How to Sleep Well

A good night’s sleep is essential to feeling good during the day. Depending on who you are and your body type, anywhere between 7-9 hours of sleep per night is optimal. For a good night’s sleep follow the guidelines below:

Be asleep by 10pm. One of the functions of the liver is to store your blood. This is an important function that your liver performs. While it is storing your blood it is cleaning it and cooling it down from the day. Your liver does this function between 10pm and 12am. Your body needs to be asleep in order for this vital function to happen.

Avoid alcohol and caffeine. Both inhibit proper sleep. If you must do caffeine, do it before noon and not any time after.

Eat a diet that consists mostly of lean meat, whole grains, and vegetables. Avoid refined carbohydrates like muffins, breads, bagels, and crackers. Avoid sugar. If you have craving for sweets try some dried fruit. Use stevia or honey as a sweetener instead of sugar. For more about how to eat, visit my Eat Well page.

Sleep with the seasons. Winter is the natural time for all living things to be quiet, dormant and introspective. You may find that you need more sleep during the winter months and less sleep in the summer months.

Think about the days when there wasn’t electricity. Most of our ancestors probably went to bed when it got dark and rose with the sun because of the practical nature of this. This is nature’s rhythm. As I have said before, anything you can do to go with the flow of nature will enhance your body’s natural healing rhythm’s. Things that go against the flow of nature decrease your body’s ability to heal itself.

Electromagnetic fields emanate from electrical appliances even when they are off. These electromagnetic fields can co-mingle with your own electromagnetic field throwing it off its normal rhythm. It is best to sleep in a room with few or no electric appliances. Use a battery operated clock, unplug your bedside lamp before you fall asleep, and do not sleep with a television in your room.

According to Chinese Medicine, different times of the day correspond to different organs in your body. From 1am to 3am is the time of the Liver and from 3 am to 5 am is the time of the Lung. If you are waking between 1am and 3am, it is useful to look at either stress or anger in your daily life as these are attributed to the liver. If you are waking between 3am and 5am it is useful to look at grief in your daily life as this is the emotion of the lung. These emotions are not always the cause of disrupted sleep, but can sometimes be useful is diagnosing sleep problems.

Waking at 2am is common. It is at this time when your blood sugar drops to its lowest point and your cortisol, a hormone produced by the adrenal gland that is vital in your level of energy, also drops to its lowest point. If this is a common time for you to wake up, it is important to look at whether or not you are depleted. Some questions to ask yourself are: how is my daily energy level?, how well am I digesting my food?, how is my mental clarity? Getting regular acupuncture and taking the proper herbs and supplements can be beneficial when depletion is the cause of insomnia.

From a Chinese Medicine perspective, sleep involves the heart. Your heart houses your shen, or your soul. When you sleep, your shen needs a quiet, anchored, cool place to rest. If there is unrest in your heart it is hard to sleep. One of the ancient traditions of the Chinese is to soak your feet in warm water before bed. This drains some the the heat, or frenetic energy, from your head and upper body and warms the lower body creating a cool calm head and warm feet. This is optimal for sleeping. Try adding a few drops of lavender oil to the warm water for added calming effect.

Disclaimer: The above information is just that: information. Please consult a heath care practitioner before taking action with your own health care needs.