Trying to lighten up in the months of darkness

Country Living with Francis Farragher

Being of country stock, where there were always ‘jobeens’ to be done on the farm in the early morning period, getting up in fairly good time was always considered the norm in the earlier years.

Then along the journey to manhood, of course there were blips as we started to grow up and thought it was the most wonderful thing in the world to be up half the night carousing, safe in the knowledge that we could sleep it off the following day.

However as with all things in life, the circle normally tends to be completed, and now there’s a certain silent satisfaction in heading for the slumber chamber as the clock strikes 11 bells, and again looking forward to an early morning start.

Here though a little difficulty arises as in common with most of the populace, it is just that bit harder to leave the warmth of the duvet when the outside is pitch black at 6.30am and often with the accompaniment of wind and rain.

There is an acquaintance of mine who casually remarks about his regular 5am starts followed by an hour’s vigorous exercise and occasionally, through the course of the second pint in ‘the local’, I vow to give this some consideration but when morning time arrives, that ambitions seems to have completely lost its substance and gloss.

For my sins, I did a little non-scientific perusal of the difficulties in getting up early through the winter period but the biggest consolation in this scan of the dos and don’ts of sleep was the fact that at least it’s a conditions that’s quite common across the planet.

There’s a Professor Angela Clow in the University of Westminster who spends most of her waking hours studying this ‘getting up early in the morning’ stuff, who outlines the roll of a stress hormone called CAR (cortisol awakening response) in our daily lives.

Apparently back the years CAR was regarded as a type of negative hormone in terms of our moods, probably related to that feeling of: “God is it that time again,” but now it’s rated as a very positive influence, and the earlier we awaken the more daily ‘fuel’ we can get from this message to our nervous system.

According to Professor Clow, it’s much better to be an early riser than a night owl and one of the critical things we need to function with reasonable efficiency through the day is regularity in the time we go to bed and the time we get up. [That good intention is of course likely to go out the window with the onset of the Christmas party season].

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.