Dr. Jim's Whims

It’s ice hockey season! This amazing sport pits men and women, boys and girls against one another in a team format with thrills and challenges galore. It’s hard enough to skate forward skillfully; add to that ability the need to skate backward fluidly, change direction in a flash, accelerate with full exertion, use rapid reflexes, rely upon eye-body coordination, harmonize with teammates, and funnel those abilities into a target game with sticks, and we have the makings of a dynamic sport. Games may be low-scoring but fully engaging nonetheless.

The hockey puck is nearly always on the go. Players aim to hit that puck at a target (6 feet wide by 4 feet high) similar in size to that of lacrosse. They have teammates to help them by passing them the puck in locations and times that are conducive to goal-scoring. But that 6-ounce vulcanized rubber puck, moving up to 100 mph, sure hurts if it hits you. So do the body checks, stick checks, and occasional punches that are designed to divert the player from his/her goal. Add to that the speed with which this game is played, on a slippery surface that works against the rapid changes of direction players need, and it’s no wonder that few goals are typically scored in hockey games. Baseball hitters and golfers stand still, centered, to swing at the ball; hockey players do everything on the fly.

As with other major team sports, there are important differences among the various positions on the ice. Forwards carry the bulk of responsibility for shots on goal. Defensemen do as their name suggests, interfere with the progress of opposing players in the hope of stealing, or at least deflecting, shots and passes. The center occupies the space on the ice that her title implies, though with a great deal of latitude regarding where to move and what to do according to the flow of the game.

The goaltender naturally has a primary target on which to focus: the puck. She must track wherever it travels, shifting position as needed to guard against shots and deflections from myriad angles. The goalie’s goal is to catch, block, deflect, trap, or otherwise stop it from passing through the crease and crossing the goal line toward or into the net, doing so while wearing cumbersome protective clothing. It can be exceedingly hard to keep track of the fast-moving puck. Opposing players, or even teammates, might block the vision of the goalie, disabling her ability to see a shot coming. One can be in perfect position to block a shot, only to leave a wide-open shot by a player on the other side of the goal who receives an on-target pass. Some shots deflect off the sticks or skates of players, one’s teammate or the other team’s player. The goalie has other goals besides stopping shots. He may venture from the net to steer an off-target shot to a teammate. He strives to be aware of other players who stray close, bracing himself to direct his defense against that player should he receive a pass from an opposing teammate.

Hockey, of course, includes set plays and strategies conceived by its coaches and practiced by the team in order to maximize the chance of scoring. Defensive schemes, naturally, strive to thwart the opposing team. Power play situations, given that one team or other has a man-up advantage via penalty, demand special consideration. Line changes, substituting players on the ice at just the right moments, are critical to winning games. Overtime periods and shootouts are tension-packed episodes that require additional abilities by players. Hockey may often be a relatively low-scoring game, but its aggressive, skillful, and fast-flowing nature make it highly challenging to play and exciting to watch.

This sport is currently in season at all levels of competition. It’s time for my scoop on hoops.

The sport of basketball is a straightforward target game. The goal is to put the 9-inch ball into a metal circle or hoop that measures 18 inches in diameter and stands 10 feet above the playing surface. One may do so from any distance, close range (slam dunk or lay-up) to many feet away. A shot that goes through the hoop typically earns one’s team two points. But one may earn three points instead of merely two for any shot drained from 19.75 feet in a high school or women’s NCAA game, 20.5 feet in a women’s professional (WNBA) game, 20.75 feet in a men’s college game, 22.15 feet in international (e.g., Olympic) competition, or 22-23.75 feet at the men’s professional level (the NBA distance varying from closer at the baseline to farther at the top of the key). The last form of scoring is one point for each free throw made—shot without interference from a distance of 15 feet from the basket.

The five players on a basketball court play designated positions and roles. They are specialists in how they place and move themselves, what skills they emphasize (e.g., dribbling, rebounding, passing), and how they interact with their teammates in the flow of the game. Essentially, however, they all aim for that same target and score accordingly. This task may be perceived as easy given that basketball players succeed in putting the ball into the basket a higher proportion of the time per contest than do their counterparts score in other major sports. Of course, it’s not entirely simple.

