CH.13 THE HAMMOCK ATLAS
Endocrine LineENDO
Settles, and lets hormones come back down
The HPA axis and circulation — the rhythm of the hormones
Hypothalamus → pituitary → adrenal: those three stations form the HPA axis, the accelerator of stress. The pineal gland handles the other end — the message that it is dark now. When Chapter 7 said the first thief has two hands, those two ends of this line are what it meant.
Where this line runs
- 01Pineal gland — melatonin · “it is dark now” ★
- 02Hypothalamus — commander
- 03Pituitary — relay
- 04Thyroid — metabolism
- 05Pancreas — blood sugar
- 06Adrenal glands — cortisol (the end of the HPA axis) ★
What this line does
The key endocrine player is cortisol, the stress hormone, released through the three-tier chain of command that is the HPA axis (hypothalamus → pituitary → adrenal). It follows a daily rhythm: high through the day, and by night it should fall back to its trough.
How to train it
Cortisol that stays high at night suppresses deep sleep. Letting the parasympathetic side lead eases over-activation of the HPA axis, and inversion assists venous and lymphatic return — both helping the rhythm come back down to its trough.
Go deeper
Cortisol and melatonin rise and fall against each other. Chronically high cortisol does more than disturb sleep; it also affects how the materials for repair are allocated.
Clues
Circulation does not come back, and morning leaves you more tired than bedtime did
- By afternoon the calves and ankles are swollen and your shoes feel tight
- Your face is puffy when you wake
- Your hands and feet stay cold all day
- You sleep the full hours and still wake without the feeling of having been repaired
When return flow is sluggish, metabolic waste sits in the tissue all night. The hours of sleep are there, but the clearing work is left unfinished.
Raising the legs so that return runs with gravity is a way of clearing the pipes before bed. Once they are clear, those hours of deep sleep can be put to use.
Test it yourself
Before bed, put your legs up a wall for three minutes and measure the widest part of the calf. Measure the same place again the next morning.
The rest of it, a book can’t carry
What this line feels like when it releases, I can’t put into writing.
Lie into the hammock and find out for yourself.