Moving into Darkness

The Equinox

We have just passed the Equinox on Friday Sept 23rd. This was the day when light and darkness are more or less equal at our latitude.  From now until Dec 21st we descend into a period where the days are darker and the nights longer. This sense of darkness is compounded by the change in time a few weeks from now.  This means the mornings are somewhat brighter, but the evenings are darker much earlier.

This shorter day affects us in two ways.

Firstly, we may not get enough vitamin D due to lack of light. If at all possible, go for a walk, or undertake some other outdoor activity around lunchtime. It is also a good idea to check your vitamin D levels with a blood test to ensure you do not take Vitamin D supplements unnecessarily. Having too little vitamin D is as bad as having too much. But it is important to ensure adequate levels of vitamin D as it helps in regulating the calcium balance in the body and increases immunity. Vitamin D also protects against respiratory infections such as influenza A virus and rhinovirus. It is also essential to avoid the worst effect of a covid infection

Secondly, a person’s circadian rhythm may be put out of sync with the shorter day and darker evenings. Our core body temperature, and our sleep wake cycle is governed by our circadian rhythm,  and it is also responsible for many physiological, emotional, cognitive, and behavioural functions. We are all familiar with jet lag and how it takes us a few days to recover from it. Likewise, when the clocks fall back an hour, we find it takes a week or so to adjust to the new time schedule. As the weeks between Sept 23rd and December 21st will have decreasing light each day it is important to maintain a regular sleep schedule to counteract the darkness which may lead to a desire to sleep more.

 Needless to say, the autumn equinox is also a time to reflect upon the coming darkness. It can be an ideal opportunity to accept this quiet time. After all, the harvest is over and most of the produce is now stored for the winter months. These 3 months are then an opportunity to nurture our inner selves. We can become creative by not doing things. The urge to spring clean is gone but there is often an urge to start this class or that activity. Our forebears did not do that. They saw the coming months as a time for storytelling and recovery. It may be a time to listen to some family lore or visit older neighbours and hear about their lives long ago.

Most of all, it is a time to reflect, to enjoy the dormancy of nature, and nurture our inner self.