Treating Insomnia with Chinese Medicine
Chinese medicine approaches a treatment for insomnia from the root. When you come in we will ask a series of questions and assess just precisely what is out of balance in your system, and use acupuncture and herbs to reset that balance.
It is important to look at when it is that you find yourself unable to drift into slumber - in the beginning of the night? Are you waking at 1 or 2 in the morning every night? Do you find yourself awake at 4 or 5 every morning? These simple questions can tell me which organ systems are impacted and are in need of calibration. You may have heard of a “Chinese clock”. This clock reflects a cycle of qi throughout the human body. Have you ever noticed that if you imbibe one too many glasses of wine, you wake up at 2 in the morning hot and agitated? That is because between the hours of 1 am and 3 am the cycle of qi energy is at its strongest in the liver organ, and the Liver will be impacted by the alcohol that your body is processing.
Are you waking early in the morning and unable to fall back to sleep? Sometimes it may be the clock we refer to. If there is undigested grief (and grief, in particular, the loss of a dear one) will take a while to process. But when its at its most potent, you may find yourself awakened between the hours of 3-5. These are the hours most potent for the organ of the Lung, which holds and processes the grief of our soul as it mourns our personal and collective losses.
Other hours tell a different story, but it is not always the clock that is to be referred to when it is a certain time of the night that you are awakened. You may be waking early with a different imbalance. Are you up early in the morning, unable to sleep after falling into a restful slumber all night? We might ask if you are also relating to feelings of timidity, and finding it difficult to make decisions. There is an herbal formula and acupuncture point for this pattern as well!
Perhaps you are waking up at any hour from wild dreams, agitated, hot, and sweaty. Are you also finding your throat dry, craving cold beverages, and bothered by the feeling of your heart beating in your chest? There are so many combinations of patterns and organ imbalances! It will take a little bit of sleuthing when you come in, but we will do our best to find out where this sleeplessness is coming from and address it with herbs and acupuncture.
The other important thing to take a look at is sleep hygiene. This can go a long way, and it will likely take some effort and discipline from you. For more information, I loved this article from the sleepfoundation.org. There is no way that I can do a more thorough job than they did with this article, so take a look at it and see what may be useful to you.
If you are suffering with insomnia and live in the areas of Santa Rosa, Bodega, Guerneville, Occidental or Forestville please make an appointment at True Nature Wellness near downtown Sebastopol. Acupuncture and herbs have been shown to be highly beneficial for people struggling with this very common issue.