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The next Doctor up to discuss is the chief Yin physician, Dr. Quiet. Dr. Quiet may be the most important doctor to check in with, daily. Dr. Quiet is in charge of rest, whether that is sleep or daily quiet time. When talking about the tai chi symbol, there is the Yin and Yang. Yin being the feminine and Yang being the masculine. To keep it simple, Yin is equivalent to bringing energy into the body and recharging, where Yang is energy that is put out, for example during exercise. Although they may seem like opposites, the Yin and Yang are found within each other. The goal is to keep both the Yin and Yang in balance with one another. Especially in the fast paced world we live in today, it is very hard for the majority of the population to actually rest, recharge, and recover. This all begins with sleep, the most important and free tool to sustain health.

            The circadian rhythm is a natural physiological cycle of around 24 hours that persists even in the absence of external cues. This cycle revolves around the sun’s cycle. As the sun comes up in the morning and breaks through the eyes, the activating hormone cortisol is released in response to stress and prepares and activates the body for movement. When we have an optimal circadian rhythm, cortisol peaks between 6 to 9 am, and begins to drop around 12 pm, with a drastic drop around 3 PM. This is when people tend to feel an increase in fatigue and look for the nearest coffee shop or caffeine to give them a boost. When we choose to consume caffeine late in the afternoon, we suppress the hormone melatonin, and re-elevate the stress hormone cortisol further throwing our circadian rhythm out of balance. Thus tricking our bodies about what time it is in the day. When we suppress melatonin, not only are we destroying our sleep and wake cycles, but we also are limiting our growth and repair cycle. This leads to nagging musculoskeletal injuries, increased headaches, sagging personality and neurological disorders. An optimal circadian rhythm would have stress hormone decreasing to around zero at 6pm, usually when the sun is beginning to go down. This is followed by a spike in the production of growth and repair hormone, which continues to increase until around 2 am.

            When we continue to disrupt the sleep and wake cycles, it can lead to adrenal fatigue. The adrenal glands are located on top of the kidneys, and produce stress hormones called glucocorticoids, cortisol being one of them. When we are exposed to chronic stress, overhead light, and blue light from screens at night it requires the adrenals to continue to produce increased levels of stress hormone than normal. Excessive production of cortisol leads to adrenal fatigue, which can present itself as chronic fatigue syndrome, viral infections, bacterial and fungal infections and chronic headaches. This is why it is crucial to limit stress and stay consistent with our circadian rhythm.

            Why is sleep so important? The reason sleep is so important is that this is when all of our anabolic recovery takes place. As mentioned above, this is when our growth and repair hormones take over and are in command. The number one rule in the Chek Institute is to get 7-8 hours of sleep every night, no exceptions. The optimal time to go to bed is 10:30 PM and wake up around 6:30 AM. The reason for these specific times is that from 10:30 Pm to 2:30 AM physical repair occurs in the body, and from 2:30 AM to 6:30 AM is when our psychogenic and mental repair takes place. Physical repair is equivalent to repair of the muscles, bones, joints and organs. Psychogenic repair is specially for the nervous and hormonal systems recovery. When we stay up past 12 AM, not only are we going to be fatigued the following day, but we have just lost crucial physical repair time. Also, with regards to these last few years, inconsistent sleep and wake cycles have a large impact on our immune systems, making it much harder for us to fight against viruses.

1. Get to sleep by 10:30 pm, and make it a daily goal to go to sleep and wake up at the same time.
2. Limit your exposure to electromagnetic pollution. Bright lights, especially fluorescent lights and any screens at least two hours before bed. The reason for no screens is that the flickering light coming off the screens tricks the brain into thinking that it is actually sunlight going into your eyes, thus releasing cortisol and stress hormone.
3. Sleep in a room that is completely dark, and at a cool temperature. Any light coming in will disrupt your sleep and wake cycle.
4. Limit or avoid all consumption of stimulants (caffeine, sugar, and nicotine) after 12 PM. Also, limit your consumption of alcohol later at night. The reason to limit caffeine consumption late in the afternoon is that it has a half life of 6 hours, meaning the caffeine you consumed still remains in your system late into the night, which as I’ve stated before inhibits melatonin production and continues to produce stress hormones. An average 8 ounce cup of coffee has anywhere from 200-300 Mgs of caffeine, meaning that when you drink a cup of coffee at 4 pm, at 10 pm you still have half of that caffeine cycling through your system. Instead of limiting caffeine, this is when people look to sleeping pills or medication, which is a whole other can of worms.
5. Eat your primal pattern diet type, as discussed with DR. Diet a few weeks previous. Limit sweets after dinner!!
6. Drink half your body weight in ounces of water daily, and even more when taking part in exercise.
7. Exercise! Take part daily in some form of exercise, lifting weights, taking a walk or doing some meditation and tai chi.
8. Try to unplug all electrical appliances in your bedroom, most importantly TVs, game consoles and clocks. Turn off your wifi at night and place the phone on airplane mode.
9. Try wearing blue light blocker glasses, which help limit the exposure to electromagnetic stress after the sun has gone down. I use them nightly and have seen a dramatic effect on my sleep and wake cycles.  https://raoptics.com/

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