Readjust Your Biological Clock After the Holidays

[영어도우미]

Readjust Your Biological Clock After the Holidays

Holidays are nearly over, and mothers nationwide are getting ready to start squabbling with their children to hustle them to school in time again. But it isn뭪 just the children who have got used to a more leisurely pace: their parents, too, are having hard time waking up in the morning, not least because the tropical nights of late have made it difficult to go to sleep. So how to adjust the biological clock as our working life resumes in earnest?

 

The biological clock controls cyclical biorhythms like heartbeat, hormone secretion, behavior and aging. It is due to the biological clock that we feel hungry at certain times and experience changes in temperature and desire for sleep according to whether it is day or night, even if we stay in the pitch dark. Most people adjust their biological clock to their social life -- when they go to school or work, when they have lunch, and when they come home. But during the holidays, it tends to go haywire as we go to sleep and wake up later than usual. Of course, that makes returning to work even more difficult.

Psychiatrist Jun Tae-youn of Catholic University of Korea뭩 St. Mary뭩 Hospital says regular habits are the key to restoring the biological clock. Jun advises taking at least a week to turn the biological clock back to normal, much like overcoming jet lag after an overseas trip. 밪ince the biological clock is affected by sunlight, external stimuli and activities, it can be easily restored if one is exposed to the sun and engages in proper activities during the day,?Jun said.

For children, herbalist Shin Dong-gil, who runs Hamsoa Oriental Clinic in Seocho-dong, Seoul advises helping their bodies regain 밳in energy, the energy of night.?Feed children who refuse to go to sleep at night the fruit and vegetables of the season, because static plants have stronger Yin force than animals. By the same token, it is best to refrain from eating meat, he says, and eat fruit and vegetables during the day rather than before going to sleep. To achieve deep refreshing sleep, it is essential to ease tension in the sympathetic nerve. Drinking jujube tea can help ease tensions. Also effective are baths, foot baths and showers in tepid water.

Meanwhile, Dr. Jeon Shin-cheol, who runs the 8+1 Clinic Center in Sinchon, Seoul, points to the importance of colors. He advises colors that suit a person뭩 physical constitution. Looking at colored paper attached to the ceiling for 10-20 minutes before they fall asleep will help children sleep deeply. Red is good for shy, reserved children, white for active, stubborn children, blue for creative, sensitive children and black for impatient children.

(englishnews@chosun.com )

 

VOCABULARY

SQUABBLE (verb) ?To engage in a disagreeable argument, usually over a trivial matter

HUSTLE (verb) ?To cause or urge to proceed quickly

RESUME (verb) ?To begin or take up again after interruption

HAYWIRE (adjective) ?Mentally confused or erratic; crazy

STIMULUS (noun, plural: STIMULI) ?Something causing or regarded as causing a response

RESTORE (verb) ?To bring back to an original condition

ESSENTIAL (adjective) ?Basic or indispensable; necessary

TEPID (adjective) ?/SPAN> Moderately warm; lukewarm

 

QUESTIONS

1)       What do you usually do on holidays? Do you plan ahead for activities during these days? With whom do you usually spend the holidays?

2)       What do you usually feel after having a holiday? Is it easy for you to get back to your normal routine?

3)       What do you do to help yourself return to your normal mode?

4)       The article mentioned eating the right food to help regain yin energy. Do you think food helps you adjust your biological clock? Why?

5)       Some say holidays are source of stress and fatigue? What is your opinion on this?

6)       How do you get most out of your holiday while avoiding the stress?