When we consider our energy, which is really being produced at the cellular level, we need to consider light, fuel and carbon dioxide (breathing).
Every year, we see a huge shift in natural light exposure and temperature variations.
Darkness (a stressor) dominates some locations in winter months, while those same locations have an abundance of sunlight in Summer.
No secret then – we feel better in Summer as the metabolism improves and we produce more energy and many people often feel down (seasonal affective disorder) in winter.
We know this intellectually, and we know steps we can take to reduce external stressors in winter (changing how we eat, move and work), so why does it keep tripping people, year after year?
The recency bias is when people more prominently emphasise recent events and observations than those in the more distant past.
But energy production doesn’t suffer from cognitive biases.
So on one hand we have a set of habits and patterns that “acclimatise” to the abundant summer months, then on the other hand we have a metabolism that responds to changes in the environment within a day or so.
The behavioural lag is in conflict with the fast response of the physiology. The mind gets stuck in summer and the physiology hits the wall of winter.
If we move energy generation to the top of the list of priorities, then we can respond to environmental changes a little quicker. We can quickly dial in our food, our movement and our work habits to reflect our available resources.*
*If you are exercising and “living” in the same way year round, you are ignoring one of the most dominant over-arching cycles in nature. This is leaving a huge amount of potential for wellbeing, health and happiness on the table.
