It’s been happening to me suddenly the past couple weeks that I get tired much earlier than usual – starting around sundown/by 9 or 9:30pm i’m really not much use anymore. this is unusual for me. been needing lots of sleep. my energy thru the day is mostly normal/ok. something i can do? something to be concerned about? something i should see you about? don’t seem to be sick or anything. feeling a bit more sensitive to caffeine/sugar when i have them too.
cheers,
yonti
Dear Yonti,
This is a normal seasonal progression, not an illness. Until our teen years we are generally more in touch with our natural rhythms and follow them without resistance. Until our mid 30’s we can seemingly over-ride our appropriate seasonal and daily circadian rhythms without much problem. By 40 years of age our bodies call out for us to follow natural rhythms. By 60 we will die quickly if we do not follow the rhythms.
Our natural hormonal rhythms would have us wake about an hour before sunrise and go to bed about an hour after sunset. A couple of weeks ago sunrise was about 7 AM and Sunset around 7 PM. So bedtime, or at least complete mental rest, should have been about 8 PM.
Caffeine and sugar both bring the energy up and to the surface, so lose more yang energy to the atmosphere. We will get depleted more quickly.
As the warm yang energy wanes, we start to lose rather then gain energy from our environment and must compensate accordingly. We need several more hours of sleep in the winter than in the summer. Bears hibernate. We need to sleep appropriately.
Americans specifically, and our modern civilization in general, are so imbalanced that we can barely see what balanced would be.
When hungry; eat.
When tired; sleep.
Be Happy!
Dr. John Nieters, L.Ac. DAOM
