Hey guys and welcome back to another episode of Change Wired Podcast. My name is Angela Sharina, I'm your host, I'm your executive transformation, health, body work, meaningful work coach who helps you navigate personal and collective change, transformation, self-improvement, growth. We are talking about tools. We're also talking about strategies and science. We are trying to always be evidence-based and if we are having some wild ideas, we're going to say so. We also hear about interesting conversations and people who do amazing work in the world, trying to make a positive impact, improve, create growth positive kind of growth for all of us.
So this is what ChangeWired is all about, and today's podcast episode is actually about our health. Our biology is actually about our health, our biology and, believe it or not, guys, without you taking your biology on a ride, so to speak, or understanding how your biology contributes to your ability to change and improve and grow, without you understanding your biology, you can't really become as good with change, improvement and development and just creating the life path, life journey that is fulfilling and meaningful. You can't be great and the best at it if you don't understand how your biology influences your psychology. Today, specifically by the end of this episode, you'll learn one of the fundamental things to use your biology to fuel your psychological and life, and sometimes business, change. Today, we're going to talk about how you're going to adjust your energy levels that you experience throughout the day, energy levels which affect everything from your thinking to your mood, to the actions you take and, ultimately, to the direction of your life. When you are in high energy state, you know like you wake up. Sometimes you're like whoo-hoo, the king or queen of the day. That kind of energy when you feel it, don't you agree? Just sit with me here and reflect on when the last time you felt that way and if it was a long time ago, definitely listen to this episode. So stay tuned. But when you're in this high energy state, you feel unstoppable and you're so much more likely to take positive action, to try new things, to work on things that might not have been working for you for a while and still give it another chance. You're also so much better at learning and your desire to learn and improve grows almost exponentially.
So energy I always say energy is the currency of life, and when I talk about my three pillar system for unlocking human potential, I always talk about body, mind and work systems for delivering value into the world, but body is like your charging station. I always have this saying as well charge, drive, deliver, and charge is for the biological systems. It's where your battery, so to speak, and without that battery, your laptop or operating system in the game of your life wouldn't function. So energy is literally everything. Energy changes how you think, how you feel and what you end up doing in the world. And if you didn't know that, for example, but people with depression, there is more and more evidence showing that the way people think and feel especially in depression, but also in healthy individuals it depends on your energy state as well, and there is a huge body of research showing that depressed people have fundamental problems with energy metabolism in their mitochondria, which fuels your brain's capacity to do its work, how neurons are able to communicate between each other to get anything done. So energy might be very well the issue with everything that goes wrong in a human and in our lives and the fuel that makes everything go right when it does so. Energy is so very important, and today I'm going to just tell you a few new findings and tools that are very helpful, effective and work across the board for everyone to help you modulate your energy levels throughout the day, so you are higher on energy during the day and then so your energy slowly goes down and you are able to fall asleep peacefully and fast, so you can recover, recharge and get back to feeling your best and approaching your day with this like zest and enthusiasm, which again fuels pursuit of excellence or anything that you want to do with your life. So energy is everything.
Speaker 1First, there is really great evidence, it is undoubted, that your cortisol and stay with me for a while you might not care what cortisol is, but what I learned not so long ago actually that cortisol is a major hormone that, yes, helps you to activate yourself for dealing with stressors, and sometimes people even think that too much cortisol is a stressor in itself. But actually the main purpose of cortisol is to help your body release energy for you to do anything in your life. And so what is actually important? To have your cortisol fluctuate in the right kind of way, being very high in the morning, to release that energy, to ramp up all of your systems, so you have that energy to get up and go, and over the course of the day your cortisol needs to slowly go down, and by the time you sleep, it should be very low, so you're not activated but deactivated, so to speak, and then you can peacefully and again fast transition to sleep state where you recover, recharge and for a lot of people, this cycle of cortisol being very high and then slowly going down towards the end and then also just like not having optimal levels of cortisol during the day, that's what makes a lot of people, puts a lot of people into trouble, like you're sleepy in the morning and then you try to drink coffee and overstimulate your system, which caffeine is also a psychoactive drug that disrupts your sleep at night if you consume too much and too late.
