Ever wonder why your energy level has highs and lows during the course of a day?
Chinese medicine understands why.
There is a perfectly balanced system of the energy flow amongst the organs throughout the course of a 24-hour period.
Each organ has an associated energy pathway traversing through the body. One pathway is connected to the next, creating a journey of life force energy, called “qi” (pronounced “chi”), passing along a 24-hour energy loop in the body.
It takes 2 hours for the qi energy to transit each organ’s pathway. During that time, the respective organ is most active, while its opposite organ is at its period of greatest of rest.
For example, you will see on the Chinese body clock that the liver time is 1 am to 3 am. During this time, the liver is busy doing its job of cleansing and detoxifying the blood.
If you suffer from insomnia, your body may be telling you that the liver is disturbed and overwhelmed with toxins, as you should be experiencing your deepest sleep at 2 am. The message would be that it is time to consider a healthier lifestyle and a liver cleanse.
Your body never lies.
This would also be the time when the opposing organ, small intestine, would be the most inactive. If you have eaten a late meal or snack, the small intestine is being forced to digest when it should be at rest so the liver can focus on doing its job of housecleaning.
The result is energetic disturbance in the body. And your unhealthy habits were the cause.
The liver requires your cooperation of an early dinner. Allowing plenty of time for the last meal of the day to digest before the liver goes to work at 1 am will support the liver in being the most effective during its 2-hour work cycle. Plus, this will best support your body’s chance for a peaceful night’s sleep.
If you toss and turn, unable to sleep during liver hours, perhaps you partied with a little too much alcohol or ate too late in the evening, overburdening the liver and causing it to struggle to do its intended tasks during its shift.
Notice that the stomach time is 7 am to 9 am. This tells you to eat your largest meals early in the day when the stomach is at its most active energy time for digestion.
The spleen is the most important digestive organ in Chinese medicine. It is busy digesting breakfast from 9 am to 11 am.
The small intestine is busy absorbing nutrients from breakfast and lunch from 1 pm to 3 pm. All of these organs of digestion—stomach, spleen, small intestine–are saying, “eat early in the day when we are at our peak and can do our jobs of digesting the best.”
A reflection of your lifestyle habits and body disturbances and symptoms, along with a review of the Chinese body clock, will often unravel the mystery of what needs to change in the way you are living during the course of a 24-hour period.
Achieving optimum health requires a cooperative effort on your part to live in harmony with your body’s energy clock.
“If we don’t change our direction we’re likely to end up where we’re headed.” Ancient Chinese Proverb
Would you like to clear up any questions on how this body clock works?
This is great.