A traditional chinese view on insomnia

We probably all know the times that falling asleep isn’t easy. The moment you lay down your head, all tired after a busy day, and you start worring over things you can’t control. Or when you suddenly wake up startled in the middle of the night. And what about waking up early and not being able to fall asleep again…

According to Chinese medicine, a healthy sleep depends on the condition of your ‘Shen’; your soul, or mindset so to say and the qualitiy of your ‘anchor’ which is your Yin and Blood. The Chinese way of indicating things may sounds strange to us at first, but this different view is actually surprisingly accurate and gives therapists a whole different set of tools to work with very effectively on our bodies.

Often there’s multiple causes and to treat severe insomnia an accurate Chinese diagnoses is necessary to combine treatment and lifestyle changes for an optimal and lasting improvement. Understanding underlying causes however, may point you in the right direction. I’ll give you some examples and later on my best tips!

Causes and examples

  • A stressed person has an overactive nerve system that has trouble calming down. In TCM or Traditional Chinese Medicine terms, your Wei qi (your defensive qi) keeps trying to protect you at night, instead of going ‘inside’ which is necessary for sleep.
  • By aging or exhaustion, people deplete there Kidney energy. This can cause easily or frequently waking up at night. In Chinese terms: your Kidney is too weak to anchor your Shen. A shortage of good quality sleep and REM sleep, means you cannot recharge and heal properly at night. Of course aging can’t be undone, but Chinese medicine (and you!) can help and support Kidney energy and prevent the situation from getting worse. Night sweats and palpitations are a sign of further depletion of Kidney energy and should be addressed.
  • Going to bed late all the time, being stressed, angry or frustrated prevent your Blood from returning to the liver as it should. The liver is ‘the House of your Hun spirit’, and should be kept orderly and peaceful to prevent your Hun fom being uneasy. This would result in restlessness, frequent and/or bad dreams and even sleepwalking.
  • When circumstances make you worry too much, you are disturbing your Yi, which is the spirit of the Spleen. This will affect your digestion. Spleen qi cannot properly do its job of transformation and transport and therefore fail in creating enough Blood and Qi, which as you may have seen above are necessary to anchor your Shen and Hun spirit components.
  • Apart from this, there might be an unlying issue that should be addressed first. This can be the case especially with people with so called secondary insomnia: sleeping issues due to menopause, (chronic) pain, high bloodpressure, thyroid problems or other hormonal imbalances.

Best tips for a healthy sleep.

  • Make sure you get enough daylight and movement during the day. This will help to balance your (sleep-)hormones.
  • Avoid stimuli like nicotine, caffeine and alcohol in the evening. Drink a nice cup of herbal infusion. Good, calming herbs to help you sleep are chamomile, lemon balm, sage, limetree blossom, mint and Achillea (yarrow).
  • Your bedroom should be quiet, dark, ventilated and cool (about 15 or 16 degrees Celsius is optimal).
  • Take a warm shower or bath before you go to sleep; this will open your pores and cool you down enough to fall asleep.
  • A footbath before  you go to sleep helps to pull your attention literally down and helps you get out of your head. For the best result add salt, preferably Dead Sea (mineral) Salt and maybe some magnesium flakes and/or an etherical oil such as lavender, Mandarin or Rose.
  • Remove electric appliances as much as possible from your bedroom, especially your phone and tablet!
  • Make sure your matress and pillow give you support.
  • Create a ‘going to bed’ routine to prepare your body en mind for sleep. You could add a calming stretching and breathing activity such as Tai Qi, meditation or Yoga.
  • Go to bed when you are tired and don’t look at the clock. Waiting till it’s your ‘normal’ time, can make you go ‘over’ your sleep. Listen to your body.
  • It’s best not to take naps during the day and especially not after 2 PM.
  • Don’t eat too much, too heavy or too late. Especially pay attention to your blood sugar levels. If you are among the people that wake up very early in the morning, it can be good to take a little bit of protein rich food (like a handful of nuts, a cracker with cheese, an avocado).
  • Last but not least, a Feng Shui tip: cover mirrors and close cabinets, drawers en doors at night to make the Qi in your bedroom come to peace.

Need more?

These 12 tips are a good start for a healthy sleep. It is possible you may need extra, specialised help when you have severe and long term sleeping problems. Chinese medicine will always address the underlying issues and can support your doctor’s treatment.

Carine

Want to know more about Carine? Hop over to ‘guestbloggers’  and you will find her there!

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