Rhythm feels less precise to me, it feels melodic, it feels happy, it feels like it can change for the better, it feels less strict.
Rhythm is a dancer
It’s a soul companion
You can feel it everywhere…
Lift your hands and voices
Free your mind and join us
You can feel it in the air
It’s always the first thing that comes into my head when I say the word rhythm, I can’t say the word rhythm without smiling and having a spring in my step!
And that’s what it helps with when it comes to thriving working from home.
You will hear the word routine used a lot and the importance of a routine. And routine is very important but for some it is something they strive for and for others it’s something that they resist. I’m one of those resistors. I want to feel like I am free-spirited, that I could do whatever the mood takes me, now most the time that is exactly the same thing everyday however I like it when I’m spontaneous and so I prefer the word rhythm. Rhythm feels less precise to me, it feels melodic, it feels happy, it feels like it can change for the better, it feels less strict.
It also feels more natural. We have circadian rhythms that impact us physically and mentally and even impacts our behaviour on a daily basis. According to Wikipedia, they are ‘a natural, internal process that regulates the sleep-wake cycle and repeats roughly every 24 hours. Circadian rhythms are found in most living things, including animals, plants, and many tiny microbes.’
A study, published in the journal The Lancet Psychiatry, looked at disruptions in the circadian rhythms of over 91,000 adults in the United Kingdom. The researchers found that ‘individuals with more circadian rhythm disruptions — defined as increased activity at night, decreased activity during the day or both — were significantly more likely to have symptoms consistent with bipolar disorder or major depression. They were also more likely to have decreased feelings of well-being and to have reduced cognitive functioning, based on a computer-generated reaction time test.’
So rhythm is important.
Building important habits into our daily rhythm is a great way to create positive change. So, think about your morning and night routines. Waking up and going to sleep at the same time to keep your rhythms regular. We’ve all heard the whole have 8 hours sleep thing but let your body find its rhythm. Use this time to test and tweak your routine slightly. If you go to bed slightly earlier or later, how do you feel the next day? It’s a great time to learn what rhythm our body performs best in. I’m a 10:30pm bedtime person. At the start of isolation, we got a bit too excited watching Netflix (read: Tiger King!) and our bedtime started getting later and later. Where normally I am a morning person, I was finding I was getting out of bed later and later and also not having as much energy as normal. Cue re-adjusting my bedtime again (and thankfully we finished Tiger King!) and I’ve now got back into a rhythm that works for me.
This rhythm allows our body to do all those important things it does at night, it gives us more energy in the morning and therefore it then impacts our mental health by giving us a sense of mental energy to achieve what we want to. Spiritually and emotionally we feel more in control and connected to our body as we are taking the time to listen to it.
And for those of you that like routine, try to build that into your daytime. You free-spirited types like me, at least keep the morning and night in a regular rhythm and use the day as you so wish. (Although who am I kidding, there’s only so much spontaneity that can happen when you’re in your house every day!)
We have already looked at Movement and Kindness and over the coming weeks, we will delve into Energy and Connection – the 2 other areas of our Thrive Not Survive guide.
I want to Thrive not just Survive.
#ThrivenotSurvive
