Do you know much of your emotional, mental, and physical process is driven by your circadian rhythm? Jamie Byrne, a Ph.D. candidate in clinical psychology at Swinburne, reports, “A range of evidence suggests that circadian rhythms are less robust in people vulnerable to depression and bipolar disorders, and we have shown that depression is indeed associated with a blunted circadian reward rhythm.”
While some people are early birds and others are night owls, one thing many people have in common is a feeling of sluggishness in the afternoon. This is in large part due to your circadian rhythm, a roughly 24-hour “master clock” that regulates hormones in your brain — including, most prominently, the ones that make you feel tired or awake.
But you don’t just experience a physical lack of energy. Your brain’s reward processing system also takes a hit.
The researchers said existing literature has found that an area of the brain known as the left putamen is a “core component of reward-related function in humans,” and so they structured their study to observe subjects’ activation in that area at three times of day: 10 a.m., 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Of these, the lowest levels observed were at 2 p.m.
(See CNN Why You Shouldn’t Schedule Anything Important for 2 pm
“Thymus Thump” is an easy technique to boost your energy during that afternoon slump or any time you need a boost for well-being. Here is a one-minute-thirty-four-second YouTube video demonstration. I have seen it done with success without the hahaha, too, but I like that!
This week, find easy ways to make everything (even a 2 o’clock slump) better. Thump the slump! T-shirts or bumper stickers, perhaps.
Tips from 5 April 2010 to 6 August 2012 are here: Archived Tips
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Rev. Debra Basham
Voice or text: (269) 921-2217 Email: debra@scs-matters.com http://DebraBasham.com http://ImagineHealing.info http://SurgicalSupport.info Small Changes … Infinite Results™
“If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” ~ Mother Teresa |