Insomnia

Do you or your friends have trouble sleeping at night? There are many different TCM patterns resulting in insomnia. Some people cannot fall asleep, others fall asleep but keep waking throughout the night, and others wake up too early in the morning, before the scheduled time to wake up. There are various causes for these sleeping patterns.

You body recovers from its daily stresses during sleep, and when your sleep is disrupted or shortened, your energy level is naturally low, as a result. You may feel more tired and drained the next day and feel difficult to focus and concentrate to get your tasks done. However, if the stresses are not taken away, and the sleep pattern is not restored back to normal, day after day, your energy level will continue to decrease.

Insomnia can be caused by many factors, including anxiety and mental stress (if you are worried about something important to you), disturbing dreams accompanied by poor sleep quality (if you have encountered some psychological trauma); or maybe it's due to food stagnation (if you overeat at dinner or if you eat dinner too late at night); caffeine also affects your sleep (if you are sensitive to it and if you consume it in the afternoon or evening). Insomnia affects women particularly during peri-menopausal period when they have hot flashes and nightsweat, and oftentimes aging people have to wake up during the night to use the restroom. Perhaps you have allergies and nasal congestion when catching a cold, or if you have sleep apnea, all of which limits the amount of oxygen your brain picks up and makes you sleepy and tired the next day. Perhaps you are in school and have an important exam or a presentation tomorrow but you are not quite ready for it yet. Sleep is so important, yet there are so many factors affecting a good night's sleep!

In TCM theory, each internal organ takes turn to rest during the day and during the night. According to TCM, the most important time to be asleep is at 11pm to 3am. If it takes you a while to fall asleep, then it's a good idea to start preparing to fall asleep at 10:30pm and give yourself half an hour to fall asleep, so by 11pm your body and your internal organs can rest. From 11pm to 1am, it's the Gallbladder time, and the period of 1am to 3am is the Liver time. And these are very important hours for your Liver and Gallbladder to detox while your body is at rest. From a Western medicine perspective, research studies have shown that your pineal gland releases melatonin in the dark, which helps with regulating your sleep cycle and protects your body against cancer.

If you have trouble falling asleep, you can try drinking some hot water with long yan rou (Longan dried fruit, Arillus Euphoriae Longanae, 龍眼肉) during the day or in the evening. The sweet and tonifying nature of this herb will help you fall sleep and stay asleep. Acupuncture treatment helps very much with reducing stress and calming your mind. A Korean practitioner has suggested soaking your feet in warm water to ground you and prepare you for sleep. It's a good idea to exercise during the day to increase oxygen intake. If you are the food stagnation type, try having an earlier and smaller dinner to help prevent food stagnation. Avoid stimulants such as caffeine or tobacco; likewise, avoid stimulating videogames or heated arguments in the evening. Learn to write down and schedule your tasks in your timetable. Rest your mind and lift up your troubles, for you cannot change or control anything by worrying about it.

Sleep is so important to our health, and there is so many hindrance to a good night's sleep. I wish you will overcome whatever challenges you encounter and sleep well!