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.
Mina says
I wake up at 4:13 every morning. But I am not scared or nervous of anything big or particular
Kate says
Destiny – you are waking at the Liver time which is all about detoxing what is not good for us – this can be physical detox, emotions, thoughts, people, events, environments. Your body became sick which means something is nor working in your life and your body stopped you so you can work through it. Kate x
Noah says
I wake up EVERY night at about 01:39 and since I’m in high school I need all the rest I can get..but..I’m not in love or hate anybody so..it must be Joy…what am I so happy about??
Kate says
Noah – 1:39am is Liver time so have a read about what I say about Liver in the 2 main articles :o)
alexis fields says
I wake up every day around 4:28am I don’t know why this is the metal liver ..I have suffered from a loss a few ..and I’ve been grieving about it .so I understand that part ..it a little creepy because I so.etimes. get pains on my right side …been thinks ng about going to the er just to be on the safe side make sure I’m okay
Peggy says
I’m used to waking up during the night because i have 3 kids, but lately I’ve noticed that every time i look at the cl9ck its about 4am.
It was quite interesting to look at this information because i have had plenty of reason for fear and anxiety in my life lately and i have been much more lazy with what and when i am drinking before bed leaving my bladder pretty full at times.
Thank you for pointing me in the right direction for self improvement in the things that i can change 🙂
Sara says
Thank you for this article. Very interesting and provides food for thought. Also, I appreciate you not acting like Web MD “if you wake up between 2-3, you could have cancer” type of response. Looks like I need to check out my love/hate in regards to communication. Oh that small intestine!! Thanks and have a great day 🙂
Kate says
Cancer!! That’s rather catastrophising the situation!
geegee says
Thanks for sharing this very interesting ☺
Midgey says
mine kind of varies…I don’t understand the lung and metal ??? I wake up either around 2-3 or 4-5… so it could be one of either ? but how to really tell ?