About the Role of Biological Rhythm in Optimal Health

“Rhythm” is life-giving

An activity done regularly, elicits excitement or joy for the doer and leaves the person with more vitality. This is considered a rhythmical activity.

…as opposed to activity also done repeatedly but one that elicits dread or stress from the doer (even just by thinking about it), and leaves the person drained or robbed of life.

The power of the breath

This tendency to hold one’s breath leads to shallow breathing and when left unchecked, is the physiology behind anxiety disorder.

Breathing and heartbeat are rhythms we take for granted. Only when we have problems with these two, do we appreciate their value. Arrhythmia, for example, is the condition by which the heart has irregular rhythm. And when the heart cannot sustain this rhythm, one may need to have an artificial pacemaker.

We tend to hold our breath when we’re expecting news. And, as an evolutionary defense mechanism, we guard ourselves by expecting the worst.

Conscious sighing

The modern-day culture acquisition, of taking in more and more, is reflected in this subtle gesture of not fully breathing out. Observe people with deep problems: they tend to sigh a lot. There’s no more space inside and the physical body is compensating by sighing.

Conscious sighing is a way of making up for this lack of exhalation and preventing physical and health conditions that can arise from it. It could be a sigh of helplessness, a sigh of release, a sigh of relief or a sigh of contentment. In these various reasons for sighing, we use the same set of respiratory muscles, yet we release different sets of neurotransmitters and hormones.

If we sigh from a space of appreciation and contentment, hormones and neurotransmitters like serotonin and oxytocin flood our systems and help uplift our overall outlook. When sighing from powerlessness, on the other hand, our body releases unhealthy acids and cortisol. Imagine climbing a tall mountain, there’s this rewarding “Ahhh” as one appreciates the panorama. When one goes on a long journey and finally reaching the beach. Again, the “Ahhh” of wonder and the substances that support life.

TIP: Sigh, create space in your inner landscape and think of nourishing memories from your childhood or beautiful images from a vacation or encouraging imagination for the future and sigh again… Feel this energy surge lending you a sense of power.

Unheeded biological rhythm

This tendency to hold one’s breath leads to shallow breathing and when left unchecked, is the physiology behind anxiety disorder.

When we sigh or exhale, we create space in between and around the cells of our body. With this space, comes freshness.

Sleep is but a big exhalation, getting us ready for the next big “inhale” of daytime consciousness. Insomnia is a health concern related to disconnection with one’s biological rhythm.

Constipation is a rhythm-related problem. Did you know that one of the earliest signs of Parkinson’s disease is sudden onset constipation? If a person is constipated for a long time, then he or she might miss a very crucial cue for preventing this devastating condition.

Scheming through the history of constipated patients, one pattern observed is this decision to not honor one’s rhythm. Reasons range from:

1. camping or travels and not being used to relieving oneself outside the comforts of one’s private toilet
2. beating deadlines and foregoing essential activities such as sleeping, eating or heeding the call of nature.

Hydration to combat aging

Accelerated aging is another reflection of unheeded biological rhythm. Medical devices use various parameters to calculate biological age (state of the human body) vs. chronological age (age from birthdate). Aside from sleep deprivation or stress-related unhealthy breathing, guess what’s the most commonly missed culprit of accelerated aging? Too much sugar.

Our society’s palate has changed over the decades. I remember a guest with juvenile diabetes. The grandparents asked, “how could this be when four generations, there was no history of diabetes in our family?” The answer: epigenetics. Our lifestyle can change our DNA. Hydrating oneself and avoiding too many sweets can go a long way. After all, sugar is water-soluble.

Hydration is not just the intake of water. Spending time with bodies of water can be very healing. The rhythm of the beach waves soothes away the negative impact of unhealthy reaction to stress and the spray of water heating the rocks releases trillions of anions neutralize imbalances in the body.

Breathe, hydrate, honor the basic needs of our body including sleep; and with reverence, celebrate the rhythm of life!

Learn more about optimal health at The Farm at San Benito, a member of Healing Hotels of the World.