Lasting progress, whether you’re trying to get out of pain, recover better, or move with more ease, depends on more than what you do in the gym. It depends on the state of your nervous system throughout the day.

The body heals, adapts, and regenerates most effectively when the nervous system is calm. This calmer state, often referred to as the parasympathetic state, is where digestion improves, tissues recover, sleep deepens, and learning (both mental and physical) actually sticks. When the system is constantly overstimulated, those processes are harder to access, no matter how good your training or nutrition might be.

One of the many factors that influences nervous system state is light.

As @chefmikie_ breaks down in this clip above, the chronic disruption from flicker compounds with circadian imbalance, dopamine dysregulation, and sleep fragmentation, the exact ingredients behind attention issues, impulsivity, irritability, and poor recovery.

Light as a Nervous System Input

Light does more than help us see. It signals time of day, shapes alertness, and affects how regulated or reactive the nervous system feels. In modern environments, the type and timing of light exposure has changed significantly, and the nervous system has to work harder to adapt.

At Functional Patterns, the focus isn’t on eliminating stressors entirely, it’s on becoming more aware of the inputs that affect regulation and minimizing them when and where it makes sense. Light is one of those inputs.

Digital screens and artificial lighting are now embedded in daily life. Office buildings, businesses, hospitals, and homes rely on them to function. Avoiding technology altogether isn’t practical, nor is it necessary. These tools support productivity, communication, and economic stability. The more useful question is how to maintain balance with them so they support daily life without quietly draining recovery.

Flicker, Stimulation, and Background Stress

When people think about artificial light, blue light usually comes up first. While blue light does influence circadian rhythm, there’s another aspect that often goes unnoticed: flicker.

Most modern light sources (LED bulbs, phone screens, laptops, and televisions) don’t emit light in a smooth, continuous way. They rely on rapid on-off cycling to control brightness. This happens at speeds too fast to consciously detect, but the eyes and brain still register it.

In natural environments, light behaves differently. Sunlight, firelight, and moonlight are steady and continuous. From a biological perspective, flicker is unfamiliar input. Over time, that constant micro-stimulation adds to the background load the nervous system has to manage, especially when exposure continues late into the evening.

This type of stimulation doesn’t usually cause immediate problems. Instead, it contributes to a subtle sense of being “on” all the time, making it harder to fully downshift, rest deeply, or recover well.

Why Calm Supports Movement and Recovery

When the nervous system stays in a heightened state, the body often compensates by holding more tension, breathing more shallowly, and relying on less efficient movement patterns. These compensations can show up as stiffness, recurring discomfort, or postural changes over time.

Reaching calmer states more consistently allows the body to organize movement with less effort. Muscles can relax when they’re not needed, force transfers more efficiently, and recovery improves. This is why so many people feel better after time outdoors or after evenings with fewer screens, it’s not just mental relief, it’s physiological regulation.

Creating Balance in a Modern Environment

Supporting a calmer nervous system doesn’t require extreme measures. Small, intentional choices can make a meaningful difference:

• Spending time outdoors during the day to expose the eyes and body to natural light
• Reducing screen use later in the evening when possible
• Using warmer, dimmer lighting indoors at night
• Wearing blue-blocking glasses in the evening to soften artificial light exposure

These aren’t rigid rules. They’re tools to help reduce unnecessary stimulation and create conditions where the body can access calm more easily.

Awareness as the First Step

At FP, the goal is awareness, not avoidance. Light is just one of many environmental factors that shape nervous system state alongside sleep, movement, breathing, and daily stress. By paying attention to these inputs and adjusting them when possible, you create more opportunities for the body to settle, recover, and adapt.

When the system spends more time in a regulated state, both physical and mental progress tends to be achieved more naturally. Calm isn’t passive. It’s a condition that allows real change to take place.