But the whole thing started in the first place because your cortisol cycle was out of sync with natural rhythm of the day, so to speak, driven by 24 cycle of day and night, and that's why you started using caffeine and very often you might start using sugar or other stuff that pumps you up, but then down the line it creates a negative cycle and more negative side effects, like whether you overate sugary stuff and too many stimulants trying to bring that energy up and function in the world and then at night you can't fall asleep and then again that further disrupts that cortisol cycle and also you don't sleep well at night and your sleep ends up being all over the place and you wake up not energized and that's where you start using different stimulants, among which might be caffeine and sugar and other stuff, and that cycle just keeps going. But also with that disrupted cortisol cycle and energy levels, it doesn't come for free. What I mean by that is also your immune function. Pretty much everything in your body gets destriculated and nothing works, and so you get a lot, a lot more and more negative consequences as the time of your life goes by. So how to interrupt that cycle and how to make your cortisol cycle more natural to what it's supposed to be more beneficial to all processes in your body, how to restart it or shake it up or put it where it's supposed to be, actually very simple. Simple, not always easy. And during the transition time, while you are getting back to normal cortisol cycle, it doesn't mean that you know you do the things that I proposed to do, which are very simple, and everything just becomes balanced again and you feel 100%. First of all, the transition time. Second of all, depending on how long it was out of sync and what other problems it already caused. There might be other interventions that I needed, whether that some supplements or some medications or some other interventions, and it might take longer again, depending on how long it was out of sync in the first place and what's the also perhaps some pathology underneath it. But until you try the things that you're about to learn, don't expect your cortisol cycle to be normal If you don't do this on a regular basis, what I'm about to tell you. Then, until you do this, don't try all the other stuff, because all of the problems in your life with energy might actually be because you just don't follow a routine that needs to be in place in order for your energy cycle, your cortisol cycle, to function well. So say that, put into practice what you're about to learn.
Speaker 1Again, based on science, current science, which is unquestionable. Some of it I learn in New Scientist magazine, very good one that brings new research but doesn't hype it up and always tries to keep it balanced. Based again on current scientific research and understanding. And then also some of it comes from neurosciencenewscom, which reports different findings in neuroscience and their practical applications. Some of it comes from my favorite podcast, huberman Lab, and just like Andrew Huberman, professor Andrew Huberman, I always try to tell you when it's a hype, and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but something you can try. Or sometimes it's something that just works Like, for example, seeing viewing natural light outside in the first hour of waking Ideally, andrew Huberman says, the first 30 minutes of your waking time, literally when you wake up, get outside to spend some time with sunlight, getting into special receptors in your eyes, so the internal clocks that you have in your brain and in all of the cells of your body get the signal that they need to ramp up your cortisol levels in the morning, to give this burst, this huge wave.
Speaker 1So you get this great energy in the morning and basically for the rest of your day, which, if you do it later day, which if you do it later, let's say 90 minutes after your waking time, doesn't work like that after that. So that's what I learned from Andrew Huberman, for example, and he says that this is what's current understanding and what he undoubtedly believes, based on all the research. But anyhow, the practical takeaway if you don't go out first hour in the morning, first hour of your waking time, and don't see daylight consistently, it means that your cortisol cycle might be disrupted. Now other things to bump up that cortisol levels. That is the bump up that is needed to then create this natural cycle of high and low of cortisol, so your energy goes up in the morning and fuels your day and then goes down at night so you can go to sleep and rest and recover. There are other things that help with that as well, like drinking water in the morning, speaking of which I've just hydrated. So when I wake up, I drink my half a liter of water with some salt and then I do some breathing exercises and then I go out and I spend about 20 minutes outside. Whether that's cloudy, it still works, or it's cold, it still works. Just don't wear sunglasses, because your eyes are the ones that need to get that signal.
Speaker 1If you wake up and it is still dark which happens during winter, especially if you are closer to the poles, whether North Pole or South Pole, you might not always have the light, as I experienced for majority of my life during some winter months. So purchase a lamp with 10,000 LUX, which are available in almost all the online retailers these days. So use one of those lamps, put it by your computer wherever you are, maybe where you have your coffee or you have your water, so get that exposure for about 30 minutes. I believe. When you buy one of those lamps which now have become so affordable and in so many different varieties, the ones that you can travel with, I always recommend to my clients to get one of those. If they can't consistently go out the first hour of waking, ideally you would want to do that. If in winter it's not possible, then get back to it as soon as possible.
