Health B reaking the I N S O M M N I A cycle M o r n i n g : I am so tired I barely slept last night. I really need coffee. 1 0 a m : I have a really busy day today, I better power up with another coffee. 3 p m : It’s that time of the afternoon, I need sugar/ chocolate/coffee. H o me : Thank god today’s over, it was so stressful. I need a glass of wine… maybe another. Now I’d better get on the computer and get some more work done. There is so much I need to do. B ed : Why can’t I sleep? Maybe I’ll check facebook, emails or watch telly. B ed a g a i n : Toss. Turn. Come on brain switch off. I really need to sleep. I have so much to do tomorrow.
Emma Iwinska In Chinese medicine there are various ways we diagnose and treat insomnia, probably too many to address in one article. So I thought the best use of my words would be to write about the most prevailing lifestyle factor that I see in clinical practice which relates to insomnia and that is the daily sequence I outlined above of being continually busy and living in a state of stress. If you can learn how get out of this cycle, you can vastly improve the quality and quantity of your sleep. There are two main types of insomnia presentations. One is cyclic – it comes and goes, and the other is chronic. Cyclic insomnia There are many triggers to cyclic insomnia. Women may notice that sleep difficulties arise pre-menstrually, with the onset of their period and cyclic insomnia may become chronic during menopause. Men tend to suffer more from work and/or emotional stress, (as do women), and many people find sleep becomes difficult around the full moon. Cyclic insomnia may come and go and is generally fairly manageable for most people.
M o r n i n g : I am so tired I barely slept last night. I really need coffee. A nd so the modern day cycle continues …
Chronic insomnia relates to an imbalance in the levels of stress hormones in our body. We become adrenally fatigued and our cortisol levels go through the roof. In Chinese medicine we look at it as an imbalance of yin and yang. Yin is the cooling, calming, repairing energy of our body and yang is the active, dynamic energy. With chronic insomnia our kidney yin becomes completely exhausted and our spirit restless. One of the best ways to replenish kidney yin is through sleep and rest. How can we sleep and rest
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{ T H E G R E E N 30 October 2014
when we are an insomniac? The first step is to break the cycle of stimulants and business. Practice being peaceful rather than busy. You will still get everything done, just in a much calmer manner. I’ve recently taken to telling people I am peaceful rather than busy when they ask - and this is definitely creating calmness even if it does make me sound like a raging hippy! To break our stress cycle we need to eliminate the stimulants, as they provide short-term gain for long-term pain. No coffee, sugar or chocolate, they over-stimulate our nervous system. Ditch the alcohol, it may help us pass out and fall asleep but it greatly depletes the quality of our sleep. This leads to disturbed sleep with frequent waking, moodiness and fatigue. Stay away from electrical equipment: computers, tvs and phones, as they put our nervous system into overdrive. Pretend you are camping in the evening and try candlelight. Go to bed before 10pm; around 9.30pm is ideal as this maximises the quality yin building time which happens between 11pm and 1am in Chinese medicine.
What helps our sleep? • Herbal tea (chamomile, lemon balm) • Embracing calm • Classical music • Laughing until you wet your pants • Cuddles and caresses • Meditation • Yoga • Acupuncture • Letting go • Herbs from a qualified practitioner • A foot bath - or even better a foot massage • A really boring audio book • Exercise (physical exhaustion really helps – try running a marathon! • Eat regular meals (time them by a clock if you need to). So next time someone asks how you are, sip you chamomile tea, gaze at your navel, thank the person rubbing your toes and answer “I’m peaceful thank you, how are you?”