The Morning Mind

Dr. Robert Carter III, Kirti Salwe Carter, MBBS, MPH

• Publisher: AMACOM
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9780814439869
• Topic: Psychologie
• Subtopic: Emotionen in der Psychologie

Unleash positive thinking and productive imagination, and flip negative thoughts and behaviors into a lifetime to improve every aspect of your life—each morning, one day at a time.

Bad habits. Bad feelings. Bad mornings that turn into regrettable days. Banish them all with simple brain hacks that flip negative thoughts and behaviors into positive, productive ones.

The Morning Mind makes it easy. Based on findings from neuroscience and medicine, Dr. Robert Carter and Dr. Kirti Carter help you tamp down on the fear-driven reptile brain and tap into the part linked to thinking and imagination.

With topics ranging from diet and hydration to exercise and meditation, you'll find ideas for activating your brain—and improving every aspect of your life:

• Restore healthy cycles of waking and sleeping
• Block harmful cortisol hormones
• Boost mental performance
• Create calmer mornings
• Develop self-discipline
• Stimulate creativity
• Improve your leadership skills

Instead of dragging through your day, learn to wake up refreshed, recharge regularly, and live better than ever. From the moment the alarm clock rings, The Morning Mind helps you greet each day with gusto.

PART I

THE HUMAN BODY CLOCK

Chapter 1

The Human Body in the Early Morning

“I trust that everything happens for a reason, even if we are not wise enough to see it.”

—OPRAH WINFREY

BEFORE YOU WAKE up in the morning, your body is undergoing complex processes of which your mind is completely unaware. The human body is an intelligent organism, made up of trillions of tiny cells each with their own intelligence and responsibilities. All cells in our bodies have their own “cellular clock.” These internal clocks are responsible for helping each individual cell to regulate the timing and nature of its functions. For example, they govern such processes like energy use and the repairing or replication of DNA.

Many of the body’s primary organs also have their own clock. This timekeeping function plays a significant role in how you think, feel, and perform on a day-to-day basis. Developing an understanding of the inner workings of your body clock is a powerful way to enhance self-awareness and create a routine that will boost you from dark-eyed mornings to establishing an excellent start to your day, every day.

Biological Rhythms Affecting Your Body

Circadian rhythms, also known as the “body clock,” refer to processes in our bodies that are governed by 24-hour rhythms. These rhythms also apply to other organisms such as plants and animals. The body of knowledge that exists currently on these rhythms is far from complete, but what we do know is fascinating. Some recent evidence suggests that our biological rhythms may be longer than the previously thought twenty-four-hour cycle. Is it possible that the human body is at a different pace than the planet?

The body clock regulates physiological processes such as waking, eating, sleeping, and the function of the immune system and the major organs. These processes are determined from within the organism but can also respond to external signals such as light, odors, and temperature.

If the natural rhythms of the body clock are disturbed, this can cause various health problems, including increased risk of obesity, cardiovascular problems, and depression. Becoming aware of these natural rhythms helps you work in harmony with your body to get the most out of it at the right times of the day. The more you know about your energy levels and the effects of the circadian rhythms, the more you can make well-informed decisions and plans for your daily activity, especially in the mornings.

Chinese medicine teaches that circadian rhythms determine the health of not just the immune system but also each internal organ. The circadian rhythms identify the peaks and troughs of each organ’s function throughout the day. In essence, the circadian rhythms govern the internal attention of biological resources to heal and repair the organs, and each organ gets its own segment of time every day.

Below is a table of the organs and their peak performance time of the day. During this time, each organ system is being repaired.

