O traveler get up; it is dawn-it is not right that you continue sleeping.
One who awakes, finds; one who is asleep, loses.
Get up and open your eyes from slumber and meditate on your Master.
-Kabir
When I close my eyes and reflect upon times when I feel the sweet rhythms of life around me the following images come to mind: trying to catch falling autumnal leaves in the Maryland forests, feeling joy that the ocean was at high tide on a Kenyan beach, avoiding the midday sun in the Philippines, and meditating under the mystical light of the full moon in India
In particular, life in the ashram in India was attuned to a distinct daily schedule. We would meditate collectively at 5 am, bathe collectively before breakfast in the open air to catch the morning rays of sun, rest to better digest after lunch, play games in the late afternoon, walk and talk after the evening meal and meditate before sleeping. Looking back on those days with fondness and, I must admit, nostalgia, I realize that we were quite attuned to the circadian rhythm. Let me elaborate.
My Guru always used to tell us that the best time for meditation was 45 minutes before sunrise because “at that time the omnipresence of Brahma is felt.” In Hindu culture this “ambrosial period” of the day is called Brahma Muhurta or “God’s Period.” A muhurta or muhurtam is a unit of measurement for time in the Indian calendar, and equals two ghadiyas or 48 minutes. Hence, thirty muhurtas constitute a day and night, with each one being accorded a degree of auspiciousness.
Often the reason given for why this time is so ideal for meditation and obtaining knowledge is that the outer environment is serene and the mind is quieter and less preoccupied with the worldly duties of the daylight hours. Dr. Vasant Lad also tells us that, “At this time, there are loving (sattvic) qualities in nature that can bring peace of mind and freshness to the doors of perception”.1
The circadian system
Everything in our universe pulsates to a certain tune, especially our daily existence on planet Earth. This daily rhythm is guided by the circadian system of the human body, which consists of a central ‘biological master clock’, located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the hypothalamus, and peripherally located biological clocks, which are found in most tissues such as the heart and liver. Peripheral clocks can work independently of the external light/dark cycle, but are synchronized by the master clock that responds to external cues such as the light/dark cycle, exercise and nutrient intake. This system has an endogenous rhythmicity of approximately 24 hours.
The system creates a biological night and a biological day so that physiological, and behavioral activities best suited for nighttime, such as rest, memory processing, cellular repair and brain development, take place at night, and those best suited for daytime, such as alertness, and availability of glucose, take place during the day. The prolonged disruption of the circadian synchrony leads to an array of disorders, including insomnias, impaired glucose tolerance and obesity, and decreased life expectancy.
Let there be light
During my morning bathing routine in the ashram in Calcutta I used to love feeling the sun’s rays on my wet skin, knowing that Vitamin D levels and mood were being enhanced as a result. I also felt connected to the natural lives of my ancestral forbears who were exposed to different spectra of light in the morning, the late afternoon and evening. Was my exposure to the morning spectrum of light helping stimulate timely melatonin secretions in the night hours?
Light is certainly the strongest influence on the internal clock, especially at sunrise and sunset. In fact, people can regulate their sleep/wake patterns by changing their exposure to light. So a late night person should wear sunglasses in the evening if he wants to get into an earlier rhythm, and an early morning person should wear sunglasses in the morning if she wants to start a later rhythm.
I was fascinated by a 3 year study2 done by Dr Eus Van Someren to determine whether increased light could improve the sleep patterns of elderly Alzheimer’s patients. These people were suffering from fragmented sleep, which causes depression and lack of motivation, and places an additional burden on caregivers. The researchers changed the lighting in the nursing home to give the residents three times more light. The results exceeded expectations, with residents enjoying improved cognitive performance, improved mood and an improved sleep-wake pattern. These benefits were equal to those induced through medication, but without the side effects. In elderly people the cells in SCN do not die, but the cornea of the eye thickens causing more incoming light to be diffused. Hence one has to expose them to more light so that more light rays enter the eye.
Dietary intake
In the ashram we used to eat sizeable amounts at breakfasts and lunch, but little at suppertime. This was wise as, even when calorie intake is the same for each mean, blood glucose levels will be higher after supper as insulin does not work as well at night. Hence one should following the here is an old saying: Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper.
Conclusion
It is sad that in our 21st Century urban civilizations we are losing our connections to the basic rhythms of life. In fact, one of my students today spoke of a new disorder that is emerging: nature deficit disorder, a term coined by the writer Richard Louv in a 2005 book, Be sensitive to the rhythms, finding the optimum time for everything. The human body that craves exposure to Nature is denied it by the technology predominant world in which we live, and we suffer as a result.
I am therefore fiercely attached to my 6:30 to 9 am morning yoga and meditation practice which provides a magical beginning to my day, especially when a blue sky permits a rising sun to soak my heart with its rays. Those moments are pure bliss as I harmonize the rhythms without with the rhythms within. When the day starts well, everything else seems to fall into place.
References
- Lad, V, Ayurveda Today, Volume VI, No. 3, Winter 1993
- Van Someren EJ et al. Bright light therapy: improved sensitivity to its effects on rest-activity rhythms in Alzheimer patients by application of nonparametric methods: Chronobiology International. 1999 Jul;16(4):505-18.