Srini, Author at GOQii

April 23, 2025 By Srini Leave a Comment

What Is Circadian Rhythm and Why It Affects Your Sleep

Ever wondered why you feel energised in the morning some days and groggy on others? Or why you naturally wake up at the same time every day—even without an alarm? The answer lies in your circadian rhythm—your body’s internal clock that runs the show when it comes to sleep, energy, alertness, and more.

Let’s break it down.

What is Circadian Rhythm?

The term “circadian” comes from Latin:

“Circa” – meaning about or around
“Dian” – related to the day
Rhythm – a repeating pattern or cycle

So, it literally refers to a roughly 24-hour internal cycle your body follows every day—governing things like sleep, wakefulness, body temperature, hormones, and alertness. Interestingly, it’s not exactly 24 hours—it’s about 24 hours and 15 minutes!

The Role of Light in Circadian Rhythm

The main trigger for circadian rhythm is light. Even though research shows it can still function without external light (like in a dark room), light exposure—especially sunlight—greatly influences it.

At the core of this system is a tiny region in your brain called the Suprachiasmatic Nucleus (SCN)—often referred to as your “third eye” or biological clock. It sits just above where the optic nerves from each eye cross and processes signals related to light, helping your body know when it’s time to wake up or wind down.

Your Circadian Type: Early Bird or Night Owl?

Not everyone’s rhythm is the same. People generally fall into three chronotype categories:

Early Birds (25%) – feel energised early in the morning
Night Owls (25%) – peak energy comes later in the day
The Majority (50%) – somewhere in between

This 1–2 hour variation explains why some thrive at sunrise, while others come alive at night. You can find your chronotype through various free online tests.

How Circadian Rhythm Impacts Your Day

Your energy levels, alertness, heart rate, and even body temperature follow a circadian pattern. For example:

Core body temperature can drop by 2°C during rest
Heart rate can fall by 20 beats per minute

Trying to maintain consistent productivity throughout the day isn’t always natural. That’s why timing your most demanding tasks to match your personal energy peaks—say 11 am to 1 pm or 4 pm to 6 pm—can make a real difference.

Even jet lag is a result of circadian misalignment—your internal body clock is out of sync with the local time zone.

How to Align Your Body Clock for Better Sleep

Want to improve your sleep and energy levels? Here’s how to work with—not against—your body clock:

Understand Your Chronotype
Discover when you’re naturally most alert and schedule important activities accordingly.
Get Morning Sunlight
Spend 10–15 minutes in natural light as early as possible. This helps set your body clock for sleep later in the evening.
Use a ‘Bedtime Alarm’
Instead of setting an alarm to wake up, set one to start your sleep routine. Going to bed at the same time daily trains your circadian rhythm.
Dim the Lights After 7:30 PM
Reduce screen and light exposure. Even better—enjoy a candlelight dinner to encourage natural melatonin production (your sleep hormone).

Understanding and aligning with your circadian rhythm isn’t just good for sleep—it’s great for your overall well-being. By syncing your routine to your natural rhythms, you’ll find yourself sleeping better, feeling more alert during the day, and living more in tune with your body.

#BeTheForce

November 15, 2023 By Srini Leave a Comment

Breathing – A Forgotten Art

We eat 3-4 times a day, about 1.5kg of food, but we breathe 20,000 to 25,000 times a day – we intake about 20-25kg of air – We are not fully knowledgeable on breathing. Since it is an autonomous process, we do not – My research with Sleep naturally took me to research about “Breathing” and what I found out, woke me up (pun intended) and I decided to continue my blogs on Breathing.

3 external physical objects are consumed by us regularly. Life critically depends on them. Food, Water and Air. Food and Water can be paused through fasting for some time. But breathing cannot be paused beyond 10 minutes. Life will cease.

Only Free Divers can hold their breath for a maximum time of 10 minutes. We cannot and should not. Unlike eating food or drinking water, which are conscious activities, breathing is an autonomous process. It is controlled by the medulla oblongata, a part of the brain stem.

However, Both Indian and Chinese ancient wisdom has clearly found out that “Conscious Breathing” is the only process which can be used by human action to influence the brain functions and hence, the mind.

As evolving human beings, we have forgotten what is the natural and correct way of breathing.

Our modern lifestyle has robbed us of natural breathing. We have got to relearn

Correct Breathing
Conscious Breathing

Unfortunately, there is little or no focus on breathing from modern medical science.

Other than just asking you to breathe deep while checking heart/lung function using the stethoscope, I am not aware of any doctor visually observing or inquiring about how the patient is breathing!

My research into sleep took me naturally to breathing. So, I read James Nestor, the author of a recent bestseller on “Breath, the New Science of a Last Art”, Anders Olsson on “Conscious Breathing” and Wim Hof about the Wim Hof Method of breathing.

