Energy Patterns: the first step in understanding how to live your potential

Posted on February 01, 2014 by Jennifer Harvey Sallin, One of Thousands of Entrepreneurship Coaches on Noomii.

Did you know that as you sleep, your dreams follow a pattern, taking place during 10-20 minute periods at intervals of 90-120 minutes? Did you also know that your daydreams follow the same pattern? These daytime patterns are called Ultradian Rhythms, and are a key source to understanding how to most effectively utilize your daily energy cycles and how to avoid getting “off kilter” or out of balance. No matter how intelligent you are or how high your potential, if you don’t know your own energy patterns and how to work with them, rather than against them, you will be continually frustrated and distracted by the symptoms of overload.

Earnest Lawrence Rossi* has done incredible work in linking our psychological states with our physiological states. His work has demonstrated that throughout the day, our high concentration energy cycles last for about 90-120 minutes, with these cycles being followed by natural 10-20-minute “daydream” periods (or what the venerated American psychiatrist Milton Erickson called “the common everyday trance”). In modern parlance, these periods of everyday trance are more commonly called Ultradian Rest Periods, and they occur at the end of our high-energy cycles, when our minds are full or tired and need a rest. This doesn’t mean our minds completely zone out or go inactive, but that they go into a more “right-hemisphere” dominant mode of integrating and consolidating the information that we have been taking in during the high-energy or “left-brained” cycle. No less important, these periods offer an opportunity for our mind and body to reconnect, communicate, adjust and rebalance – this especially when we are performing extreme intellectual or physical tasks, with our attention to either mind or body being occulted by our extreme focus.

But many people aren’t aware of these Ultradian Rhythms and suffer for it.

Many of us unwittingly let the length of the book, the duration of the meeting, the number of emails, or the needs of those around us determine our rhythm. Many people classically defined as “type-A” or perfectionistic put off taking a break in favor of “accomplishing everything first.” Modern culture, which is largely centered around work and productivity supports this attitude. Of course, energy cycles and Ultradian Rhythms weren’t taught to us in school, and most of us didn’t receive training on psychobiological self-care. Most of us haven’t been taught to recognize the characteristic signs of the onset of an Ultradian Rest Period, which include yawning, eye soreness or dryness, mental confusion, information overload, stress, physical discomfort, or sleepiness, among others. It is the moment when our concentration shifts and we seem to move into another dimension, however extreme or subtle that shift may be. This can occur at work, at school, at home, in a conversation, while studying, while reading, while helping our children with homework, at dinner with friends, and just about during any other concentrated activity one can imagine.

As a result of our general ignorance, we may interpret the signs of the onset of an Ultradian Rest Period as signs of personal weakness rather than personal need and try to force ourselves to continue on with the task at hand. In this case, since concentration typically becomes difficult and motivation wanes, the temptation is too often to berate ourselves for our “inability to concentrate” or “lack of motivation.” Self-doubt can be unusually high in these moments, as we are tempted to question whether we are getting enough sleep or are in the right job. We tend to ask ourselves questions like, “what is the significance of this task or relationship?” and we wonder “does it matter at all?”, and so on. The whole meaning of our existence can be called into question, because, after all, the reasoning goes, if we were rested and happy, wouldn’t we be able to get our tasks done more easily, without so much internal resistance? “Something is wrong with me,” the inner voice starts to believe. But it’s not true. The internal resistance isn’t personal and it’s not even really resistance in the long term. Rather, and quite simply, it’s a momentary internal cue that we are entering an Ultradian Rest Period.

This tiny change – watching when we are entering an Ultradian Rest Period and allowing ourselves to take a much-needed mental break – can have profound effects on our lives.

Allowing these breaks in our energy is essential to our life-balance and our sense of self. There are about six of these periods per day in our normal waking hours, and not knowing about or allowing ourselves to take them can sometimes lead to severe mental, emotional and physical exhaustion – and physical and psychological symptoms as a result of the domino effect. On the other hand, allowing ourselves to take these rest periods increases our energy, alertness, joy, productivity and health. These periods are shown to be the moments when we typically experience the most creativity and insight about our life. In the long term, regularly taking these rests has a profound effect on our overall level of self-care and positive self-image. Clients report that this step alone resolves often half or more of their presenting issues of concentration, lack of productivity, lack of clarity, distress or depression, anxiety, relational difficulties, psychosomatic symptoms and so on. This has its own very positive domino effect in our lives and on the people around us.

Of course, if we recognize the signs and allow ourselves to take the break we need, the question arrives: how should we best use these Ultradian Rest Periods? I typically warn clients to avoid Facebook, smoking, or eating junk food. The best way to use this time is to take a moment to listen to the body – which is usually ready to tell you what you need – and respond accordingly. This can include a meditative pause, being present with your breathing and your body, a walk outside, a drink of water, something to eat, a bathroom break, cleaning up the dishes, or a gentle touch from your partner. This doesn’t include analytical thought or linear “accomplishing.” The idea is to allow your mind and body a restorative rest, and how best to do that depends on the situation, the individual, the task that precedes the break, and the personal needs of the moment. Because I often work at home, I personally love to use my breaks to clean up the room, make the bed, tend to the plants, prepare lunch or dinner, meditate, do yoga or self-massage, or some other caring act. Whatever the activity, the theme is always the same: restorative self-care.

Interestingly, over time, a few incredibly powerful side effects result from these well-used Ultradian rest-periods: one of these side effects is profound self-respect for such attentiveness, concern, compassion and loving action toward the self, another is a growing sense of authenticity, and a third is a growing awareness and sensitivity to the Ultradian needs of others. Communication therefore becomes easier and more genuine, planning becomes more straightforward, and behavior – our own and that of others – becomes infinitely easier to understand and accept.

Paying attention and responding kindly to our Ultradian Rhythms is often one of the first steps of life and business planning in coaching. With this in line, strategy becomes much simpler to approach, and values and needs become astoundingly clear. Life, actually, becomes much easier.

Spend some time observing your own energy rhythms… are you in balance?

For more information, see: The 20-Minute Break, by Earnest Lawrence Rossi

*Psychologist known for his extensive research on psychobiological themes in hypnotherapy and mind-body communication