Hello, it's good to be back writing to you. I had a nice break away for the holidays, followed by a several day utilities outage! How has your end-of-year been?

While the power was out, my family and I got to experience an even deeper level of the natural flow of this season. Did you know camping is an effective way to reset your circadian rhythm1? Well, I would say, so is an extended utility outage.

This time of year, nights here are close to 15 hours long. For this most recent round of outages, it was also the early waxing of the moon. This gave these long nights the deepest, darkest quality. Thanks to McLaury and Bee Healthy Candles apiaries (and delivery by Azure Standard), we had plenty of beeswax candles to burn.

We were, as always, so grateful for our wood stove, and enjoyed keeping the stove doors open to give us even more light.

Without our electric lights, we noticed we were even more sleepy through these days. The weather was rainy, and we also had a little chest cold contributing to the sleepy feeling. So all-in-all, it was a restful experience.

My oldest daughter learned to appreciate the vaccuum... it's her daily chore, and without the electricity, she had to sweep instead. She no one would keep these silly carpets if they didn't have electricity! I bet she's right.

My youngest daughter learned to use the potty, as with all the damp weather, there was no way to dry her cloth diapers. So, we are all happy about that (even her!). I've read that before disposables, potty training was usually done before age 2. A few days without the w/d, and I can see why! I guess this power outage was exactly the push we needed. Her second birthday is coming up towards the end of January.

For me, I had time to take a break from my education and work pursuits. I had enrolled in the Quantum Biology Collective's Circadian Certification course a couple weeks prior. The curriculum has been helpful in rounding out my circadian rhythm expertise. Their take is adding an understanding of the environment's role in mitochondrial health. I'm excited to start sharing that with you in 2023: grounding, cold therapy, infrared therapy, and a lot more. But I also enjoyed this week’s mandatory break from such intellectual pursuits.

In other news, I locked in a date for my upcoming workshop!

Free Parent Workshop: Circadian Rhythms

Learn how to use the natural light cycle to optimize your family's sleep and set the stage for healthy circadian rhythms from pre-conception through old age.

Location: Healthy U in Cave Junction, OR

Time & Date: 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM on Saturday, January 28th

This event will be free, but the space holds only 25, so you'll need to pre-register to attend. Email me at nikko@brighterdaysdarkernights.com if you'd like to learn more or sign up.

Finally, I would love to share how grateful I am to you for being here and reading my work. It's many hours of effort, but such a joy to make this information accessible. I first thought about starting a publication like this in 2020, but it took a whole year to get up the gumption! Now, it's been a little over a year since I began writing and I almost have 100 subscribers:

The pace has been picking up, and I'd love to hit that 100 subscriber mark by the New Year. If you could share a favorite post with a friend, or with a social media or email list you have, that would mean a lot to me! And help this message of good light, good sleep and good health spread farther into the world. Together, we can help the whole world wake up well-rested and healthy.

And, along those lines, if there is something you are passionate about and have been thinking about sharing, I encourage you to start your own publication. I’m hosted at Substack because it’s so easy to get started (and free, both free to use and in their committment to protecting free speech).

Start writing today. Use the button below to create your Substack and connect your publication with Brighter Days, Darker Nights

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Well, that about brings us to present! I'd love to hear about your end-of-year and hopes for 2023.

As always, feel free to reach out and let me know how I can help.

Best,

Nikko

1

Stothard, E., McHill, A., Depner, C., et al (2017). Circadian Entrainment to the Natural Light-Dark Cycle across Seasons and the Weekend. Current Biology, 27, 508–513.

Brighter Days, Darker Nights

Electric outage and circadian resets