy" tasks for this time of day

If you are Pitta dominant, you do very well with transactions, contracts, giving lectures, or any other skill which involves speaking during that time. You might actually enjoy working more during Vata time since it is more easy-going idealistic and less challenging and perfection-driven that Pitta time of the day. Make sure you are not getting too dry during Vata time and enjoy your water

6 pm - 10 pm is Kapha time. This is a time for the body to reset and go into rest.

Kapha might benefit from having some fresh air during early Kapha time to avoid some of the stagnancies.

However, Vata should start evening routine as early as 8 p.m and use this period for calming activities like stretching, mediation, yoga, writing in a journal, or others. Since Vata sleep tends to be most disturbed, sleeping before 10 pm is highly beneficial since stable Kapha supports going into a deeper sleep

Pitta might feel tempted to use its visual strength and participate in watching TV, playing video games, or doing tasks on PC. However, it is advised to rest eyes during this time as much as possible to avoid body function deviation and overactive dreams during the Pitta period of the night (10 p.m to 2 a.m). Pitta might feel well finishing some mundane tasks, listening to something and then easying into their evening routine

References

1. Practical Ayurveda by Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centre, 2018

2. New Insights Into the Circadian Rhythm and Its Related Diseases; Y. Xie, Q. Tang, G. Chen et al Front. Physiol., 25 June 2019 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphys.2019.00682/full

3. Effect on Circadian Rhythm on Metablic Processes and the Regulation of Energy Balance; Serin Y. Acar Tek N Ann Nutr Metab 2019;74:322–330 https://www.karger.com/Article/Fulltext/500071

4. The Ayurvedic Clock https://elemental-alchemy.com/the-ayurvedic-clock/

#Ayurvedicclock #Dailycycle #circadian