Sleeping is our basic biological need. It also is the best way for our brain and body to get rest. Unfortunately, having a good sleep is not always the case for many people. Some of us even suffer from insomnia. In general, insomnia means one doesn’t get sufficient sleep due to having difficulty to fall asleep, being awake too early or intermittently.
In Western Medicine, generally there are four common causes of insomnia. The first one is mental factor, such as excessive thoughts, anger, anxiety, depression, excitement, and nervousness. The second one is physiological factor. It includes starvation, sexual drive, and other diseases like arthritis and migraine. The third kind is drug factor. Abuse of alcohol, relying on drug or getting rid of drug also falls into this group. The fourth one is bad environment and habits. They include noise or light, and extensive exercise before bed or disorder of work.
Meanwhile, in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), insomnia always has been linked closely to our internal organs.
1. Heart and Liver
According to TCM, our sentiments will affect the circulation of “Qi” (essential energy) and blood. Emotions such as anger, anxious, and depression are able to hurt our liver (read Anger Hurts Liver, And Hatred Hurts Even More.) When our liver “Qi” is obstructed, we have unpeaceful mind and as a result, insomnia occurs.
2. Stomach
Having hot and spicy, deep-fried, and fatty food; or overeating too often will greatly affect our stomach function, as well as sleeping quality. In fact, these diet habits are the main causes of dyspepsia. And when one has impaired digestion, he/she is likely to be awake easily and even suffers from insomnia.
3. Kidney
Kidneys are very important organs that regulate our body’s fluid volume, mineral composition, and acidity by excreting and reabsorbing water and inorganic electrolytes. This not only helps balance substances including calcium, chloride, hydrogen, magnesium, phosphate, potassium, sodium, and sulfate in the body, but also keeps their normal concentrations in the extracellular fluid. With weak kidney function, however, one will need to urinate more often and/or get out of bed a few times at night to urinate. In this case, poor sleeping quality or even insomnia seems is the inevitable outcome.
4. Spleen
The spleen is the crucial organ responsible for digestion. Its major function is to transform food into essence that used for blood and “Qi” transformation.
Since the spleen acts as the source of the nutrient production inside the body, if our body overly uses the nutrients or under utilizes the nutrient supply, not only our spirit becomes wandered, absent-minded, and forgetful, restless sleep also occurs as we will have many dreams and are easily awakened throughout the night despite we can fall asleep without difficulty.
Insomnia pe se is not considered as a serious medical condition; nonetheless, it can highly undermine our quality of life and could be a sign of deficiencies of internal organs. So, if ongoing insomnia takes place, we are better to seek medical advice and find out the root of the problem.
But before doing so, try the crucial step first: To keep a blissful mind.
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