We live in a technological world that can steer us away from listening to the natural biorhythms of our body.
Being an incredibly adaptable species and having the ability to create and live in artificial environments and settings using modern technology can cause the natural patterns and normal hours of activity, rest, and sleep to be altered so that we expend energy at night and take sleep during the day.
Operating outside of nature's cyclical time allows us tremendous latitude to undertake all sorts of other activities at any time of the day or night.
Yet, taking advantage of this amazing adaptability isn't necessarily always healthy and ignoring the natural biorhythms of our body could result in serious long-term consequences to our overall condition, not to mention the state of our mind and spirit.
If we are in touch with our natural biorhythms, we are in inextricably connected with the natural healthy rhythm of the earth and our bodies as we associate night with sleep and daylight with awake.
This past Christmas season, I had the opportunity and pleasure of immersing myself more than usual in the dreamworld of sleep.
In the past, this time of year was called Winter Solstice by many cultures in northern climates (some people still celebrate Winter Solstice today) and people often rested in order to preserve their body's natural energy supplies for renewal.
Times have changed and some people behave like the proverbial chicken running around with their head cut off during this period, since winter solstice has been replaced by the Christmas holidays and consumerism became the order of the day.
Christmas has morphed into something far removed from its original purpose--i.
e.
, being at peace with oneself and others (at least, that is what I have understood it to actually mean).
In an unstoppable frenzied state, people are purchasing gifts and arranging and preparing Christmas day or Christmas Eve day at a ridiculously fast pace, bringing themselves to the brink of exhaustion and depleting their body's natural resources in the process.
Christmas could be a much more relaxing time to purchase gifts and arrange and prepare for Christmas day if it was stretched out over a much longer period for many people; for example, those who work on Christmas Eve day.
Learning to relax during this time would bring us much closer to the quiet space within ourselves and would mirror the quiet energy operating all around us in nature.
Once the new year came around and we had preserved enough energy up until spring season, we would welcome spring with excitement and joy.
We would be like the plants who have been hibernating comfortably in the earth's soil during winter only to rise up from the earth to welcome spring on a breath of fresh air.
Christmas time is one time of year when we can allow our bodies to be acquainted with its needs in order to prepare itself for the rest of the year.
Many times in the past, I have moved at an uncomfortably fast speed to keep pace with artificial clocks that keep the wheels of industry and commerce chugging along easily and uninterrupted.
There were times before when I never questioned whether I even had the right to ask myself if this way of moving through space and time was healthy or not.
Ironically, when I was napping and sleeping during the Christmas season, I questioned if there was something seriously wrong with what I was doing and my health because I was sleeping and napping like there was no tomorrow.
I was not used to choosing rest over activity without feeling some degree of guilt and did not remember napping as much as I did during this period except when I was a young child.
I realize how much more healthier I am that I did take rest.
By not listening to the negative belief system hidden within the collective unconscious of the larger culture and society that still encourages and rewards people for doing something rather than being, I was able to appreciate what has been given to me as a gift and I treated my body, mind and spirit with more respect.
It has taken our bodies millions of years to evolve.
Therefore, preserving our bodies to the best of our abilities ought to be our number one priority.
There is no machine we have invented that compare to its incredible power, strength, intelligence and insight, and we won't be able to know this if we are neglecting it.
I look forward to listening more and more to the voices of our distant ancestors echoing from the past that connect me to this universal energy in nature that allows me to know intuitively when to get up, eat, exercise rest, and sleep.
As I move in time to my own rhythm--thus, the rhythm of nature-- I move to the beat of my own drummer and in directions I never thought possible before with my own inner clock to guide me.
May your day, week and months flow well for you as they are for me.
© 2012 Linda C.
Davies