TIME	ORGAN	TIME	ORGAN
11PM – 1AM	Gall Bladder	11AM – 1PM	Heart
1AM – 3AM	Liver	1PM - 3PM	Small Intestine
3AM – 5AM	Lungs	3PM – 5PM	Bladder
5AM – 7AM	Large Intestine	5PM – 7PM	Kidney
7AM – 9AM	Stomach	7PM – 9PM	Pericardium (The Heart’s Sack)
9AM – 11AM	Spleen	9PM – 11PM	Triple Burner

To find each organ’s low-performance time, merely look to the opposite side of the table. For example, from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. is the weakest time for the liver, corresponding to optimum functioning of the small intestines. This accounts for the predictable timing of health problems that occur in alignment with each organ’s lower-functioning period. The lungs are expelling waste around 3:00 to 5:00 a.m., which results in coughing for some people during this early morning period. The large intestine is in full effect around 5:00 to 7:00 a.m., which is the time of day your body most needs water to help it cleanse and, inconveniently, the least opportune time for your body to take in caffeine, because it can be dehydrating. You will learn that drinking coffee is not the most efficient way to wake up in the morning, but luckily there are some equally compelling alternatives without the adverse effects. However, the aroma of coffee may be enchanting and can have a profound and positive impact on the brain function and mood in the morning. Yes, there can be significant benefit even without ingesting one ounce of it!

Between 7:00 and 9:00 a.m., the stomach is doing its thing. Some people believe this is the best time to eat breakfast, while others advise waiting until later in the day to allow the stomach to repair itself, starting the day instead with the unhurried consumption of warm liquids only. For example, water with a bit of ginger or non-caffeinated teas are excellent to help with morning rehydration.

The spleen is cleansing itself between 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m., the time when people are most prone to flu or allergies. Between 9:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m., the “triple burner,” based on Chinese medicine, albeit not fully recognized by Western medicine, is in full effect. The triple burner is described in Eastern philosophy as a complex communication and synchronization of the five important organ systems (heart, kidney, liver, lung, and spleen) and is believed to be responsible for overseeing our nutritional health and immune function. Also, it has been theorized that the triple burner plays a major role in sustaining a cohesive dialogue among these organ systems and our external environment. Around mid-morning, after its active role as a member of the triple burner, the heart is “repairing” itself. This also happens to be the time of day when the majority of heart attacks occur, especially among middle-aged men.

From this brief glimpse, we can see the intricate and intelligent relationships that occur through the circadian rhythms overseeing the systematic distribution of the body’s resources. It also gives us some insight into how important it is to know what is going on inside your body throughout the day, and when your energy is at its highest and lowest levels.

Control of the Rhythms: Built-in versus Environmental

There are various internal and external factors that govern your circadian rhythms. Internally, the rhythms have a “central clock” that is conveniently located in the hypothalamus, specifically in nerve cells known as the suprachiasmatic nucleus or SCN. This is the boss in charge of orchestrating these complex processes through the entire human body.

In recent years, scientists have discovered that each of us has a unique circadian rhythm based on our genetic inheritance. This makes up the built-in element of our circadian rhythms. At the same time, the SCN is affected externally by light from the environment—a collaborative effort between nature and nurture that keeps our bodily processes functioning optimally.

A key element of the circadian clock is the production of hormones such as melatonin and cortisol. Melatonin is produced at night in the pineal gland, because it needs darkness to produce the hormone. Melatonin regulates sleep and reproductive cycles, which can come out of balance if people are not getting the right amount of sleep or their body clock is confused by their schedule, such as working night shifts. Melatonin starts being secreted around 9:00 p.m., which is around the time we would ideally be winding down mentally, turning off our electrical gadgets (“yes, on airplane mode”) and preparing to go to bed.

As tempting as it may be to stay up late watching television, this is not what our body needs to function at its best, and the old saying proves true, “early to bed, early to rise.” In fact, our family several years ago removed all the televisions, or “time vacuums,” from the bedrooms to avoid the enticement of one more episode of our favorite miniseries.

The Best Time: To Sleep, to Eat, or for Physical Activity

The demands of our daily lifestyles often conflict with the rhythms with which our body works best. Fortunately, understanding these natural cycles gives us valuable information about how we can structure the most fundamental elements of the day—eating, sleeping, and physical activity. If you can successfully build your schedule around circadian rhythms, you will reap some impressive health benefits and at the same time maximize your productivity.

Optimum Waking and Sleeping Times

The best time to rise in the morning is different from person to person, yet there are some recommended guidelines based on age. Our circadian rhythms adjust as we mature and accumulate more birthdays, and the optimum time to rise gets earlier. Oxford University researcher Dr. Paul Kelley has studied the sleep cycles of people of different ages, and he came to the following conclusions about the best time for each age group to wake up.¹

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