Part of the challenge comes from the fact that players seek to hit the target in the face of intense opposition. An equal number of players from the opposing team strive tenaciously to steal the ball, block one’s path, block a shot, distract, disrupt, deflect, and otherwise interfere with one’s progress toward the goal. If you fancy yourself a good shooter of a basketball, try doing so against some of the tallest human beings on the planet. Those somewhat less tall may have awesome quickness and/or leaping ability. And elite basketball players tend to be wiry strong, fluidly agile, and as athletically gifted as participants in any sport. They present formidable obstacles to scoring.

Time limits complicate matters. Players have deadlines within which to launch a shot (that at least draws iron—i.e., touches the rim of the basket). The shot clock expires in 30 seconds in men’s college games, 30 seconds in women’s college games, and 24 seconds in NBA, WNBA, and international competition. (Only seven states currently require a shot clock of either 30 or 35 seconds in high school games.) These physical and time pressures can wreak havoc with one’s shooting accuracy. Only the free throw, as its name suggests, is spared such potential interference (although a player officially has only ten seconds to take such a shot).

What secondary targets exist in the game of basketball? Well, player roles overlap, but typically positions and duties line up as follows:
1) Point guard: On offense, he strives to dribble the ball down the court with an eye toward passing it to another player either close to the basket or wide open for an outside shot. A good point guard is adept at bounce passes, skip passes (in the air across the court), and alley-oop passes (lobs near the rim of the basket that may be caught and slam dunked by a teammate). Taking a long shot or penetrating toward the basket for a shorter one is certainly an option. Defensively, the point guard targets the ball, trying to knock it loose from an opposing ball handler, intercept a pass, deflect a shot or pass, etc. The point guard has primary responsibility for receiving outlet passes from rebounding teammates, leading fast breaks, signaling set plays and defenses to his team, and serving as the “quarterback” on the court.
2) Shooting guard: As befits her title, the #2 guard works to be a dead-eye outside shooter from several different locations on the floor, hopefully some of them three-point shots. But she also has secondary responsibility for ball-handling and passing the ball within the flow of the offense. She penetrates to the hoop when an opening shows itself, and gets back down the court quickly during defensive transitions and fast break opportunities.
3) Small forward: The shooting forward likes to have medium-range and three-point jump shots within his skill set, along with slashing moves to the basket and the prowess needed for offensive put-backs. He must be ready to rebound, offensively or defensively, with an eye toward passing or shooting as the situation warrants. Not only is the basket a target, of course; one focuses on the ball on defense with an eye toward stealing it. Even one’s opposing player may be considered a target for one’s attention, particularly in a man-to-man defense. Playing zone defense, one’s target is a region to cover and any opposing player who may venture into it.
4) Power forward: Usually the second tallest, strongest, heaviest player on a squad, the PF needs an inside game: a repertoire of post moves, short shots, and rebounding skills. She must have a strong will and fearless approach to banging into opposing players in this supposedly non-contact sport. Teammates and coaches appreciate leaping and shot-blocking skills, as well. An interior player, the power forward needs to be able to pass out to an open shooter or down-court to a teammate in transition. Again, the basket is the most valuable, stationary target, but moving targets abound in basketball, too.
5) Center: Normally the tallest player on a team plays the post position, weaving in and out of the key near the basket on offense in anticipation of a pass for a short shot or dunk. He would do well to be able to flash out to the high post, as well, in order to take a medium-range jump shot or pass to a teammate cutting to the basket. The center tries to use his height, wingspan, and bulk to thwart adversaries’ attempts at lay-ups and alley-oop passes, block out for rebounds, and pass over the outstretched arms of shorter players. When his team employs a full-court press, it is usually the center that runs down court to stand near the basket as the last line of defense should the opposition break the press and attack on the run.

The aforementioned roles, as mentioned, may blur, and the positions themselves are far from set in stone; when occasions warranted, Magic Johnson spent time playing all five positions for the Los Angeles Lakers. Going for the ball defensively, or shooting to score offensively, may sometimes be best accomplished by playing four relatively short and quick players (guards) and only one big man (center or forward). Some teams lack a stereotypical center and opt for three forwards. Variations on the theme give opposing players and coaches more to think about and defend against.