I acknowledge the above authors in taking up the cause of breathing and explaining lucidly about the science behind breathing, the anatomy concerning breathing and some breathing techniques which have given me massive improvement in my health and attitude to life over the past few months.

Correct Breathing

First let us learn about Correct Breathing and then I will talk about Conscious Breathing. So, what exactly is incorrect about breathing? All 3 aspects:

Breathing through the Nose
Using Abdomen and Diaphragm for breathing
Breathing Rhythmically and Slowly

Breathing through the Nose:
I wonder why I even should talk about this. Is this such a big thing? Then I really started observing the world around me – Shocking when I observed that my wife was breathing through her mouth during sleep (how I worked on it and corrected is a separate story).

We believe that it is ok to breathe through the mouth – this is as correct as eating through your nose! Nose is created to be the sole instrument of breathing! Period. Google it or look around when people are sleeping. Surveys and research says that at least 50% of people are breathing through their mouth during sleep! Add to this the percentage of people who have choked noses, COPD and other breathing issues!

We are talking about a VERY LARGE proportion of the human population incorrectly breathing.

How do you breathe? Do you know? Ask your partner to observe while you breathe.

If you have a dry mouth when you wake up, if you have a V-shaped upper palate (as against a U-shaped palate), If your tonsils are removed when you were a child, if you are snoring then IT IS QUITE LIKELY THAT YOU ARE BREATHING THROUGH YOUR MOUTH.

See what you are missing out if you breathe through your mouth?

Your nose captures impurities, particles, bacteria and viruses using the hair mucous surface in the nose when the inhaled air is going through.
Your nose heats up the air and moistens it using the moist mucous surface. Why is this important? The incredible process of Gas exchange in the lungs happens optimally only when the air is hot and humid (more about Gas exchange and the process/chemistry of breathing later).
It also adds the magical element of Nitric Oxide which is secreted in the sinuses. Nitric Oxide dilates the blood vessels as well as the air tubes of lungs, reducing blood pressure.

Tip: When you do Bhramari Pranayam (humming), you are releasing 15 times more Nitric Oxide into the breathed air and hence, practicing Bhramari Pranayama a few times a day during these days of the pandemic, can help you avoid getting infected.

So, why not simply hum and breathe through your nose?

PS: All of what is stated above is a summary of reading so many research articles and you can google about any of them.

I will be sharing more on breathing in the articles to come! Stay tuned. For more breathing exercises, check out Healthy Reads. To learn breathing techniques with the right guidance from a certified expert, subscribe to Personalised Health Coaching here.

#BeTheForce

September 3, 2021 By Srini Leave a Comment

Breathing #3: Breath Bank

A Tamil adage says that everyone gets a certain number of breaths deposited in their account on birth. You cannot increase or decrease it – but you can efficiently use the remaining balance and get more out of it. Do you know how to get more out of your breath? How to get a higher ROI? Let’s start with the number of breaths per minute.

How Do You Measure The Breaths in Your Breath Bank?

Measure the number of breaths per minute at 4 fixed time slots in a day and do it over one or two weeks and then get the average breath per minute. If the AVERAGE number is more than 12, then you are not very efficient in using your breath balance. If you are more than 18, then you are hyperventilating!

Hyperventilation depletes Co2 from your body. The interesting fact is that Co2 is critical for oxygen absorption in the cells for effective burning of the fuel. If you are hyperventilating, then there is Co2 imbalance and even though you may have a 97% oxygen saturation in your blood, the Oxygen just floats around without being effectively used in burning the fuel.

So, to use Oxygen effectively, you need a good balance of Co2 in your body. Also, as much as you hyperventilate while under stress, the other way is also true. When you hyperventilate, the body assumes you are under stress. You are chronically under stress AND you are not burning the fuel effectively… all due to a simple issue of incorrect breathing!

Slow breathing keeps the right balance between Carbon Dioxide and Oxygen in the body and remember both are needed for the efficient functioning of the body.

“Mind is the King of the senses and Breath is the King of the Mind”, says BKS Iyengar, a renowned Yoga Guru. James Nestor, says that an ideal breathing is 5.5 seconds inhale and 5.5 seconds exhale – so this is 11 seconds and your average number of breaths would also be 5.5 per minute.

Most of the religious prayers/chants/choirs were designed to make you breathe at a rate of around 5.5 to 6 per minute. Such prayer, no wonder, has magical curative powers.

You can practice slow breathing anywhere, any time and privately. Just be conscious of how you breathe! In fact, between every activity, meeting or zoom call, take 5 minutes off and practice conscious slow and deep abdominal breathing, you will do wonders in terms of your productivity.

