Did you know your brain can only focus for 90 to 120 minutes before it needs a break? No joke. By design, our bodies have a natural cycle they move through within a 24-hour to maintain our mind/body health. These are called our ultradian rhythms.
The ultradian rhythm itself was first discovered in sleep research by Nathan Kleitman. He called it the "basic rest-activity cycle" which is a 90-minute cycle during which you progress through the five stages of sleep. Kleitman found the 90-minute pattern not only exists during sleep but also during the day as we move from higher to lower alertness. You probably notice that time of day about 2pm to 4pm when we feel the need for a stimulant to keep us going. When we live out of balance with our ultradian rhythm, we have this dip in the afternoon.
All the major systems of mind-body communication such as the Central Nervous System (CNS), the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS), endocrine and immune systems have evolved ultradian and circadian rhythms. When we look at today's stress levels, lack of sleep and chronic illness conditions, we can see the correlation between the imbalance of our ultradian cycle and the onset of illness.
A brain-break every 90 minutes, means taking 5 minutes to break the cycle of thought or action you're in to unplug from the activity. Yes, I'm asking you to completely disassociate for just 5 minutes to focus internally on your breath. Close your eyes, focus on your inhale and exhale and breathe as slowly as you can diaphragmatically through your nose. Don't worry, your emails, voicemails and checklists will still be there in 5 minutes. But, your perception and level of concentration with the tasks at hand will greatly improve.
Why through your nose? The practice of breath regulation in yoga (also called pranayama) leads to the control of many ANS functions. "Nasal dominance within the ultradian rhythm is a marker for cerebral hemispheric activity and can be used to voluntarily change activity in the highest centers of the brain and autonomic system that are involved in cybrenetic loops of communication with most organ systems, tissues and cells of the body." What does that mean in English? Taking a 5 minute nasal breathing break improves executive functioning, builds resilience, makes you more productive and improves your health at the cellular level.
Making these changes to your schedule can feel a bit challenging at first. However, I can assure you, if you take a 5-minute break every 90 to 120 minutes, you will see amazing changes in your sleep, moods, concentration and energy levels. If you find it challenging to take a 5-minute brain break this often, take a 20-minute brain break at least once a day. We called these a "cat nap" in my day. In the science of yoga, we call this a yoga nidra and it's the equivalent of 2 1/2 hours sleep.
Either way, learn to live in balance with your mind and bodies natural rhythms for optimal health and well-being. This is building resilience. Building resilience is about taking care of ourselves.
5-Minute Brain Break Video
20-Minute Brain Break Video
Go BE Great!