Sensuality for Circadian Training

The key to circadians is sensuality.

Literally, our sensing organs cue our inner clocks.

In this video clip from a sleep training lesson, I give you some ideas of how sensory supports help.You can apply these concepts to your wake time, eating time, transition from work to relaxation time, self care time, etc.

Basically, all routines (and sensory cues) provide rhythms that your body can depend on, and optimize function for.

Sensual cues make moving through routines a ritual. Rituals bring beauty, presence, and meaning to our daily lives.

Don't know where to start? Here some ideas:

Essential oils or smudge I love to start my day with the smell of handrolled incense at the altar, end my work day with smudging and cue for bedtime with lavender on my pillow.

Spices and foods

My body knows to come to alertness with the smells and tastes of my hot lemon water and coffee, while saffron rose milk cues restful sleep.

Music

Prework hype music, bedtime binaural beats and sounding healing at my computer all cue my brainwaves for various activity levels.

Lighting

Ensuring sunlight enters my bedroom for a natural wake with the sun, using candles and low warm lighting during the evenings lets my body know what part of the day I'm in. This helps to cue my cortisol levels and prepare for sleep without blue light.

Every step counts

Get creative and do what feels good to you! Just pick sensory cues to associate and train your body functions on. Start with sleep-wake cycles. Then, add eating-non digesting cycles. Next, activity-rest cycles. That's all the core body functions we would love to have a baseline rhythm.

From there, life will bring variation. But, we always have the inner clock foundation to return to and optimize our sleep, digestion, and productivity. This all leads to less disease, slower age related degeneration, and more energy.