BODY. Waking at 3 AM?

Naturopathic doctors care about your determinants of health. Movement, nutrition, bowel movements (don’t be shy!), community/relationships, hydration and of course, sleep. We tend to go deep on these questions, too.

Take sleep, for example. How many hours per night? Trouble falling asleep? Staying asleep? Snoring? Do you wake feeling rested?

I very often hear about waking in the middle of sleep, and I always inquire if there is a consistent time of waking. Oftentimes, I hear 3 AM.

While I don’t do acupuncture, I have a great reverence for Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). I use concepts, I love the theory, and I am currently reading the classic text “Between Heave and Earth.” I have used the TCM “body clock” frequently to gain insight, or at least a theory, of what organs are most active when.

That 3 AM mark is right on the cusp of the time of liver (1-3 AM) and lung (3-5 AM). Depending on the context and patient, I may already have a clearer picture: If either organ is being taxed physically, think overdoing alcohol (liver) or smoking (lungs), there is of course a biological and anatomical reason for the stress on the organ. However, often overlooked may be a suppressed emotion causing energetic stress that just may be having as much of an impact as the physical. Questions to follow: What’s your relationship to anger? What’s your relationship to grief?

The liver, associated with anger, and the lung, associated with grief, may just be tapping you on the shoulder at the most inconvenient time to request your attention. To quite literally - wake up. “Listen to me!” it is saying.

Springtime is the season of the liver according to TCM, and it makes a lot of sense. The major organ of detoxification and “cleaning house” is doing its own spring cleaning continually for the benefit of our biology. While most focus on the Spring detox regimens utilizing herbs, foods and fasting (Metagenics 10-day Clear Change has always been my go-to), don’t neglect the cleaning house of the emotional aspect of healing, too.