Here in the U.S. it was daylight savings time this past weekend. That feels like good news, as I had been waking up earlier and earlier each morning as the light cracked in through my bedroom curtains. It also feels like the opportune time to share some new things I learned that support Gaian meditation practices.
Recently, I read that going outside in the morning helps set one’s daily circadian rhythm. People’s internal clocks are rarely exactly 24 hours long (as experiments of people living completely underground reveal), but exposure to sunlight helps keep them aligned with the passage of our 24-hour day.
Now, that’s generally good to know—as exposure to light after waking up can help address sleep disorders. But more so, it can improve cognitive functioning and mental health, and even reduce the risks of physical ill-health.
In one experiment, thirty office workers spent one week in two identical office environments—the only difference being one had windows with blinds while the other had “electrochromic glass,” which limited access to natural sunlight. Those working in the office with “optimized daylight” (i.e. normal windows) slept 37 minutes longer at night and scored 42% higher on computer simulations testing “higher order decision-making performance.”
The findings are striking, and yet, they also make biological sense. There are specialized cells in the retina that help set one’s circadian rhythm, essentially setting “an internal timer, instructing the body to start making melatonin again about 14 hours later.” A clinical psychologist, Michael Breus, who focuses on sleep, says it as concisely as one can: “Every single human, just as soon as possible after waking up, should go outside and get at least 15 minutes of direct natural light. Period.”
Well, in that case, do I have a practice for you! For nature connection, mindfulness and health reasons, I have encouraged going outside three times a day (morning, solar noon, and evening) to meditate. Observe nature, observe your breath, observe nothing at all. Eyes open, eyes closed. Attuned, no mind—all of that doesn’t matter. What matters is stepping outside: outside of artificial environments, outside of the stress of one’s workstation (whether in the home or office, or, increasingly likely, the extra-stressful hybridized home/office), and outside of one’s daily routine. But it turns out there are even more health benefits to meditating outside than I realized.
Returning to the office worker study, improvements in both sleep and cognitive function could be seen after just one day of working in the natural light environment, though “the impacts became more significant over the course of the week.”
This strongly reinforces the value of the Gaian practice of daily meditation outdoors. In the U.S. people spend about 93% of their time indoors (87% in buildings and 6% in vehicles!), so every extra minute outside matters. That’s particularly true when you start your day, but also beneficial at noon—at peak sun—and in the evening, which tells your brain and body that light levels are falling and it’s time to slow down and prepare for rest.
Bonus Benefit: Aiding Digestion
I admit, while I meditate outside nearly every morning (rain, shine, or polar vortex chill), getting outside consistently at noon and in the evening is harder (I didn’t say it was easy to step outside of one’s routine, just beneficial!). Sometimes I combine these sessions with a walk, or step out just briefly (still counts!), but recently, my osteopath pointed out that some deep breathing before meals can calm down the sympathetic nervous system (the part of one’s autonomic nervous system responsible for ‘fight or flight’). The sympathetic nervous system also impedes digestion, and often ramps up under the stresses of work time. So meditating briefly, even just a minute of deep breathing outside your door, can help slow one’s heart rate, activate the parasympathetic nervous system, and ready the body to digest its food. This can also help anchor one’s meditative practice: three times a day, morning, noon, and evening, just before you eat your meal (or, when you’re moon fasting, instead of one’s missed meals).
So give these two meditation tweaks a try and see if you experience any benefits: in sharpness, digestion, or even sleep quality. And if you do, let us know in a comment below!
“The calmer we are when we eat, the more likely we are to digest our food well.” Here’s a three minute ‘pre-meal meditation for digestion,’ by Kirsten Ahern if you need some help.
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