Holistic Sleep - Women's Health & Facial Acupuncture

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, at night when the blood of the body is healthy and the body is tired, the blood goes into the heart and covers the Shen (spirit) and allows you to have deep, good quality sleep.

There are a number of factors that interrupt sleep:

Spleen cold/digestive deficiency: excess cold in the intestines and can wake you up (common in children)
Excess heat in heart meridian: very restless, keep waking up and don’t fall asleep, very active, heating foods, lingering pathogen.
Fright: in children who have had a shock or watch too much screens, present with nightmares and screaming
Qi and blood deficiency: not enough blood reaches the heart to nourish the spirit. Fall asleep for a couple of hours and then wake, weaker deficient type.

Acupuncture and holistic therapies can work very well for sleep. The time you are awake and cannot sleep also indicates which organ is out of balance.

11pm-1am: Gallbladder.
1am-3am: Liver. This is the time your liver is detoxifying. If your liver is overwhelmed you will wake at this time and cleansing your liver will be of benefit. Most common time for people to wake.
3-5am: Lung. If you wake at this time your lungs are deficient and need tonification.
5-7am: Large Intestine. A good time to get up, drink hot water and go for a walk to promote healthy bowel motion.

Holistic Sleep Tips

There are a lot of things you can do to help your sleep. Here are some of my current and favourite ones.

Avoid devices/screens and blue light 1-2 hours before bed more if you need. Keep use to daytime. Wear block out glasses.
Foot bath before bed, warm water helps bring the energy in the head down to the feet.
Eat your carbs at night; steamed potato and rice with dinner helps relax the body and induce sleep.
Magnesium bath, add magnesium salts or Epsom salts to paths to detox and relax the muscles for good sleep.
Spend time outdoors as much as possible, extra sunlight and vitamin D exposure helps to regulate the internal body clock.
Be physical and active during the day so you feel tired at night.
Going outside in the morning for 10-30 minutes also naturally regulates hormones (melatonin).
Bedtime routine/ritual – create a ritual at the same time at night so the body knows its time to sleep.

Changes to make to the room

Red light lamp or Himalayan Salt Lamp for red amber glow helps induce sleep.
Indoor plants in your room oxygenate the air.
Place the bed north/south direction in harmony with earths gridlines.
Use blockout blinds at night and in the morning open them to let the light in when the sun rises.
Turn off the wifi and get electronic devices out of the room for a peaceful environment.

Remedies That Can Aid Sleep

Acupuncture & Chinese Herbal Medicine.
Triple chamomile tea bag tea before bed. Valerian tea is also good. The Chinese drink lotus seed and red date tea to support healthy heart blood.
Take Nux Vomica, homeopathic. It helps clear the liver energy, calm the body and can support insomnia.
Take Magnesium with your tea, I have a PPMP which is a great tonic for the nerves and muscles.
Some water with apple cider vinegar and honey before bed.
Castor Oil Packs on the tummy or ribs.
Cherry juice.
The Australian Bush Flower Essences; we stock them and prescribe them here for you.

Consultations

At Femme Vital, expect the best holistic health consultation, coaching, tailored treatment and advice with 16 years experience supporting wellbeing with acupuncture and Chinese herbs.

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