The constant, flowing interaction among basketball players resembles the mass of runners and traders that fill the floor of the New York Stock Exchange—alert, vigilant, quick-thinking, and actively decisive. Individuals swirl among friends and foes following orders and set plays, making split-second alterations, improvising as circumstances warrant, and flowing from target to target. A jazz ensemble, though typically stationary, resembles a basketball team in that its members blend together collectively and improvise individually. If team chemistry is right, a team of basketball players can make beautiful “music” together.

There is one element of basketball that should, in theory, be characterized by a high degree of accuracy: the free throw. Game action stops. Time pressures subside (except for the seldom-enforced ten-second limit to shoot). The shooter stands at a line 15 feet from the basket, facing the hoop straight on. The benefits of practice are strong. During one day of his team’s after-practice routines in 1975, Canton, NY high school player, Hal Cohen, sank 598 consecutive free throws. That proves that a repetitive motion can be grooved to hit the target with powerful consistency. But why didn’t Hal repeat his fete while playing in college, for Syracuse University? Game conditions can be quite disruptive to the foul shooting process. The player may arrive at the free throw line short of breath, with heart pounding, due to the exertions of the game. The pressure to make the shot, to help one’s team win, can be intense. Spectators may test the boundaries of good sportsmanship by yelling, making noises, booing, waving their arms behind the basket in perceptually distorting ways, etc. I once saw Syracuse students raise a life-size photograph of a bikini-clad beauty directly behind the basket just as a player was about to launch his shots; he missed both. A Duke student who stood and danced wearing nothing but a skimpy Speedo swimsuit had the same effect (and became a YouTube sensation). Even opposing players can get in on the act, stepping up behind a shooter to whisper some snide remark, or trading places with one another across the lane just before the player gets the ball to take aim.

So, how accurate have the best players been at this clearly targeted aspect of the sport of basketball? The record for most consecutive free throws ever made in game situations was set by none other than the legendary John Wooden during the span 1934-36; he made 138 in a row. Close behind was female record-holder, Deb Remmerde, an NAIA player, who canned 133 free throws in succession in 2005-6. The modern NCAA men’s record is held by Darnell Archey of Butler from 2000-2003, during which he made 85 straight. The women’s NCAA Division I record is in the hands of Ginny Doyle who made 66 straight for Richmond during 1990-92. In the National Basketball Association (NBA), the record was 97 by Michael Williams in 1993. In the Women’s NBA, Eva Nemcova made 66 in a row during the 1999-2000 season. Percentage-wise, Eva set the one-season standard of 98.4%; Stacy Frese holds the WNBA career mark of 91.7%. Adrienne Squire of Penn State made 96.4 % of her free throws during her collegiate career; Blake Ahearn of Missouri State set the men’s standard by sinking 94.6% of his shots at the charity stripe. In the NBA, the career honor goes to Mark Price (90.39%) while Calvin Murphy holds the one-year standard of 95.8%.

Most basketball fans know that Wilt Chamberlain once scored 100 points in a professional game (in 1962). He holds the NBA single-season record for field goal percentage at 72.7%; another giant, Artis Gilmore, made 59.9% of his shots from the field across his lengthy NBA career. Most would not be surprised to know that Michael Jordan scored 10 or more points in a game 866 times between 1986 and 2001. The ball, half the diameter of its target, can be put through the basket. But don’t let sparkling statistics such as these mislead you into believing that basketball is a relatively easy game. It offers a kaleidoscope of target-oriented action. Players run and jump, pass and shoot, block and steal, in dynamic team interaction. The sport demands an awesome blend of athleticism, fitness, and mental agility to succeed in battling opponents and hitting the targets—whether baskets or teammates—a high percentage of the time.

In this series of excerpts from my book, On Target: Comparative Challenges of Sports & Games, here is one more introductory section before I launch into analysis of individual sports.

