Waking up at 2am | Ask Dr. Liliane

Question

Why do I often wake up at 2:00 in the morning? Sometimes I can go back to sleep but sometimes I cannot or will stay awake for a long time.

Answer

Two o’clock in Chinese medicine is right in the middle of “Liver time” which goes from 1:00 to 3:00 in the morning. I would say 80% insomnia patterns fit into that pattern.

Organ hourly clock:

11:00 PM - 1:00 AM : Gallbladder time
1:00 Am-3: 00 AM: Liver time
3:00AM-5:00 AM : Lung time
5:00 AM to 7:00 AM : Large Intestine time

Those hours correspond to a biological clock of inner organ recharge. At night, those organs need to be nourished by deep Yin and Blood. For our Liver Tree in particular, there is a need for recharging its “sap” in the form of Blood and Yin water (Our liver filters one liter and a half of blood every minute). If, for any reason, we are too Yang and too fiery, our spirit, like a plane that cannot land, continues to swirl and get exhausted - unable to find a resting place and reach its airport to recharge fuel and batteries.

The reasons?:

The most obvious is excess alcohol as most people know. Alcohol has an anxious characteristic and people who drink excess get startled and wake up around that time.
Digestive issues: heavy food and stimulants at night are among the most common causes.
Another important factor: stress and a pace that leads to poor nutrition. Stress by itself will tend to interfere with falling asleep.
Over acidity: heavy exercise is therefore not the best before going to sleep (producing lactic acid). Neither are orange juice or even vitamin C or a green juice…best taken in the morning, during Liver time!