Saturday, August 25, 2012

LIFE SPECIAL..Rhythm of life



Rhythm of life

We all develop a pattern of living. Mostly, there is a certain routine we follow in everything we do – the time we wake up, when we feel hungry, the time we reach out for that cup of coffee, or the time we nod off to sleep – the body and mind need to follow a routine.

In fact, the body has its own bio rhythm too. The bio rhythm is an internal body clock which controls all the bodily functions. It is defined in terms of cycles – a day’s cycle, monthly cycle and the yearly cycle.
The daily cycle controls how we respond to the release of certain hormones which, in turn, control our bodily activities like digestion, metabolism, regeneration and healing. The monthly cycle controls how we respond to delicate biological processes like the menstrual cycle, release of ovum and the disintegration of the uterine wall at the end of the month.

The yearly routine dictates how we age, when we start losing hair, the time when hormonal growth diminishes and the other changes associated with ageing.

Life is all about timing and patterns – how we create disruptive patterns or creative patterns and cycles. It is in our hands to create disruptive cycles or creative cycles. The things which can affect these cycles are:

Sleep cycle and its duration
Exercise cycle
Eating cycle [the feeding cycle]
Sleep pattern and cycle
Most people underestimate the relationship between health and sleep. Many people connect sleep with only tiredness and feel a sense of achievement if they can compromise on sleep. Sleep is not simply the shutting down of the mind and body. How important and complex the sleep cycle is can be gauged from certain observations:
Sleep-deprived people can cause accidents at work and while driving.
-They have accelerated ageing.
-Sleep deprivation can lead to major errors in making judgments. Sleep-deprived scientists, doctors, pilots, researchers, etc., can make serious errors while taking important decisions.
-Sleep deprivation leads to stress which can lead to a heart attack.
-All of us need at least 6-8 hours of restful sleep [restful sleep has a certain pattern of completing the sleep cycles described in the sleep wave pattern].

Feeding cycle
When we eat is as important as what we eat. Our food intake is directly related to the insulin levels in our blood. Let’s look at two situations of the feeding cycle:

Pattern one

Previous night: Late and heavy dinner.
Breakfast: Skipped, because you’re not hungry, but you compensate with tea and coffee with sugar.
Lunch: You have no time to eat, so instead, you drink more coffee and tea with biscuits that are loaded with trans fats, refined flour and sugar. This results in a spike in insulin levels and converts calories to fat.
Evening: You get hungry on the way home and you indulge in snacks like bhujiya, namkeen and pakodas once you’re home. These snacks are loaded with refined flour, trans fats, salt and preservatives.
Dinner: You’re not hungry any more, but have to eat with your family. This results in more unwanted food.

This pattern increases chances of obesity, asthma, diabetes and heart attacks.

Pattern two [healthy pattern]

Previous night:
Light dinner.
Morning: You wake up hungry and enjoy a hearty breakfast.
Lunch: Caffeinated beverage consumption goes down if you eat breakfast and you eat a moderate lunch.
Evening: You don’t indulge in snacks.
Dinner: You opt for a light and early dinner with family.

Which pattern do you think will sustain your health?

Exercise pattern
In our adult life, we almost give up exercising. Exercising is directly linked to our bio rhythm, emotional cycles, body strength and stamina, bone strength and calcium retention and cardiovascular strength.

Patterns and cycles are the foundation of our lives. We should focus on creative patterns to lead a healthy life.

Shikha Sharma HTBR 120722

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