So that light in the morning is very crucial for your cortisol system. So if you can't again get outside but please do not be lazy if you can Get outside, get that sunlight. If you can't get the lamp, spend the first half hour with that lamp. But again, the best is get outside, get that sunlight which gives your cortisol this bump up, and then you experience higher energy levels, without any caffeine, in the morning and throughout your day. And that also helps you to have lower levels of cortisol, because there is some negative feedback loop in that system. So the higher your cortisol goes up in the morning believe it or not, guys, this is how our biology works the lower it goes at night and the easier it is for you to fall asleep at night and if in the morning your cortisol doesn't go all that much up, you have it higher later in the day, which doesn't allow you to fall asleep, recover, rest and then in the morning you end up again with lower cortisol, lower energy levels. And here we go again with more caffeine, more sugar, higher energy levels at night and then you don't get to sleep well and your thinking, your positive mood, your get up and go kind of energy just becomes non-existent. So the first thing you got to do in the first hour of waking ideally first 30 minutes drink some water. Water also helps with bumping up that cortisol levels plus starting up all of your systems that need water.
Speaker 1Dehydration is a thing, guys. Nothing functions well in your body when you are dehydrated and the brain is especially sensitive to hydration levels. Even 2%, they say, will result in measurable cognitive impairments. Basically, it means you are not as cognitively sharp and able. So drink your water, get outside. What I do I drink my half a liter of water, do some breathing exercise, do some stretches, et cetera, and in about 20, 25 minutes I'm out of the door to do my walk, listening to my podcast, whatever else I might feel like doing, but I do that even if it's cold, even when it's raining, no matter what.
Speaker 1Another thing that helps to bump up that cortisol level is movement, is exercise. Obviously, if you go for a walk, you're already getting some movement, but specifically some intense exercise maybe jumping rope for five minutes or doing full-blown workout also help to elevate that cortisol level, which again gives you the energy for the day, makes it cortisol level lower, closer to your bedtime, allows you to fall asleep, to recover well and then in the morning again have great energy levels and, without caffeine or sugary stuff, be ready to go. So the first and most important thing you want to do wake up and get outside and get your walking in. If you can't go for a walk, then you get your lamp with 10,000 lakhs. Spend time with it, but then what is recommended is to get your exercise in water for sure. Get it first thing in the morning. That's how you start your day right. And again, experiment with that. For not experiment, but do it for at least next seven days and see how your energy levels truly will change. They will improve no matter what, but obviously if you have some underlying conditions already, that effect might be different, but I tried it with countless clients. All of them have this boost of energy. So go for a walk, view that sunlight and you get the movement. If you can do some working out, some jumping jacks or jump rope, that will also help to bump up that cortisol to have an amazing day and sleep well at night. But besides that, to keep your cortisol low late at night so you can fall asleep and rest and recover, so your melatonin also can be released two, three hours before your sleep time, as it's supposed to, to make you fall asleep fast and make the whole sleep experience optimized.
Speaker 1So what you want to do? And my parents? I'm staying with my parents in the morning for a couple more weeks and they are laughing at me. It's like everyone is crazy in their own way and they are referring to the fact that at least two hours before bed usually three, four hours I'm becoming obsessed with not getting into any bright light. Like if there is bright light in the room and my parents are there, I'm telling them to turn it off or use some other, less disruptive, less bright light. Like on the sides of our room there are other sources of light that are less bright, more orange. I ask them to switch that in order for me to get into the room to spend some time with them. And the reason why I'm doing this is because that bright light in the evening. Your eyes and your brain are especially insensitive to any sources of bright and blue light. But any source of bright light which actually makes your cortisol go up destroys a lot of your melatonin, which makes falling asleep and your rest, at the very least, very challenging. And that's one of the reasons why falling asleep again and resting well might be so hard, because that light affects your cortisol levels, affects your melatonin levels, and not in a good for sleep way. And that is based on really solid research.
Speaker 1And that is another side of the coin. If you want to modulate your energy levels optimally throughout the day and at night, what you want to do is not just see that bright light in the morning but also avoid two, three hours before your bedtime. All bright sources of light, blue light also. My computer screen, my phone, have special protection. I use F-Lux, f-l-u-x, a free app which changes the intensity of light and the color Like. If I look at my screens at night, they're deeply orange, closer to red and very, not bright, which for the eyes at night still feels like it's bright because your light becomes more and more sensitive to any source of light at night. So that's the another side of the coin If you want to optimize your cortisol levels, having it high in the morning and having it low at night, so you can have optimal energy levels in the morning throughout the day and then at night to fall asleep well, so you can recover, restore and get back into this routine of getting things done and feeling happy and energized during the day. So these are two things you want to do and energized during the day. So these are two things you want to do.