Before target games can be suitably compared, knowing that sports tend to entail more athletic activity than do games, it’s a good idea to examine some definitions. According to Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary, a game is partially defined as a competitive activity involving skill, chance, or endurance on the part of two or more persons who play according to a set of rules, usually for their own amusement or for that of spectators. A sport is an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature. It may also be a diversion, recreation, or pleasant pastime. Athletic, incidentally, involves the use of physical skills or capabilities such as strength, agility, or stamina. A target is an object, usually marked with concentric circles, to be aimed at in shooting practice or contests. It may be anything fired at or a goal to be reached. Targets include characters in point-and-shoot video games, the goal posts of a football field, home plate, pool table pockets, or the goal of soccer/hockey/lacrosse. More broadly, we may think of a football end zone or golf green. Very specifically, not only must fencers limit their strikes to certain anatomical areas, but so also must amateur boxers and martial arts combatants. Most athletic endeavors, it seems, urge us to hit the center, strike the ball, connect with a teammate, or score points.

We might further classify target games by the following rubric:
• Throw ball at target (bowling, lacrosse)
• Throw/propel other object at target (darts, archery)
• Throw and hit (baseball, cricket)
• Throw and catch (football, lacrosse)
• Hit ball at target (croquet, golf, billiards)
• Hit other object at target (hockey)
• Hit ball past adversary (tennis, racquet sports)
• Kick ball at target (soccer, kickball)
• Target is time (swim, run)
• Target is teammate (football, ultimate Frisbee)
• Target is adversary (boxing, karate)
• Target is distance (javelin, discus, shot put)
• Target to surmount (high jump, pole vault)
• Individual performance (swim, bowl)
• Team performance (basketball, football, hockey)
• Pro vs. amateur sports (NY Giants vs. high school football)
• Interdependent vs. individual sports (basketball vs. golf)

Proponents of various sports, whether players or spectators, probably consider their personal activities to be genuinely high in degree of difficulty. When athletic and recreational activities are being judged for their relative challenge, it helps to explore the factors and complexities endemic to each game. Hereafter, knowing that it’s impractical to go into detail about, or even mention, each and every one of the hundreds of sports and games that humans have devised to fill their recreational and/or professional lives, we’ll look at some prominent examples. Specific rules and guidelines highlight the tasks at hand, as do statistics regarding play. As we’ll see, however, subjectivity likely rules when it comes to comparing the games that appeal to us.

Keep your eye on the ball. Be goal-oriented. Focus on the bull’s eye. Take dead aim. It’s human nature to be attracted to targets. We toss wadded-up paper across a room into a wastebasket. We throw snowballs at trees, telephone poles, signs, and even fellow humans. We throw stones at objects, or try to hit stones with objects. We play catch with friends and family, aiming to connect with the projectile in hand. We shoot bullets, arrows, and other weapons at targets, living or lifeless. We set targets, or goals, for our vocational or everyday endeavors.

This posting is about target games and sports. Perhaps darts, rifle or pistol shooting, and archery come readily to mind. Those sports use circular targets that reward aiming at and striking the central bull’s eye. Curling, a Winter Olympic but not widely played sport, in some ways more complex than the aforementioned activities because of its interplay with teammates and taking turns with an opposing squad, is another sport with a target of concentric circles. But sports and games need not have such stereotypical targets to be target-oriented. In reality, most of the athletic endeavors we play have targets either explicit or implicit in the action.

People are fascinated by superlatives. What’s the best-case scenario or worst-case scenario? Which restaurant is the best in town? What is the worst disaster that has happened? Sports fans are particularly captivated by comparisons among athletes, contests, and eras. Who is the best basketball player now? Ever? Who is the best golfer of all time? Which are the ten worst football stadiums? Who are the top ten quarterbacks? Most of these comparisons presented in the media are within one sport or another, or between two different eras during which the contests have been played. One aspect of this series is the comparison among various sports and games, with little regard for historical context, to debate which might be the most challenging and difficult.

