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.
Lilly says
My 6 year wakes up at 3:00 every night. What can I do to help her?
Vishwa Ranjan says
I’m waking up in between of 2am& 3am mostly everyday, how can I help myself & remove the wood & liver issue or blockage.
Zia says
i keep waking up every morning at 1am then i would fall back asleep and wake up every 2 hours then.. it is because my husband and i have been trying to have a baby for years now through ivf and we just want it to work so bad why cant it just work for us.. all this time and money gone.. i feel like my life is always going backwards not forward..
Mary says
I was waking up for 8 to 9 months around 3:30 to 4:30Am Dec 10th. 2015 my lung collapsed at 4 Am..
I pay very close attention to my awakening in the Am.
joe says
I am a veteran with combat PTSD and I have been wake up at 320 am for the last few years. What could this be?
Alexa Devilas says
Every night I’m up exactly at 3:12 or 3:14 if it’s not about those time I’m awake.., I will then be up at 4:12. What is this that’s happening to me.
Pat says
I couldnt figure out why I wake up at 3:30 a.m.consistently.
Amy Gold says
I kept waking up at around 4 am to 6 am for no reason at all. For days I couldn’t figure out why. I suffer from UTI’s quite often(urinary infection). They are painful and very inconvenient to my everyday life, and have gotten so bad I’ve been hospitalized for kidney infections. I am also 4 months pregnant. It makes sense to me why I am waking up at this time now. My anxiety and fear stem from not knowing wether or not these kidney and bladder infections will affect my baby. This article helped me a great deal.
Tana says
Thank you .. Having read and practiced Mantac & Mannewan Chia some , was happy to find your well explained & informative understanding of Chinese medicine and about the waking hours of why .. thank you kindly 🙂
Sherilyn Colby says
Great article, thank you so much. I do energy work and love helping people with their blocks. This article was perfect for what I was looking for with understanding meridians and sleep. Chinese Medicine is fascinating!!