“If you want to live, follow Eastern Medicine (Yoga, Ayurveda) and if you do not want to die, then follow Western Medicine” – Trainer Brian MacKenzie

This subject is still developing and research is still coming through under the Western Medicine and has been in practice over thousands of years in India by our Yogis.

Western breathing experts like Dr Buteyko, James Nestor and Anders Olsson, etc. have gone on record on the benefits of slow and rhythmic breathing. In fact, Dr Buteyko observes that 80% of the population is chronically hyperventilating!

Breathing is the only tool available to humans to connect to (and influence) their autonomous nervous system and therefore mind. If you develop awareness and therefore, better understanding, you can make breathing more efficient and positively impact your mind. Breathing is the MOST POWERFUL tool humans have. Fascinating isn’t it. But Simple. I average around 8 breaths per minute now and I have personally benefited significantly in terms of overall energy through the day, feeling good and less stressed.

Practices To Help You Achieve Slow Breathing

Being Conscious of breathing
Practicing Pranayama – Kapal Bathi, Ujjayi, Pursed lip breathing, Bhastrika
Breathing using the abdomen than the chest
Tummo ( Tibetan technique) or Wim Hof method

I am placing a customary caveat for the reader that this is not medical advice and you should consult your doctor. And unfortunately, the western medical system holds that less than 10 breaths per minute is a disease and it has to be cured.

If you want more details, medical and scientific evidence, please read more at https://breathe.ersjournals.com/content/13/4/298

Further read books/podcasts of James Nestor, Brian Mackenzie, Rangan Chatterjee, Anders Olsson

We hope this article helps you improve your breath bank balance. For more on breathing, check out Healthy Reads. To get breathing exercises from your GOQii Coach, subscribe to personalized coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

Breathe Right & #BeTheForce

August 27, 2021 By Srini Leave a Comment

Breathing #2: Why Is Abdominal Breathing Important?

In my previous article, I spoke about breathing through the nose. In this article, let me take it a bit deeper and speak about abdominal breathing. It is observed that many of us breathe through our chest and our breathing is therefore shallow.

This issue compounds when you are awake, in the office, working on something important, tense, or under stress and hyperventilate. Shallow breathing compounded with hyperventilation leads to SUBOPTIMAL gas exchange.

We take so much care about nutrition and food, but we need to know how to burn it. Same as filling Premium Petrol, as well as knowing optimal driving techniques! Unburnt or sub-optimally burnt food is responsible for weight gain, diabetes and so many chronic lifestyle illnesses.

The goal of good nutrition is that it is absorbed well and burnt well. So, right breathing is equally, if not more, important than eating the right food.

Take this simple test to know how you breathe

Lie on your back with your knees bent
Place one hand or a small book on your chest and the other on your stomach.
Breathe normally, observe what is rising – the chest or the abdomen

Observe which is rising up and down. If it is your chest, you are shallow breathing and if it is the abdomen more than the chest, you may be closer to what is the right breathing.

See the picture below to understand why this is important

Lungs are narrow at the top and wide at the bottom – sort of “Inverted V” shape. The blood flow at the bottom of the lungs is approx. 10 times than the top.

Most of the bunch of grapes (alveoli) which are the instruments of gas exchange (topic to be explained later) is at the bottom of the lungs. Now, if you breathe through your chest, you are leaving more than 60% of your lung’s “installed capacity” unused.

CFOs will know that unused installed capacity is costly! Diaphragmatic breathing gives you High Return on Inhaled Air (investment)! Simple. You can observe animals breathing, for example observe a Cow – they breathe through the abdomen only. Somewhere in evolution, the modern human has forgotten the art of breathing.

The Additional Advantages Of Abdominal Breathing

Abdomen movement helps the movement of lymphatic fluids – unlike the blood, there is no pump for lymphatic fluids. Only muscular movement acts as a pump
Abdomen movement also continuously massages the parts of stomach like liver and intestine
Abdominal movement makes it easy and lighter for your heart to pump blood

Shallow breathing leaves air behind in the lower parts of the lung, making it vulnerable to easy infection. So, why don’t we use the abdomen for breathing and benefit from optimal gas exchange which in turn helps in supplying efficient fuel (oxygen) to burn the food you are eating?

If you want to make diaphragmatic breathing into a habit, you can follow Conscious Breathing classes by Anders Olsson or Wim Hof method (which I follow) or from any Yoga Guru.

We hope this article on abdominal breathing helps you. Do leave your thoughts in the comments below. For more on breathing, check out Healthy Reads or get these tips directly from your GOQii Coach by subscribing to personalized coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

Breathe Right & #BeTheForce

Breathing #3: Breath Bank

How Do You Measure The Breaths in Your Breath Bank?

Practices To Help You Achieve Slow Breathing

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Mayur Sutar’s Journey to a Healthier Life

Transforming Health and Life: Dhiren Matani’s Inspirational Journey to Wellness

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