by Stephen Lau
A healthy lifestyle embraces deep relaxation. There are four types of relaxation:
- passive relaxation (watching TV)
- active relaxation (love making)
- creative relaxation (painting and writing)
- deep relaxation (sleep, meditation, and mind aerobics).
But sleep is deep relaxation only when it is natural sleep without the use of medications.
What is natural sleep?
There are two processes that put you to natural sleep:
- Sleep homeostat is a built-in mechanism that tells you to go to bed after a certain amount of time awake, and to wake up after a certain amount of time of natural sle
- Biological clock is a cycle of natural sleep unique to each individual.
According to Chinese thinking, natural sleep manifests internal balance and harmony, and insomnia is a sign of imbalance and disharmony. The Chinese classify insomnia into fourtypes:
Inability to fall sleep
- Frequent and sustained waking up in the middle of the night
- Waking up early in the morning
- Sleepiness despite long periods of sleep
The factors preventing natural sleep are:
- Psychiatric factors: anxiety and depression
- Lifestyle factors: overeating, alcohol and drugs
- Health factors: bladder problems causing frequent urination, chronic pain disorder, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, congestive heart failure, and sleep apnea
- Environmental factors: noisy environment, a troublesome sleep partner (e.g. snoring)
Disharmony of “qi” and “shen”
According to Chinese medicine, these factors responsible for inability to have natural sleep can be attributed to the disharmony of “qi” and “shen.”
“Qi” is the internal life energy responsible for your individual existence — it is a manifestation of a part of the universal life force, and as such, has a tendency to establish equilibrium of balance and harmony throughout the universe. “Qi” literally breathes life into the human body; it is essential for rejuvenation and natural sleep.
“Shen” is the spirit of the body: it encompasses your mind, consciousness, soul, and purpose in life. “shen” is the essence of the individuality of a person — the element of natural sleep.
The following scenarios illustrate the inability to have natural sleep as a result of the disharmony of “qi” and “shen“:
- Overwork causes insomnia. Overwork or any strenuous physical activity, such as exercise, burns up your blood, damaging the heart, which houses your “shen.” A damaged heart, evidenced by quick breaths and palpitations, prevents natural sleep. To cure insomnia, stop work or exercise at least two hours before bedtime to get natural sleep.
- Repeated nightmares indicate a disorder of “qi” in the gall bladder. To cure insomnia, go for a liver cleanse to promote natural sleep.
- Waking up in the middle of the night is due to disharmony of “qi” in the liver. “Qi” energy circulates through the twelve principal meridians in the human body over a 24-hour period. The liver “qi” peaks at around 3 a.m., and this is why people with sleep disorder wake up in the middle of the night. To cure insomnia, give vent to your emotions (especially unexpressed anger) and have better stress management. Balanced “qi” in the liver gives natural sleep.
- Eating prior to sleep, with food still churning in the stomach, disturbs your “shen,” making natural sleep difficult. To cure insomnia, stop eating before bedtime, and eat only a light supper to facilitate natural sleep.
- Too much thinking often causes insomnia. Thinking burns your blood, agitating your heart “qi,” leading to “qi” stagnation. To cure insomnia, relax your muscles and breathe deeply through meditation, which is conducive to natural sleep.
Given that insomnia is a sleep disorder due to imbalance and disharmony of “qi” and “shen,” acupuncture can unblock any blockage and remedy any stagnation of “qi” in the heart and liver. Acupuncture treatment may provide natural sleep.
For more information on natural sleep, visit my webpage: Sleep Health.
Copyright© by Stephen Lau
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