Every sport and game offers its share of challenges. If not for some degree of difficulty, what would be the pleasure of playing and the value of winning? Some sports, like football or rugby, emphasize physical size, strength, speed, and toughness. Games, such as darts or billiards, need finesse rather than power and mobility to execute them well. Both games and sports may prioritize cerebral abilities—to devise and memorize plays, visualize actions, strategize how to overcome opposition, concentrate in the here and now. Epitomizing the union of energies of body and mind, golf blends athletic force with calm eye-hand coordination. Goal-oriented athletes come in all shapes, sizes, and IQs.

We’re going to examine a wide variety of activities in some detail in order to see what draws participants and observers, players and fans, to these pastimes. Some sports have small targets—e.g., rifle/pistol shooting target, dart board—while others have expansive targets—e.g., soccer goal, football end zone. Some require only small muscle movements—e.g., shooting pool, pitching tiddlywinks—while others need whole-body coordination—e.g., basketball, hockey. Some are relatively stationary, such as standing/kneeling/lying to aim a rifle, while many require hitting a target on the fly—sometimes with both the thrower (quarterback, point guard) and the target (wide receiver, small forward) in motion simultaneously. Complexities and comparisons are virtually endless. So, too, are the opinions of people who consider one sport or another, perhaps their favorite game, as the most taxing and virtuous athletic activity of all.

This blog series aims to explore broadly the world of sports, from mainstream to esoteric games, and to address two central questions: (1) Which target games are most challenging, have the highest degree of difficulty? (2) How can we use mental approaches, the lessons of sport psychology, to enhance performance and enjoyment of them? That first topic may lure you, the reader, to ponder where your favorite pastimes rank in the pantheon of athletic task difficulty. The latter topic may be mentioned here and there regarding particular sports, and will be examined in some detail later in this blog.

Athletic endeavors make up a vast portion of the fabric of life. Human beings of all ages, in all countries, play and watch sporting events. And since most of such sports are target games, they are hit-or-miss propositions. We score or we don’t. We win, lose, or draw. Imperfection often dominates precision. The more arduous the athletic undertaking, the more skill is needed to emerge victorious over that task and one’s fellow competitors.

Most competitors play to win, but it’s admirable and healthy to play sports and games for the sheer enjoyment and benefit of it. Dr. Stuart Brown (2014) states it thusly: “Of all animal species, humans are the biggest players of all. We are built to play and built through play. When we play, we are engaged in the purest expression of our humanity, the truest expression of our individuality. Is it any wonder that often the times we feel most alive, those that make up our best memories, are moments of play?”

This little introduction precedes a series of blog postings (headed under the topic, “Sports Shorts”) taken from my 2016 book entitled On Target: Comparative Challenges of Sports & Games. In this series, I will present my viewpoint about athletic challenges in general followed by essays concerning myriad individual sports and games—from baseball to tennis, bowling to unicycle hockey, and billiards to tiddlywinks. A special section on sport psychology will address the mental side of athletic and recreational participation. Let’s keep reading and playing!

I take it you already know
Of tough and bough and cough and dough?
Others may stumble, but not you
On hiccough, thorough, slough, and through.
Well done – and now you wish, perhaps,
To learn of less familiar traps?

Beware of heard, a dreadful word,
That looks like beard and sounds like bird,
And dead – it’s said like bed, not bead;
For goodness sake, don’t call it deed.
Watch out for meat and great and threat
(They rhyme with suite and straight and debt).
A moth is not a moth in mother,
Nor both in bother, broth in brother.

And here is not a match for there,
And dear and fear for bear and pear;
And then there’s dose and rose and lose –
Just look them up – and goose and choose,
And cork and work and card and ward,
And font and front and word and sword
And do and go, then thwart and cart,
Come, come, I’ve hardly made a start.

A dreadful language? Why, man alive!
I’d learned to talk it when I was five;
And yet, to read it, the more I tried,
I hadn’t learned it at fifty five!

(Author unknown)

1) Time after time I search for a rhyme,
But my slime is not worth a dime.
I’m climbing the line to find rhyme sublime,
My crime is that I’m not a mime.

2) A clock says tick tock,
A Doc talks tech talk.

3) If ticks could talk, they’d try to tempt you to tread in their territory.
They’d stick to you to make you sick, perhaps with a tic.
It’s time for toxic ticks to travel into timeless oblivion.

