Practical Magic | The Ultradian Healing Break
The Ultradian Rhythm is such a big part of the human experience and yet, so few of us understand how it works and how it impacts us.
Integrating this simple practice can transform your resources of personal energy, elevate your creativity and make a truly magical difference in your life.
What Is an Ultradian Rhythm?
You may have heard of circadian rhythm, a hormonal rhythm alive in humans of all genders that occur on a 24-hour cycle. An ultradian rhythm works similarly, except it runs several times in a day.
In the 1950s, a sleep researcher called Nathaniel Clayman discovered that the human body tends to move through 90 to 110-minute hormonal cycles that govern our energy. The brain has the capacity to be active, focused and strategic for 90 to 110 minutes at a time, after which it becomes fatigued and needs to relax fully for about 20 minutes for the hormones to replenish. This is where the ultradian healing break must occur.
What does this have to do with living a more magical life?
This is a core piece of our human experience and biological makeup that governs our moods and energy, yet we're not told about this. Nothing in our workplaces, lifestyles, or schools is set up to honour this experience of activity followed by a necessary break to replenish the hormones.
As many of us have experienced, the human body is very resilient and we are fully capable of overriding these hormonal cycles. However, if we continue to blow past our natural limits, there is a very real long-term cost. Toxins build up inside of us and the brain is unable to restore and refresh. We can only push so hard for so long until we are fully burned out. The more you fight against your body, the less productive you'll be over time, the more shame you'll carry, and the more you'll punish yourself.
What Is an Ultradian Healing Break?
You have the power to change this pattern. You can start to lean into your own natural rhythms during the day and take 20-minute ultradian healing breaks after a natural energetic cycle has come to an end. You can start to ride these natural waves of energy and hormones as they were designed, and begin working with yourself rather than against yourself.
As you begin using this magical tool, I invite you to expand your idea of what true rest looks and feels like. One way to explore this is to do an alignment check-in as you come to the end of a 90-110 minute energetic cycle.
Your Alignment Check-in
Here are a few questions to ask yourself:
What does my body want from me right now?
Does it want to stop and rest?
Does it want to move?
Does it want to do something else?
What would rest feel like right now?
Think about reducing stimulation and input, so no checking phones, watching videos, checking email. Zero deliberate stimulation for 20 minutes. If you're trying this for the first time, you may want to start with smaller breaks.
Allow your mind to wander wherever it wants – this is what we might call pottering. Practice receptive awareness; let your body lead you. Rather than a strategic, focused awareness that is goal-oriented, begin to become aware of things without bringing too much attention to them.
You may wander about your home, or tidy up something here or there, without much focus on the matter. You may flip through a photography book or you look at your kitchen floor and think about if it needs washing or not. Or you may just sit on the sofa calmly, seeing what thoughts arise by zoning out for a bit. This kind of zoning out is like a nice, deep, gentle stretch for the brain.
If you honour this rhythm of 90-110 minutes of activity and 5-20 minutes of break, you'll start to find that your energy does regenerate. Rather than arriving at the end of the day exhausted, you may start to feel your energy restore.
Reclaim Pottering as an Essential Part of Self-Care
We have a unique opportunity now as many of us are working from home away from surveillance culture, to reclaim pottering as an essential part of living, maintenance, and self-care. Listen to your body, answer the call, and reclaim pottering in your life. Explore what a truly restorative break means to you.
Listen to the Full Episode:
Episode Resources:
EP 16. Practical Magic | 41 Ways to Take a Truly Restorative Break
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