Turns out what time you wake up matters
Chinese medicine has been around for thousands of years and well.. works pretty darn well. While I am not an expert in acupuncture or Chinese herbs, I have learned a ton about the organ systems and their correlations to different emotions. First time hearing of this? Stay with me.
In essence, traditional Chinese healers seek to restore a dynamic balance between two complementary forces, yin (passive) and yang (active), which pervade the human body as they do the universe as a whole (1). Yeah.. it goes deep.
The part we are going to focus on today is how the organ systems also correlate with the time of day/night and how that can tell us more about our bodies.
teach me about this clock
To understand the Chinese body clock, you first need to understand the concept of “qi”. Chinese medicine practitioners use this word “qi” to describe energy. Everything has energy - for example, Earth has qi, your emotions have qi, your body, and even your thoughts.
Qi is in a constant state of flux and changes and transforms as you interact with other people, objects etc.
The Chinese body clock is built on the concept of qi. During 24 hours, qi is thought to move in 2-hour intervals throughout the organ systems. While you’re sleeping, qi is believed to draw inward to fully restore your body (2).
One of the most important 2-hour intervals is between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m., which is when the liver is believed to be cleansing the blood. It’s during this time frame that the body begins to prepare for qi to move outward from the body again (2) .
Remember what I chatted about in the subscriber exclusive? look again ;)
image from health line
how can we use this clock?
I am going to focus simply on sleep in this blog post because its a little more tangible. So many things affect us during the day that sometimes it can be hard to narrow it down.
I chatted about the liver time (1-3 am) in my subscriber exclusive (if you aren’t already subscribed.. get on it ;) Its a very common time that people wake up and usually supporting their liver helps this tremendously.
Now lets chat about 3-5 am. This is known as the “lung time” as you can see in the image above.
If we wake up during this time (and its not your partner snoring, your child crying or your dog shaking in a dream) then we can start looking in the direction of the “lung” and what it might mean. (see below).
If there is a particular time during the day you struggle - we may want to look at the clock for more information. I would also look at it as a piece of the puzzle; not the entire thing.
what does the lung time mean
I have chatted about the triad of health in a past blog post that you can access here: lets look at the lungs through the lens of the triad.
EMOTIONALLY
Emotionally the lungs hold grief, feeling stuck, cloudy thinking, anguish, sadness, defensive and compelled to neatness.
We may want to see if we are experiencing these emotions, need to work through them or deal with them more effectively. Grief has been a major emotion experienced by a lot of people in the last couple years. Its not about eliminating grief so much as it is working through it and supporting yourself.
I love supporting the body emotionally through NET (Neuro emotional technique), EFT (emotional freedom technique), meditation, flower essences, homeopathy and more.
CHEMICALLY
Our lungs are major detoxification organs. They filter what we are breathing in.
Some questions to ask yourself: How is the air in the environment you are in? The air quality at your school, home, work, gym etc? Do you need additional support for the lungs, cleaner air, maybe an air purifier?
Are you living in mold? Construction? How about the chemicals you use to clean? Burning toxic candles or air fresheners?
There are homeopathic, herbs + nutrients that we can give to help support the lungs.
So many different things to think about when it comes to our environment. And while there may not be a lot you can control lets say if you live in a city (pollution) or your gym is struggling with mold - we can support the body to deal with the toxins in many many ways.
STRUCTURAL
Alright this one could be more complicated. One way we can look at the lungs structurally is where the nerves from the lungs connect with the spine:
Left lung: T1, 8 and L2 Right lung:T2, 9 and L3 - its possible you need a chiropractic adjustment, mobilization and loosening of the spine and tissues around it. Perhaps massage.
Or is there something structural in the lung that needs to be released or healed.
Want to learn more?
This is JUST the tip of the iceberg and there are many amazing practitioners that chat about Chinese medicine. I love teaching about the emotion + organ correlation.
We have a podcast episode #10 on the emotional work (NET) if you are interested in learning more click here.
Any questions? would love to hear from you!
Happy healing!
Dr. Nicole
references:
https://www.britannica.com/science/traditional-Chinese-medicine
2. https://www.healthline.com/health/chinese-body-clock#about