4) Yoga works well for your stretching;
It helps keep you youthful and fetching.
And when life’s a mess
It reduces your stress
So you need not do venting and kvetching.

5) I once got that Vagabond Feeling,
For hiking and sailing and wheeling.
But once I was homed
I ne’er again roamed…
My house was empty due to stealing.

6) Sometimes my behavior may seem idiotic,
Not helping build relationships symbiotic.
I make myself squirm
Feel to others a germ
And could use a strong social antibiotic.

At least I’m not usually antagonistic,
Driving others toward anger and going ballistic.
But I have far to go
And more skills I should know
With the worthy goal of being synergistic.

What’s on my mind? Mindfulness: Being mindful of the moment, of the here-and-now, of sensory perceptions, of conscious experience with minimal judgment or categorization. Would you mind helping me? Do you mind…? I know I should mind my p’s and q’s. I’ll mind my manners. It’s a matter of mind over matter. Who’s minding the store? My mind is tied to my behind. I could give you a piece of my mind or pursue peace of mind. It’s all in my mind. I can see it in my mind’s eye. Remind me to stay mindful of the time. Is coal extracted or mined? Never mind!

Biorhythms

Our lives are partly governed by potent, persistent, cyclical forces of body and mind. It can be useful to know about the biological rhythms that influence our actions and emotions, the better to understand and make prudent choices for ourselves.

There are three main types of biorhythms, based mainly on their frequency: (1) Circadian rhythms occur roughly once every twenty-four hours (circa one day); (2) Ultradian rhythms occur more frequently than daily; and (3) Infradian rhythms happen to us less often than daily. Let’s take a look at what we know and hypothesize about these natural patterns that partially direct our feelings and behaviors.

The sleep-wake cycle is guided by circadian rhythm: We automatically begin to feel sleepy at about the same time every night, and we start to stir and awaken around the same time each morning. Many people maintain regular bedtimes (even on the weekends). And everyone has experienced waking up from sleep just before one’s alarm clock is set to go off in the morning. Our biological clocks know how to tell time. One ramification of this is the phenomenon of “jet lag”. If you fly across a few or many time zones, you throw off that natural sleep-wake cycle; e.g., travel from NY to Alaska means a change of four hours, so 9:00 p.m. will feel like 1:00 a.m. (past your normal bedtime?) upon arrival, and the next morning you might feel like getting up at 8:00 a.m. Eastern time, only to find no one else awake at that hour (4:00 a.m. Yukon time). It may take days to adjust to the differences in daylight, social conventions, and business hours of a new location. In the meantime, research has linked errors in judgment, fatigue, accident proneness, headaches, mood disruption, and other ill effects to jet lag. More common than bona fide jet lag due to travel is disruption of the sleep-wake biorhythm via sleeping in on the weekends. If you typically arise at 7:00 a.m. for school or work, but stay in bed until 11:00 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, you are in for a rude awakening on Monday morning: it may feel as though you’ve just flown to Alaska and back. No wonder some refer to the start of the school/work week as “Black Monday”; it’s hard to get up and get going with energy and lucidity. Self-induced jet lag may be avoided by following one simple (but perhaps objectionable) guideline: Sleep in each weekend morning no longer than one hour past your normal weekday wake-up time.

Another circadian rhythm we may notice is that which influences digestion and elimination. People who are “regular” tend to go number two at about the same time each day. Science has told us not to be alarmed if our bowel movements occur more or less frequently than daily, but know that it’s not strange to be a creature of toileting habits. Physical energy and mental focus may also fluctuate on a roughly daily basis. Some people, for instance, are “doves” who feel most alert and productive in the mornings, while other folks (including many teenagers) are “owls” who seem to concentrate and perform best during evening or nighttime hours. Morning classes in school may truly be challenging for somnolent adolescents, just as some in the working world find it hard to rev up their brains in the morning and prefer to get more tasks done during the hours of darkness. Others, of course, like to get up before dawn to attack the chores of the day nice and early.

