CIRCADIAN RHYTHM

Our bodies are hormonally designed to stay in sync with the cycles of nature. When the sun goes down and the sky turns dark, we have to go to bed and sleep! When the sun comes up and the sky turns light, we are to get up! This natural rhythm of the body linked to nature is called the “circadian rhythm.”


Very few people, of course, go to bed when it becomes dark or get up when the sky turns light. We have tricked our bodies with light at night and draperies over windows during the day.
Biologically speaking, here is what happens. Melatonin is a hormone produced by the pineal gland that produces feelings of relaxation or ‘mellowness,’ even to the point of being drowsy and sleepy.


The amount of light that reaches the eyes determines the amount of melatonin produced by the pineal gland. The greater the light, the less production is of melatonin. This is why some people feel far more alert and energetic on sunny days and more lethargic on cloudy days – the less light, the greater the ‘mellowing out’ amount of melatonin released into their bodies. In the evening, the pineal gland gradually starts secreting more and more melatonin. Melatonin is secreted throughout the night but when light begins to hit the eyes in the morning, the melatonin production decreases dramatically and a person awakens.