Have you ever wondered why you always seem to be waking up during the night at particular times?
And it’s not just an odd night here and there. After a while you begin to realise you’re waking up again and again, the nights of sleeping through a distant memory. You start to look at the clock and find it’s always at the same time – 2:55am or between certain hours like 4am to 5am. You’re not drinking coffee late in the afternoon, you’ve cut down on your much loved sugars and you’re fairly active during the day (incidentally if you are drinking coffee all afternoon and you’re dipping into refined sugars, consider stopping and then see how you sleep!). Sure, life’s a bit stressful but how is it that it’s always 2:55am?!
Those who use Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) would tell you “that’s easy – look at the Chinese Medicine ‘Meridian Clock’”. It’s one of my favourite tools to use in Kinesiology. The great thing about the Meridian Clock is you don’t have to be a Kinesiologist or a practitioner of TCM to understand it or gain insight from it. Here’s a basic explanation to get you started.
What’s your time?
Firstly, have a look at the clock above and find the time you’re waking up. Take note of the name that sits directly beneath it. For example, if you’re waking between 1am and 3am then you would look at the information about the Liver meridian. Don’t worry – it doesn’t necessarily mean there’s something wrong with your liver, it’s just the way they’re named in English.
14 major meridians – our electrical system
There are 14 major meridians or flows of an energy substance (you may have heard of Qi/Ch’i which sustains life) with 12 of them sitting within the 24 hour clock. All are constantly flowing with energy from your environment and penetrating your body through your skin, central nervous system and organs. These portals on the skin are what acupuncture and acupressure use. Each has a two hour period where they are the primary meridian. Each meridian is linked to particular parts of the body, mechanisms of the body, other meridians, thoughts and emotions, colour, sound, seasons and other spiritual aspects. They’re also partnered together as Yin (receiving energy) and Yang (expressing energy) of an element – Earth, Metal, Water, Wood, and Fire.
Think of it like electrical circuits – when the energy of a meridian is not flowing well due to a block (like stress), you’ll find that you’ll experience a sign or symptom from the meridian(s) involved. This block will also cause an imbalance in the flows between meridians. So when waking up in the night at the same time, or becoming exhausted with 3:30-itis in the afternoon, you can look at the meridian at work and what may be happening with you. Here’s a list of the basic emotions of each element (the ring below the meridians).
- Earth – Empathy, sympathy, balanced giving and receiving
- Metal – Grief and loss
- Water – Fear and anxiety
- Wood – Anger, frustration and resentment
- Fire – Love, hate and joy
What now?
Self reflection people! It can be quite simple; you just need to stop and listen. Your body is trying to tell you something by waking you up at the same time. Back to our previous example, if your time is the Liver meridian and the Wood element – ask yourself “What am I angry or frustrated at?” Or think of the Liver organ and apply this to your life “What is toxic in my life that I need to get rid of?” Perhaps you have symptoms that your digestive system is not working so well?
I’ll leave you with this as food for thought. Spend some time to reflect on your life and what’s keeping you awake based on the ancient wisdom of Traditional Chinese Medicine. I will cover this in more detail in the next post Why You Wake Up At The Same Time Every Night (Part II). If you’re having trouble falling asleep at night, have a read through the Sanctuary of Sleep Series Part One Sleep & Stress: Why You Can’t Fall Asleep
If you’d like to read more about Traditional Chinese Medicine start with ‘The Web That Has No Weaver: Understanding Chinese Medicine’ by Ted Kaptchuk.
This post is the first instalment of a series I’ll be writing on Traditional Chinese Medicine and how you can use it to help you in daily life. Easy!
Why You Wake Up by Kate Pamphilon is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Heidi says
Ever since May 13 I have been waking up at 4 or after 4 am everyday. This morning, I woke up in a startle, actually got me out of bed. I read the Chinese Medicine chart and it said lungs and metal. And this was associated with grieve and loss. My mom passed away 2 years on August 9, 2016 of lung cancer and yes I am grieving. I wonder if she is trying to communicate with me? I miss her so much everyday 🙁
Halie says
I’ve been waking up at 4am or 5 am and after i get up i wont fall asleep until a half hour or so later.
jazzmine says
Everyday at 4:08am i wake up and i have no idea why, it gets frequent around June the time i lost my nana from lunc cancer but on other months it only happens 2-3 times a week. Its always 4:08 and i have no idea why. I’ve tried everything even the reflective part but nothing seems to be working and i have school. Help pleasee!!
devon says
Ive been waking up between 2am and 3am ( mostly 3am on the dot) for weeks now the chart says liver and wood. i don’t have anything to be angry or frustrated about and no reason for resentment. my wife and i argue some times but its not every evening. i just feel like thing happening to me itsnt… natural
Andrew says
I too have been waking up at 2.30am for several days and on looking at the emotions associated with fire I realised that there is little joy in my life right now. That is a useful insight and gives me something to work with. Thank you.
Emma says
Hi I’ve been waking up like 4:30-5:00 ish in the morning and summers almost over I really want to figure out how to stop it. There’s one thing I can think of that caused it- my dad lives in GA (I live in FL) and he’s moving to South Carolina but whenever we go up to visit (not a lot) we have to drive 6 hours and now that he’s moving (we only found out a few days ago) it’s gonna take longer to get there and we won’t be able to go as much.. I cried myself to sleep the other night could this be why I’m waking up??
Trent says
I keep waking up at around 6 every morning, and it is so frustrating.
Alex says
I wake up every day around 5ish and then I can’t fall asleep after that. But the thing is I fall asleep at 1 and can’t sleep before that. The chart says I have grief or a loss but I’m okay? And it’s so frustrating!
Paige Keller says
I keep waking up at 6:45 AM, it’s always 6:45. Not before and not after! It has been happening every single day and I’m starting to get worried. And that’s about fear and yes I always am scared I have a phobia of the dark. So that must be the reason!
Callie says
Well I’ve been waking up at 5:45am and its so weird over the summer it never happened but since school started I woke up I thought it was just me waking up cause I slept early cause over the summer I slept late so I’m very confused and. I need to sleep school just started and I’m getting really tired plsss help