{"id":34573,"date":"2017-04-25T06:00:20","date_gmt":"2017-04-25T13:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/?p=34573"},"modified":"2017-10-16T09:51:13","modified_gmt":"2017-10-16T16:51:13","slug":"is-the-life-youre-living-in-tune-with-your-natural-rhythms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/is-life-youre-living-in-tune-with-your-natural-rhythms-0425174","title":{"rendered":"Is the Life You\u2019re Living in Tune with Your Natural Rhythms?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"PersonLet\u2019s sit down and have a conversation, perhaps over a cup of tea. You know, the way people used to connect. We’ll sit together and enjoy the taste of the tea, the afternoon gently gliding by into the golden light of early evening.<\/p>\n

How\u2019s your life going? I\u2019ll ask.<\/p>\n

As you mull this over, I\u2019ll continue:<\/p>\n

How much of the time are you aware of feeling happy<\/a>?<\/p>\n

Are you in charge of guiding your life? Or is it running roughshod over you?<\/p>\n

Do you feel your life is flying by quickly? Are you savoring it?<\/p>\n

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If you could live in any way you wanted, how would you live?<\/p>\n

Are you living in tune with your natural rhythms? (If not, how long have you been putting that off?)<\/p>\n

Like many of my writings, this article is about the interplay between internal and external: how our inner selves respond to the outside world.<\/p>\n

As a somatic psychotherapist<\/a>, I have spent thousands of hours tracking and supporting the innate rhythms of the human autonomic nervous system<\/a>. In our natural state, our bodies (and entire beings) move in rhythmic waves.<\/p>\n

One well-known example is circadian rhythms<\/a>: the daily biological cycle of wakefulness and sleep, highly dependent on interaction between the environment (sunlight) and our nervous system.<\/p>\n

On its own, a well-regulated nervous system will experience more subtle ebbs and flows throughout the day. There will be gentle cycles of expansion and contraction. Expansion involves experiencing more energy, more outward focus, a sense of alertness and\/or well-being. Contraction involves feeling less energetic, our focus turning inward. During the normal, gentle periods of contraction, the body can rest, digest, and repair. (Harsher periods of contraction may indicate grief<\/a>, depression<\/a>, or the freeze response, usually reactions to traumatic<\/a> circumstance.)<\/p>\n

These cycles are reflected in many cultures\u2019 practice of the afternoon siesta, in which businesses shut down for a few hours. People relax, nap, eat a leisurely lunch, or talk quietly with loved ones before returning to the afternoon\u2019s work. This practice is an outward reflection of the dynamic interplay between sympathetic<\/a> (fight and flight) and parasympathetic<\/a> (rest and digest) branches of the autonomic nervous system.<\/p>\n

Changes to this internal rhythm of ebb and flow often come from the environment. Jet lag is a disruption in our circadian rhythms, in response to our day\/night clock being reset by long-distance air travel. Another largely nonthreatening example is that of a friendly neighbor knocking on the door just before bedtime, asking to borrow a cup of rice. This requires a small amount of energy to respond to, but is not a crisis.<\/p>\n

On the one hand, it never hurts to help someone increase their resilience and capacity for joy. On the other, therapists do people a disservice if we \u201cpatch \u2019em up and get \u2019em back out there\u201d without examining all the factors that contributed to their symptoms in the first place.<\/span><\/p>\n

Other events are more demanding, particularly those perceived to have a direct or indirect threat to our well-being. Of course, it is normal to have our natural rhythms disrupted by environmental demands. That\u2019s why we have a fight-or-flight<\/a> nervous system. Animals go through these threat response cycles every day in their eat-or-be-eaten world, but they tend not to be traumatized by this. The question for us, as humans, is this: How often and intensely is this threat response happening in our bodies? Are we allowing ourselves to go gently into those down cycles of rest or leisurely enjoyment as we are biologically designed to do? It\u2019s easy for the nervous system to become stuck on \u201con.\u201d If we are disconnected from our bodies and their needs, we burn out eventually, and our health or emotions crash.<\/p>\n

When I was growing up in the 1970s, I remember watching a futuristic cartoon called The Jetsons<\/em>. The cartoon depicts a future where people have more leisure time because machines take care of everything. Robotic maids bring food automatically dispensed from the wall. In our reality, though, people have become busier than ever. In your daily life, you might notice some signs of this acceleration:<\/p>\n