Timing Matters! The Rhythm of Life
- Janice Cunningham
- Dec 29, 2024
- 3 min read
Updated: Aug 15
Last Updated: August 2025
Nature's Timing - Our Circadian Body Clocks
Virtually every organ, cell, and gene in our body has its own daily Circadian Clock - about(circa) a day (diem). These thousands of body clocks are programmed to initiate and coordinate daily processes in specific sequences for...
When to ramp up or down.
When to rest, repair, and restore.
When to help others cells and organs do their job.
Our body has a complex set of interdependencies that get us through the day and get us ready for the next day.
Does it make a significant difference?
Being in sync with your Circadian Rhythm is foundational. When our timing is off, chaos reigns!
Over 7 years ago, being out of sync was linked to short and long term health risks for 64 conditions. If you consider the recent sleep schedule regularity evidence, a cornerstone for Circadian Rhythm alignment, the number of identified risks more than doubled as of 2025. These include:
Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s
Depression and Anxiety
Weight Gain and Obesity
Stroke and Heart Attacks
Cancer (colon, liver, lung)
Inflammation & Inflammaging
Insomnia.
Perfect synchronization not required nor expected: Our modern world makes it challenging but any step that get's your closer to your natural Circadian Rhythm has value!
Body Clock Sync 101
Our body clocks are especially sensitive to:
morning and evening light exposure,
when we eat, and
our sleep schedules.
The more we can optimize any one of these influencers, the better.
LIGHT. Each morning, the master conductor in the brain - the suprachiasmatic nucleus (the SCN) - resets all our body clocks for the next 24 hours. It takes its biggest cue from the blue light waves we perceive in rising morning light. Imagine a special forces team synchronizing their watches before a mission.
Artificial bright lights during the night hours send a "wake-up" message to the SCN which then sends a reset signal to our body clocks. Example: AM blue light exposure in the morning sets the schedule for when the body needs to start producing melatonin for sleep later in the day. Bright PM lights trigger a signal to stop producing melatonin!
EATING. Our eating schedule is the next big contributor for starting the day (ramping up) and ending the day (preparing for sleep). This includes time for not eating to optimize the body's time needed time for restorative processes.
Start of Day: Our morning breakfast triggers processes needed for energy and tackling the day. A regular breakfast time can help offset disruptors like poor sleep, jet lag or lack of morning light exposure. A regular breakfast time helps strengthen our Circadian Rhythm.
End of Day: Digestion always takes priority over the rest, repair and restore functions scheduled for our sleep hours. If we eat too close to bed time, we lose out on the early hours of restorative processes from deep sleep while the body is busy digesting food. We also benefit from a good 12-14 hours with no digestion to complete processes that go beyond our deep sleep hours in the first 1/2 of the night.
SLEEP. Sleep and Circadian Rhythm habits are a two-way street. Sufficient quality sleep on a regular schedule helps creates a strong Circadian Rhythm. A strong Circadian Rhythm leads to better sleep! The biggest levers we have to pull for this duo are
Timing of light exposure,
When we eat, and
Going to bed and waking up at the same time.
Level-up Your Game with Timing
Assess how synced you are with the 1 minute Rhythm Check.
Want to refine your Rhythm? Go to our Circadian Rhythm Playbook Portal for:
Downloadable notes for quick reference on what to do and why
Links to short tutorials and deeper dives from our leading experts.
Wishing you a life with Rhythm!
Janice
PS
For more about the doubling of identified risks in sleep research, check out The Matt Walker Podcast Episode #103 - 172 Diseases, One Hidden (Sleep) Cause?
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