With regards to energy, so far I have talked about why energy is awesome, gone over the basics of energy, and explored how the consumption of energy affects quality of life. With all that out of the way, I want to start taking a look at energy sources that are alternatives to fossil fuels (fossil fuels accounting for over 80% of current energy sources).
The first post on energy briefly explained how the human use of energy is awesome, while the second post went over the basics of energy and introduced the relevant lingo and concepts required to get into a more detailed discussion. This time, I want to further explore why energy is so great, and how it enhances the human experience. Continue reading Energy and Human Lifestyles→
I was intending to get into a series of posts on human energy needs, but figured it would be a better start to post on the basics of what energy is, what forms it takes, how it is measured, and a few other physical parameters involved. This will hopefully be a light, fun read, and will give readers a basic understanding of the vocabulary associated with energy. Here goes: Continue reading The Basics of Energy→
Energy is not an abstract concept, but it can be hard to visualize. Energy comes in many forms such as heat, movement, electricity, and can be stored in many forms for future use. When thinking about high-quality lifestyles, which is the focus of Sustainable Balance, I often come back to our consumption of energy. As much as I sometimes harsh on industrialization (and its effect on our fitness, nutrition, and sleep), I am in many ways lucky to live in an industrialized nation (Canada).
Our focus on cortisol started with Sleep Series Part 4 which laid out the science of what cortisol is, its cycle, and how it affects sleep. In the following post, we looked at a few reasons why evening cortisol might be high. The last post presented methods for lowering evening cortisol levels such as finding ways to laugh, meditation, progressive muscle relaxation, listening to or playing music, getting a massage, and easy exercise outdoors. With lower evening cortisol levels, high-quality sleep is easier to come by. So if your sleep is suffering and you feel as though stress might be to blame, you could try these practices and see if your situation improves.
The last post in the Sleep Series focused on several common reasons why cortisol, which should be low in the evening before sleep, can be high and decrease the quality of your sleep. Well, now we know that a sleep deficit, ruminating negative thoughts, a noisy environment, prolonged intense exercise in the evening, caffeine, and chronic undereating can all lead to elevated evening cortisol.
