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.
Garrett says
This is my second time i woke up the first some people where having and argument next to our house now we moved to an apartment and it is quiet i dont knowwhy i woke up
Joe says
I have been waking up at 4:30 am every morning abruptly. Either from a dream or from discomfort. I sleep at about mid night. I do drink alcohol and I feel like I may be waking up at this time because I am no longer intoxicated by that time. I am also going through a lot of stress from loss and resentment. I wonder if these two correlate or it’s more one than the other.
May says
I wake up between 3-5 everyday since I moved into my apartment. It’s been 5 months… What do I do??
Brian Diumenti says
What’s up with 3:11 AM.
My son Stephen (24) would always talk about the time 3:11 am. He would wake up all the time at exactly 3:11 am on 5-11-2014 my wife woke up and noticed the bedroom door was open @ 3:11am – Stephen would always open it to say he was home. She thought he was home so she went back to sleep. Stephen Passed away that night around that time. on 10-5-2014 there was an Earthquake at 3:11 am in Las Vegas\Enterprise NV. Close to our house and last night 10-13-2014 I woke up and looked at my IPad. It was 3:11 AM – This has happened a few times in the past couple of months. Not sure what all this means or if anything.
Brian Diumenti says
What’s up with 3:11 AM.
My son Stephen Diumenti would always talk about the time 3:11 am. He would wake up all the time at exactly 3:11 am on 5-11-2014 stephens leticia woke up and noticed the bedroom door was open @ 3:11am – Stephen would always open it to say he was home. She thought he was home so she went back to sleep. Stephen Passed away that night around that time. on 10-5-2014 there was an Earthquake at 3:11 am in Las Vegas\Enterprise NV. Close to our house and last night 10-13-2014 I woke up and looked at my IPad. It was 3:11 AM – This has happened so many times in the past couple of months. Not sure what all this means?
camil says
would a past experience that has been brought up subconsciously, make sense of why i wake up at 4?
Hey says
I wake up at 4:50 everyday aha whyy??
Robin says
This doesn’t make any sense. My wake up time is generally between 3-4 am which would be ‘grief / loss’, but I haven’t experienced any loss nor do I ‘grieve’ over anything I’m aware of. I’d love to know why I wake up almost every morning between 3-4 a.m.
Erin says
I keep waking up around midnight, for months now…. I have been having problems controlling my blood pressure pretty much the whole time.
Kate says
Hey Robin – there’s much more to each meridian than the elements I have discussed. There are also physical, biochemical and spiritual aspects. Read up on the Lung meridian in The Web That Has No Weaver and see what you think. x kate