Also this is a classic time for teenagers, in that they are growing and developing their internal systems from child to adult and their internal wiring is just all over the place.
The first worry was how much time was missed from school, this, coupled with her erratic/ defensive/aggressive behaviour brought her to both state counselling and private counselling.
The eating disorder had stopped her monthly cycle and she was loosing weight. It was some time before the parent and teen saw that the state counselling was of no help, not because the staff, but they call on the patient to fit into their 'professional' boxes that diagnose a condition, which then becomes another problem as the teen is asked to fit into yet another box. She was passed fully into the eating disorder box. Private counselling was expensive and would take years.
The parent, already stretched beyond belief caring for accute and chronic conditions in elderly patients, decided enough was enough and took time to study her child. Over time using her knowledge of the child, she built up knowledge of the chakra systems, she analysed that her child was a strong assertive character, a bit shy sometimes and she had started secondary school, aged 11 years, a fully happy and confident child.
After one year in the school system, and during the time that the physiology of the child changes, the child is swept up inside the cultural, peer pressure system 'hot house' of conforming.
The teen's chakra systems had taken a dramatic battering. After intense research the parent came to see that her child's 'NATURAL' circadian cycle was very different. From a young child she had not found it easy to go to sleep at conventional times, this had been overlooked and not rated as being important.
Taking pressure off the teen about 'being school' and ignoring convention and cultural rules, the parent finally got the state system involves and she saw that the teen had her own sleeping pattern. However she had to get a 'diagnosis' of this as a 'delayed sleep onset' disorder, which is a recognised as 'circadian cycle' gone wrong.
Even though the parent knew there was nothing 'wrong' with having a sleep pattern that is different from what is demanded by society, she had to have the diagnosis, to take the pressure of the teen within the school system. The teen had been in permanent 'JET LAG' mode, tired and headaches, caused disruptive behaviour, and feeling that there must be something wrong with her, she had become lost and psychologically disillusioned, SAD, and unable to cope with the so called 'normal' ways.
To authenticate this, the teen came under the care of the sleep study hospital in London. She was given melatonin to help balance her circadian sleep cycle and the school had to agree that the teen had 'special needs', and so she was allowed to come into school at a time when her body was awake enough to be present fully and able to withstand the rigours of the school day. Sometimes she missed entire days, or only went in after lunch, BUT as the pressure came off her to perform at school without her having the full complement of sleep that her personal self needed, she went back to eating, enjoyed cooking and buying food. She resumed a happy social life with her friends, refound her strength and character. She veered between vegan and vegitarian, and returned to being a happy and self sustaining individual. She decided when she wanted to take the melatonin and stopped when her body felt she didn't need it anymore as her own natural production of melatonin resumed. Her sleep cycle is as it is, but it is 'natural for her where she is in her development, and will move into a more mature cycle with time as her growing hormones stabilise within her maturing natural cycles.
She hasn't taken Melatonin for months now as her 'own' body is happy with its 'own circadian cycle'. It had been a very tough period for teen and parent alike and much more dramatic than the picture I am painting here.
So, even though she missed out much of school, not only putting her parents in a situation where they could have been brought to court by the school and fined, it was also tough on the teen because for a long time she was unable to see how she could sit those exams that society demands be taken at an entirely inappropriate time during adolescence.
I believe that things will have to change in society so that our education systems will become places of Grace where importance and emphasis are put on the child 'developing' , with care and attention into teen and adult, and subjects like Grammar or Hitler in World War II are mere choices for occupational study.
Anyway this part of the teens story comes to now, with that teen waiting for her GCSE results this week, with a college place lined up for September.
The pineal gland produces melatonin, which is the body's greatest aid in antioxidant activity, inflammation control, immune system support, and disease resistance.
When you are forced out of your natural sleep pattern, your body is compromised, when this is endured for long periods of time, it is called Sleep deprivation and considered to be 'torture'.
At this time, most of us are forced to endure a 'societal alarm clock', and more of our natural and innate cycles of well being are compromised.
Diseases such as Cancer can be the route, as these and OTHER COMPROMISES to our natural systems get deeper and more set over time. We are only just beginning to learn how to trust that we NEED to move out from under the crushing boulders of belief systems constraints. We need to come back to honour our own cycles and body rhythms, and to see the GRACE of those cycles within the larger cycles on earth.
Michaela.
