Sleeping In: messing with circadian rhythm

Circadian rhythm is not a fancy jazz term.


It refers to something in our biological clock that is a daily cycle, like sleeping and eating patterns. We're influenced by daylight, dark/light cycles, but, the 24-hour cycle is built in to us. Like lots of other things in nature, we have daily patterns of behaviour. Our daily sleep pattern is a big deal.

Jet lag and shift work mess with your sleep patterns. So do weekends, and summer holidays. 

You can read about studies that show that keeping a regular sleep pattern is good for your health, performance at school and work, everything. And, the reverse is also true. Not being in rhythm is bad for your health, performance, etc. Still, many of us sleep in when we can, especially on weekends, and end up suffering on Mondays and whenever we need to get back to our routines. 

School starts next week and I'll be happy to have the regular rhythm of the school week back. Harry and I both have irregular hours, so the girls' school days set the rhythm. Without the structure of a regular day, things get messy. This has been the case for the whole summer. Our sleep patterns haven't had a regular pattern. 

I don't think it's a horrible thing that our circadian rhythms are irregular in the summer. Music doesn't keep the same rhythm throughout a song. That would be boring. A change in pattern is interesting and necessary. Even in Mozart's music (think Mozart Effect)  there are necessary changes in rhythm and tempo. Our summers are more jazzy, with lots of improv. 

So, I'll let my family sleep in. But, maybe just a bit less, so that it's closer to the rhythm of the school year which is just around the corner. After all this free jazz, classical could be a shock to the system.

Driving Music

Hello Everybody!

The other day, my choir friend Heather posted on Facebook that she found herself speeding when the song On the Floor was on the radio in the car. 

Oh yeah. I know how that feels. It’s happened to me many times. And, I love that song too. It has great dancing, bouncing rhythms. A driving beat. The driving beat makes your foot hit the floor. Suddenly you’re flooring it! It’s especially dangerous on the 404. I’ve found myself doing 130km/hr or more!

Driving with classical music

When I’m commuting to and from work at Victor Travel- a 45 minute drive- I usually have very pleasant drives up and down Dufferin Street. I pass by rolling hills and horse farms with 96.3fm providing a lovely soundtrack.

I’m not an experienced commuter. Sometimes I find the driving a bit stressful, and classical music is usually calming. I try not to get distracted or end up speeding.

A greater distraction

But then, like this morning, something worse happens. The music is so moving that I start to cry. Not just cry. My breathing stops and then I sob. It happened this morning when I heard a harmonica play Rhapsody in Blue by Gershwin. OMG! It was very distracting at first just trying to figure out what that instrument was. Then, the thought of this one guy on his harmonica, playing that awesome music with such skill and passion, with a powerful orchestra behind him, just blew me away. A double forte, and I was breathless. And, I couldn’t control the tears. I wonder what the man at the stoplight thought.

Well, the bottom line is that powerful music is dangerous.

Dangerous music

I had the same problem when I heard Libera for the first time. I was in the car, listening to some pretty music on 96.3fm, when suddenly I was in tears. Those beautiful boy voices soared and I wept. It was so beautiful that I went home and went to 96.3fm’s website and looked up the piece on the playlist. Then, I went to the Newmarket Public Library’s website to see if they had it and went in and borrowed the CD. My family was very patient with me when I played that CD all the time for a few weeks!

I started to think, “Maybe I should contact the radio station. They shouldn’t play music like that during rush hour!” Of course, I can’t do that. Those were things that moved me, but they won’t have the same effect on everyone. My family calls Libera the singing coyotes.  

What kind of music do you play in your car? Do you listen to the radio or to CDs? How distracting is it? Do you find yourself flooring it when certain songs play?

I'd love to hear your stories.

Yours in harmony,

Renate