Resetting the clock
Attuning to circadian and seasonal rhythms
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Unpopular opinion: I like autumn and I don’t mind winter as much as I used to. (I used to HATE winter). I like seasons. So, as much as I appreciate the sun, I don’t want it to be summer all year round.
What I’m less keen on is the darkness between October and December here in the northern hemisphere. The clocks always change at the end of October, yet the cloak of darkness descending at 4pm always feels sudden, no matter how many years I experience it.
At this time of year I have to remind myself that it’s only about 6 weeks of the days getting shorter, and then after the Winter Solstice on 21st December, the days will begin to gradually get lighter and longer again.
This year I found myself feeling unsettled after the clocks went back. It’s taken a while to catch-up with the shift and the reduced hours of daylight. For a while it felt as though my own internal clock was out of whack and at the same time my body has been signalling that it is time to slow down and match the energy of the yin time of year.
I thought I’d share a few of the things I’ve been doing to reset and regulate in case any of these are helpful for you as well. I’ve written about some of these in Rest + Calm too:
Going to bed and getting up at regular times (and resisting the urge to lie in): In the run-up to the clocks going back, I gradually shifted my bedtime earlier in 10-minute increments. It meant that I started naturally waking up earlier for while, but it also meant that by the time the clocks changed my bedtime and wake-up time had realigned. For me, keeping these times regular also means I don’t usually need an alarm as my body tends to wake-up at around the same time each day. Though I do set an alarm to be on the safe side, I’m usually awake before it goes off.
Make melatonin in the morning: When I’m working from home I find it especially important to make the effort get out and go for a walk at the start of my day. Aside from the benefits of walking and being outside, getting daylight in our eyes in the morning can increase serotonin (one of our happy hormones, thought to play an important role in mood regulation). Also, as serotonin is converted to melatonin as the day progresses – melatonin being a hormone produced in the brain that we need for good sleep, as it helps to regulate our circadian rhythm – morning daylight exposure can have a positive impact on your sleep too.
Keeping the lights low: It’s now common knowledge that blue light from screens can be detrimental to melatonin levels, but did you know that strong artificial lighting can negatively affect melatonin too? For this reason, after sunset at home I use lamps to create softer lighting instead of relying my overhead lights. I started doing this several years ago and not only does it create a cosy atmosphere, it also helps me to mentally wind down from the day too.
Putting my apps to sleep (yes, even Substack): Let your smartphone work for you. Something I find really helpful is the downtime function on my phone. I’ve set it to go into sleep mode at a certain time each day, so after that time I don’t access apps and I don’t receive any messages (including WhatsApp – note to friends sending cat videos) after a certain hour unless from emergency contacts, therefore reducing my exposure to blue light. Related to this…
I turned off notifications a long time ago: If you haven’t done this already, go into your phone settings and give this a try. Your nervous system will thank you. Speaking of your nervous system…
Being intentional about rest (which is not the same as sleep): For your nervous system, rest isn’t binging a box set, as enjoyable an activity as that may be. If you’ve been here a while you’ll know I’m a huge yoga advocate. (I’m biased – I teach yoga and have practiced for over 20 years.)
It won’t be a surprise then, that my go-to’s are practices like restorative yoga and yin yoga, both of which I share every month on Substack here, as well as meditation and breathing practices here.
If you do nothing else, can you give yourself the gift of lying down for 20 minutes – yes, that is a yoga pose – and see what happens? If you struggle with stillness (and many of us do) I offer some tips in this extract from my book here in Yoga Journal magazine. (See ‘When Rest Doesn’t Feel Relaxing’)
If you’re in London and would like to experience restorative yoga with me in-person, I’m offering The Rest Sessions: A Rest + Calm Mini-Retreat on Saturday 25th November at Yoga Point in Brixton. You can find full details and book your place here.
That said. I know that yoga isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, so you might find some inspiration via the 7 different types of rest re. the work of Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith mentioned here.
Limiting screen-related work to daylight hours: This is one that I know can be trickier as we all have different schedules. I don’t manage this 100% of the time, especially when sunset comes so early. But as I‘m a freelancer I can usually organise things to enable me to log off when it gets dark 80% of the time. Being disciplined about this means that I don’t mind the times when I do teach online in the evenings because I have been very intentional about what the rest of my day looks like.
If you’ve found any of this helpful, I share much more like this here.
Over to you:
Has any of this provided you with any inspiration?
Do you follow any practices or routines to help you attune to this time of year or the seasons in general?
Let me know in the comments.
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Thank you, Paula, this was a lovely read. I sometimes will go and listen to a relaxing meditation in the afternoon, although I say that and realize I have a done it in a while. I’ve recently started supplementing with melatonin in the evenings, and I’m sleeping much better. Sleep is more evasive as we get older.
Not yet. I’m going through perimenopause and improving sleep is one of the things I’m trying address. I’ve managed to remove night sweats but I’m trying other things in tandem such as fermented food several times a day, 14 hour fasts and daily yoga. I gave up coffee recently. Some days I feel full of energy (days when I spend a lot of time around plants especially) and other days feel really sluggish. Really interesting giving up coffee!