Dancing with your Ultradian Rhythm
Sisterhood, I had never heard of a personal energy plan before I had done some reading and research for this article. This got me excited because plans are useful. While there are many things out of your control, an actual plan generally centres around activities that are within your control. Plans are also commitments. We plan and schedule our meetings, dates or time with loved ones because they are important.
You’re important enough to have a plan for your personal energy! Like the energy in physics can be recharged and boosted, so too can you recharge and boost your energy stores to show up. You may be depleted but let’s find ways to power boost to the next level in this game of life.
I love Michelle Reece’s perspective in which she states that “Energy is not simply a physical construct. While the physical elements are a consideration in our overall energy levels, we need to delve deeper and look at our underlying mental and emotional energy levels to get the complete picture.” Based on my own experience, energy is a beautifully choreographed dance between the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual aspects of who you are. Neglect one of these and the dance falls apart. Essentially, your personal energy planner starts with energy management to level up and do what feeds all parts of who you are.
I’ve heard this so many times. How do I integrate mind, soul, body and emotions in such a way that I do small activities that boost the energy all around. Enter the role of the ultradian rhythm...drum roll please.
THE WISDOM OF ULTRADIAN RHYTHMS
Ok, so the ultradian rhythm is new to me too. Bluezones.com explains it really well and takes it from me...I am so inspired to move in synchronicity to my ultradian rhythm. It’s an important science.
Ultradian rhythms are not esoteric at all, but rather, “measurable, observable, quantifiable physiological patterns that your body must maintain in order to operate properly.” Bluezones.com succinctly describes ultradian rhythms as follows: “Basically, ultradian rhythms are like mini-versions of circadian rhythms (our twenty-four-hour cycles of sleep and waking), except that they are much shorter, occurring many times over a single day.
Like circadian rhythms, they have a powerful effect on your body, and when they are disrupted or ignored, they can really mess with your health, happiness, and general well-being.” I can’t get into it in this article, but basically, you have ultradian peaks and troughs. As per the suggestion, you are at your ultimate during a peak-an energetic low point.
The trough is when you’re irritable, hungry, distracted or suddenly crave things that aren't healthy like too much caffeine or sugar. These troughs are actually a good thing and demonstrate that your body's working as it should: “These are your body’s flag-waving signals that it needs some down time—now, or as soon as humanly possible—in order to regenerate cellular fuel, rebalance your blood sugar and biochemistry, flush its detoxification systems, and repair damaged tissue.
Your brain also needs a break to sift through all the vast amounts of data you’ve taken in, tag it, organize it, and create important synaptic connections.”
Ignoring these signals have a major effect on your physical, mental and emotional energy states. If ignored, then we take longer to return to the peak and the peaks are not as high as they could be. Over time the costs are huge, including inflammation, low sex drive (yes I went there), disrupted digestion, increased sugar cravings, reduced physical co-ordination, irritability, decline in creativity, mood imbalances, accelerated aging...the list goes on. I realise that while we may think that we have weak will-power, we may just be completely out of sync with our ultradian rhythms.
We have been hard-wired to be continually on the go in this 21st century, ignoring the wisdom of old. This is why self-care and replenishing energy stores may seem “too good to be true” or too simple to make our lives better. We have completely discarded the value of taking time to understand how we operate best all in the name of “productivity,” toxic-work cultures and FOMO.
“Ultradian rhythms are not a hack; rather it’s about “working in concert with your body’s natural rhythms to optimize your performance,” Thanh Pham. These are just a handful of ultradian activities that will -re-energise you:
Get some water or tea and drink it slowly and mindfully
Go for a mindful walk
Spend some time in the sun and focus on your breathing
Stare into space or do a mindless task away from your work
Meditate
Have aromatherapy oils in your space or run a quick pleasant errand
Rub some lotion on your hands with intention
Do a gratitude list or reflect on what values are important to you and which ones have been in play during your day.
Call a loved one or colleague to say hello.
There are so many more things you can do but this is a great start. We are intricately designed and all aspects of us have been designed to connect to one another. I have done many things that are mindful practices, never once realising that I am positively recharging to get out my ultradian trough to reach my peak. I never realised I was playing in the neuroplasticity space to rewire my brain (essentially this is what you’re doing). So shift gears, change your working space for a bit and ultimately, become more intentional about understanding how to dance with the natural rhythms of your body.