When the Clock Changes, What Happens to Our Rhythm?

Twice a year the clocks change. An hour forward, an hour back. It’s a small adjustment on paper, but the body often feels it in subtle ways.

You might wake up earlier than usual. Or find yourself wide awake at night wondering why sleep isn’t arriving when it normally does. Maybe you’re hungry at odd times, or your energy feels slightly off, like the timing of things isn’t quite lining up.

Even Monty (my dog) notices. He lives entirely by his internal rhythm, meal times, walks, naps. When the clocks shift, he shows up at his dinner bowl an hour early, staring at me with a look that clearly says, “Have you forgotten something, human? Where’s my food?” It’s hilarious and a serves as a little reminder, that our bodies, and theirs, really do run on their own clocks.

It’s a small shift in the clock, but our bodies live in rhythm. Not just the obvious rhythms like the beating of the heart or the rise and fall of breath, but subtler ones too. Rhythms of sleep and waking. Rhythms of attention and fatigue. Rhythms in how we move, pause, and begin again.

Scientists often refer to one of these internal cycles as the circadian rhythm, the body’s roughly 24-hour pattern influenced largely by light and darkness. But you don’t really need the science to feel it. Most of us have experienced it simply by traveling across time zones or staying up far too late. Suddenly the body feels slightly out of sync with the environment around it.

Movement has rhythm too. In Gyrotonic® and Gyrokinesis®, rhythm appears in the continuity of movement, the pacing of breath, and the way one action flows into the next. Sometimes when someone is learning a new sequence, the rhythm isn’t quite there yet. The body is still figuring out where things belong. Then something shifts.

The breath organizes. The spine follows and the movement becomes smoother, with less effort. Almost like the body has just rediscovered its timing. What’s interesting is that rhythm in the body doesn’t always appear from trying harder. Sometimes it emerges when we begin to notice.

A Small Experiment

You might try a simple observation today.

Sit comfortably or stand for a moment. Without changing anything, notice the rhythm of your breathing. Is it fast, slow, smooth, or uneven? Just observe.

Then begin to gently sway your body from side to side. Very small, almost like a quiet pendulum. Let the movement follow the natural rhythm of your breath rather than forcing a pattern.

You might notice that the body gradually finds a pace that feels easy and familiar.

This is often how rhythm organizes itself in movement practice as well. When breath, attention, and motion begin to align, the body naturally settles into a more efficient and fluid pattern.

Which brings me back to the time change. The slight disorientation we sometimes feel may simply be the body recalibrating. A reminder that we aren’t machines running on a fixed schedule. We’re living systems responding to light, activity, rest, and the environment around us.

Sometimes we just need a little time to find the rhythm again. And once we do, things tend to fall back into place.

If you're curious to explore rhythm in movement, I invite you to join my Awakening the Senses Gyrokinesis® classes, where we work with breath, timing, and sensation to help the body rediscover its natural flow. Sign up for class here!