Best Time To Go To Bed

“What is the best time to go to bed?”

I often get asked the above question by a lot of my patients. I often tell them “You have to be asleep before 11 pm.”

In the old days, a lot of experienced Chinese Medicine doctors would ask you “what time do you sleep?” If your answer is after 11 pm, they would probably say, “Then there’s nothing I can do to help you.”

Sleeping is important since it allows your body to rest, repair and recover. If you would like good health and longevity, sleeping what you should put in first place.

So why exactly before 11pm?

In order to this answer from a Chinese Medicine perspective, you must first understand the concept of the “Organ Clock”.

The “Organ Clock” explains the relationship between the time of the day and the energy level of the respective Meridians.

One day is divided into 12 sections, each lasts for two hours. And each section corresponds to one of the Meridians of the 12 main Internal Organs.

Organ Clock

The internal organ of that respective timing is when it is most energized and functioning optimally. For example, from 11 pm to 1 am, the gallbladder meridian is the most energized and functioning optimally.

In order to achieve good health we have to “Conform to Nature”. We have to conform to the Yin-Yang forces throughout the day. There are two important timings every day. That is from 11 pm to 1 am, and 11 am to 1 pm.

At 11 pm, the Yang-Qi starts to rise, till reaching a peak at 11 am. Then the Yin-Qi starts to rise until reaching peak at 11 pm. Then the cycle continues.

As you know from the Yin-Yang Theory, Yin represents stillness and Yang represents activeness. Therefore in order to conform to nature we need to be asleep before 11 pm. This is due to two reasons.

1. The rising of the Yang-Qi after 11 pm will affect our ability to be asleep.
2. 11 pm to 1 am is the hour of the Gallbladder.

So why is the hour of Gall Bladder so important?

According to the “Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Medicine”, “The 11 Organs all depends on the Gallbladder.” The Gallbladder-Qi can lead to the rise and smooth flow of the Qi and Blood of the other 11 organs.

Therefore we should let the Gallbladder rest and restore during this period of time.

Now, I understand that it might be difficult to sleep early if you have a habit of sleeping late. Here, I challenge you to sleep before 11 pm for 30 days straight to build a habit.

You will feel the difference in your body!

Comment below on your daily progress! Let’s keep each other accountable!

Registered Acupuncturist (R.Ac), Alex Hui created this blog to share with the world the treasures in Chinese Medicine (CM).