Body Temperature and Your Internal Clock

In Active Seniors by Jerry RothouseLeave a Comment

As you’ve learned, your body temperature is really an internal clock that keeps us awake and sleeping at certain times.

 

It’s also extremely important to understand that the rise and drop of body temperature is a hint for our body to produce the feelings of being awake or being tired.

 

Whenever your body temperature begins to fall, you will feel tired, lethargic, and drowsier. Whenever your body temperature rises, you will feel more energetic, alert, and be able to focus better.

 

Don’t mistake the fall of body temperature at certain times during the day as the need to sleep. Your body temperature may rise and drop several times in the day as a response to the activities you’re doing at the time.

 

Whenever you put big physical demands on your body your body temperature will rise above the norm. As a response to any intensive physical activity, the body temperature drops for a while as soon as you stop the activity.

 

For example, if you work an 8-hour shift at a job that requires intense activity, one might feel totally drained and ready to fall asleep when you come home at around 4 PM. What you’ll actually find is that this feeling of tiredness is not a sincere desire to sleep, but rather a response from your body due to the drop in body temperature.

 

If you resist sleeping at this moment and provide a “wind-down” period for your body after this period, the temperature will return to a normal and you will feel alert again.

 

In the Powerful Sleep plan, I would suggest that you nap for 10-45 minutes during your day to physically recharge yourself, it’s ideal to take this nap when you experience this temperature drop as it will help you sleep. Always limit your naps to 45 minutes to avoid entering deep sleep.

 

After you wake up from your power nap it’s normal to feel lethargic or drowsy, this is because your melatonin levels are higher. Get as much high-intensity light as possible the moment you wake up, and make sure to MOVE your body to get your temperature up and running again.

 

If you currently live a very sedentary lifestyle, your body temperature will drop very often when you’re sitting around on your butt or watching TV, so if you feel tired during the day understand it’s not because you need more sleep. It’s because you need LESS SLEEP and MORE MOVEMENT!

 

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