First hour, first half an hour of your waking time, get outside, get that sunlight and then, even if it's cloudy, even if it's raining, it still works it just when it's raining, you want to be spending a little bit more time. So instead of a couple of minutes or five minutes that might be enough in the morning you would want to spend 20 to 30 minutes if it's cloudy and raining. And then at night, you want to avoid, even to the point of being called crazy and obsessed by your loved ones. You want to avoid bright sources of light, which usually come from your environment and things like your tablet, your laptop, your phone. A lot of devices have this blue light, so you want to make sure that you either have a software that adjusts it or some sort of internally created mechanism that makes this happen. A lot of TVs, actually, guys, check this setting out. It is somewhere in the section of light adjustment. So a lot of modern TVs actually have this night setting which, at least to my knowledge, decreases the intensity of that bright light in your television, which also, again, might be pumping up that cortisol, stealing your melatonin and makes falling asleep so much more difficult and also decreases the quality of that sleep.
Speaker 1All that to say, guys, that light is important and if you want to improve your energy level, so you want to optimize them for your function during the day and sleep at night, that's. If you want to improve your energy level, so you want to optimize them for your function during the day and sleep at night. That's what you want to do. Get up and go in the morning outside, get that sunlight or, at the very least, get that lamp, and at night, decrease your exposure to any bright light, blue light, especially blue green, the ones that you see in the morning or during the day, but also any bright light as well. What else?
Speaker 1I think, a couple of things that I noticed with my clients that you might not be aware of. If you decide to use melatonin to help you regulate your sleep-wake cycle and your cortisol cycle faster or, for example, you're traveling, you need to adjust your sleep-wake cycle faster. A lot of people use melatonin not in the right way, so a lot of times you would see people taking melatonin right before they want to fall asleep or an hour before, which actually not based on research. What research says, if you want to fall asleep faster or earlier, you would want to take your melatonin four to six hours before that time that you want to fall asleep Not right before or not a couple of hours before, but four to six hours. So if you might have been doing your melatonin wrong and if you want to fall asleep later, because maybe, again, you travel, or maybe you need to stay up for a meeting, or you need to stay up for an event or for a call, whatever that might be, and you need to stay up and fall asleep later, you actually want to take that melatonin right after you woke up in the morning Might not always create optimal functioning for the day ahead, but your sleep-wake cycle will be delayed and so that night you will go to bed. You will get sleepier later. So that's just a couple of things I notice my clients don't always know and take the melatonin in all the wrong way and then wonder why it doesn't work exactly. It can also not work because the amount that is in there is off, which is also very often the case for many supplements.
Speaker 1And one interesting thing that is also based on very solid science Grapefruit increases your cortisol levels by preventing certain enzymes that break down cortisol in our system. So the stuff in grapefruit makes cortisol breakdown slower or not happening, inhibiting it, and that makes the cortisol that we do create stay longer in our system. So what I'm going to be trying is trying using grapefruit in the later morning to make my cortisol be prolonged, specifically in the early afternoon when I tend to get sleepier. So I don't necessarily want to do that, but because grapefruit is not some sort of stimulant and it doesn't stay in your system long, so it might be that perfect bump up that you need to get through your midday smoother and then still be able to fall asleep and have your chill evenings to recover well and wake up energized to start another day. So these are a couple of other things that I'm going to be experimenting with.
Speaker 1Obviously, not eating late at night let's say three hours before bed is recommended. It's important to have good sleep experience and then regulate your cortisol well, your caffeine as well. Don't drink it too late, which for most people will be after 2 pm. You should not be consuming anything with caffeine, whether that's coffee, energy drinks or too much dark chocolate and other substances that might contain caffeine. So those are a couple of minor things, but the most important thing you want to understand get your bottom outside to view natural light First hour of your waking time. If it's not possible, use the lamp, but if it's possible, don't be lazy. And then two, three hours before your bedtime, be very mindful and maybe even obsessed and crazy about different light sources which disrupt your cortisol and melatonin cycles, which disrupts your sleep and disrupt your energy levels, the energy that you need to get anything done in this life or to even just to feel good.
Speaker 1That's it for today, guys. Hope you found this useful and you're going to take proactive steps to modulate your energy levels. So, again, you can be effective during the day, can create more positive impact, can change yourself and others in a more profound way. If you found this useful or need more help resources, don't be afraid, don't be stopped and reach out. Angela, no info at yourbestculturecom that's my new email address or find me on Instagram Angela Brain Body Coach all one word. There is also a link in the show notes. You can even send me a text there which goes to my podcast provider. But, all that being said, don't forget to share, to review, to teach others about what you learned on this podcast. Share it. Share it. Help us reach more people to improve the energy levels of the entire world, so we could all live better and create more positive impact. Until next time, sleep well, wake up energized and keep growing.