Melatonin Fights Cancer
Melatonin is critical for optimal regulation of sleep and circadian rhythm, but researchers are finding that it’s much more than just a sleep aid. It plays a complex role in the maintenance and regulation of the endocrine system, and thus offers a number of underappreciated benefits, including antioxidant activity, inflammation control, immune system support, and disease resistance.
For example, studies show that melatonin exhibits an extraordinary brain antioxidant capacity—one study even acknowledged how undervalued it is by stating that melatonin “under promises but over delivers” with regard to oxidative stress protection.[1]
Another study found that melatonin outperforms amitriptyline, the leading pharmaceutical drug for preventing the onset of migraine headaches—and that it does so without any side effects.[2]
Due to the wide-ranging therapeutic potential of melatonin, scientists are examining what aid it may offer for one of the leading health issues of our time: the prevention and treatment of cancer.
Melatonin, hormone health, and the development of cancer
Melatonin is an endogenous hormone predominantly produced by the pineal gland, which acts as a sort of “master control system” for the body’s endocrine processes. It influences nearly every cell in the human body, and has even been shown to safeguard mitochondrial function (mitonchrondria are the “powerhouses” of your cells that regulate energy metabolism and healthy cell growth).[3]
We’ve written before about the myriad health consequences of endocrine dysfunction, most notably in the context of chemical-induced endocrine disruption. Imbalances in melatonin levels can lead to similarly disastrous consequences (we’ll discuss some of the most common causes of melatonin deficiency later in this article).
The mechanisms behind endocrine function, cellular health, and cancer development are enormously complex, but we do know that insufficient levels of melatonin are linked with a higher incidence of cancer.[4]
And the anti-cancer benefits of melatonin aren’t just indirect; this miracle molecule is also classified as a directly cytotoxic hormone and anti-cancer agent. Studies have referred to melatonin as a “full-service anti-cancer agent” due to its ability to inhibit the initiation of cell mutation and cancer growth, and to halt the progression and metastasis of cancer cell colonies.[5]
Researchers attribute these incredible benefits to the fundamental mechanisms mentioned above: protection against oxidative stress, optimization of cell detoxification, regulation of mitochondrial function, and endocrine system maintenance.
How to optimize melatonin levels
Melatonin may have benefits that extend far beyond sleep, but its regulation of circadian rhythm is still central to its therapeutic potential.
It’s important to note that “disruption of normal circadian rhythm” and melatonin deficiency are inextricably tied to one another.[6] Researchers believe that sleep issues undermine health because they lead to melatonin deficiencies—and yet melatonin deficiencies can make it even more difficult to correct sleep patterns (thus maintaining a vicious cycle that increases the risk of cancer and other chronic diseases).
The obvious first step to optimizing melatonin levels, then, is to ensure that you’re getting proper sleep. You can check out our past article for more details on optimal sleep hygiene, but here’s the basics.
- Any less than seven hours per night is technically considered sleep deprivation by leading sleep researchers.
- While everyone’s circadian rhythm will vary slightly, it’s generally best to be in bed by 11:00pm. If you’re still awake much later, the endocrine system initiates a cascade of “alert” hormones, which can make it more difficult to fall asleep.
- Consistency is key; the less radical variation in your day-to-day sleep schedule, the easier time your body will have falling into an optimized melatonin production schedule.
Another critically important (and often overlooked) element of sleep hygiene is proper interfacing with devices that produce blue light and electromagnetic fields (EMFs), both of which can disrupt the production and release of melatonin.
If at all possible, avoid contact with any such devices a minimum of an hour before bed. Try to ditch the electronics a maximum of two hours after the sun sets, and you’ll find yourself getting sleepy much earlier. Last but not least, remove all sources of blue light and EMFs from your bedroom, and sleep with an eye mask.
If you already struggle with insomnia (despite all attempts to integrate the above sleep hygiene practices into your everyday life), it’s often possible to break the cycle by supplementing with melatonin.
If you choose to take this route, though, remember that it’s very important not to take melatonin everyday for an extended period of time (doing so can cause a dependency on exogenous melatonin, which further decreases natural, endogenous melatonin production). Always take a break after a maximum five nights of taking melatonin supplements (taking a two-day break at least every three nights is ideal).
Use plant-derived (rather than synthetic) melatonin, which is more easily implemented by the body, less likely to cause dependency, and highly effective.
Remember that the goal should be to boost internal melatonin production, so that you can maintain an ideal sleep schedule without supplemental melatonin. Optimizing your body’s own melatonin production not only promotes deep, restorative sleep, but also protects the body against cancer and other serious chronic diseases.
References
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