Ultradian rhythms likewise affect our daily lives. The most prominent example is the sleep/dream cycle which proceeds through several stages: (1) you turn off the lights, settle down, perhaps experience little muscle twitches, and drift off to sleep with alpha brainwave patterns; (2) your heart rate slows, your body temperature drops, and the theta brainwaves include sleep spindles; (3) you sink into deep sleep characterized by delta brainwaves, low blood pressure and breathing rate, muscle relaxation, and physical restoration as you lie relatively motionless with little cognitive activity; and (4) you phase into essential REM (rapid eye movement) sleep during which your breathing is shallow, dreams are most vivid, and body is relaxed and immobilized. REM sleep is necessary to process the events of the day and to replenish our brains to be ready for the next day’s experiences. REM precedes a lighter moment of sleep, one during which we might awaken with dreams fresh in mind, ready to roll over to a new posture before resuming the cycle that lasts approximately 90-110 minutes. What few people realize or think about is the fact that the sleep/dream cycle continues, albeit weakly, during the day. About every ninety minutes, therefore, we are more likely to feel distracted and daydream for a few minutes. When you read a page of a book or other text, then realize that you failed to process and comprehend what you just read, you need not feel mentally feeble; you simply succumbed to the natural drive to daydream a bit (akin to REM sleep). When you’re speaking and your listeners suddenly erupt into yawning fits or staring episodes, it need not be due to your being boring but rather, instead, to the time in their sleep cycles when they naturally space out. Consequently, the best advice is to take breaks. When you feel groggy or foggy, it’s time to get up, move around, stretch, have a drink of water, and then return to task.

Some other Ultradian rhythms have low-key effects. For example, studies have shown that we tend to breathe primarily through one nostril more than the other, and that dominance shifts every 90-120 minutes. Our stomachs need about that same span of time to empty their contents of a meal, with digestive processes following suit. Our appetites tend to fluctuate accordingly. Have you ever wondered why you can get up from a big meal and soon experience a case of “the munchies”? Your stomach may be full, but your body and brain suggest that your mouth wants to taste a snack. For weight management, and overall health, it is suggested that you fight your way past that episode, secure in the knowledge that your longing for food will subside in just a few minutes—before returning to mind about 90 minutes thereafter! Shifts in thirst, urine production, oxygen consumption, and brain wave patterns likewise occur multiple times each day.

The most well-known Infradian rhythm is the female menstrual cycle. About every twenty-eight days, post-pubertal (and pre-menopausal) women may experience premenstrual syndrome (PMS), more or less intensely, followed by their periods; ovulation ensues about two weeks thereafter. Women (and perhaps their significant others) may choose to prepare for, and adjust to, that natural cycle. Might men experience a similar cycle as that of women? Men tend to complain of sexual “need”, feeling “horny”, and elevated sex drive periodically—more often than monthly. Sexual fluids may accumulate and fantasies might increase in frequency and intensity, helping to explain sexual requests/demands, susceptibility to pornography, and periodic “wet dreams” (nocturnal emissions). Hopefully, sexual harassment or predation does not surface. Men should be aware of their biorhythmic tendencies and “cool their jets” as appropriate.

An Infradian rhythm that occurs even less frequently, and may range from subtle to intense, is that associated with changing seasons. Some people suffer debilitating depression during their winter doldrums, or seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Research suggests that the problem stems from mal-illumination, a shortage of natural daylight in winter when we have fewer hours of daytime available and the weather may be too cold and forbidding to encourage outdoor excursions. The most commonly prescribed remedy is light therapy—daily, short-term exposure to artificial sources of either bright or full-spectrum light. Better yet, dress for the wintry weather and spend more time outside. I suspect that everyone, to a greater or lesser degree, experiences some measure of the blahs and blues during the shorter days of fall and winter versus the lengthening days of spring and warm sunshine of summer. Winter walks and sports (e.g., skiing, snowboarding, sledding, skating, snowballing) help to maintain our fitness and keep our spirits up. Moods lighten with enlightenment!

We’ve got rhythm. Our bodies and minds keep tempos in sync with biological processes, environmental cues, and cyclical patterns. It pays to understand and harmonize with those natural forces in the interest of self-regulation and emotional well-being.