A beautiful woman is good at sleeping

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Sleeplessness is torture. It causes moodiness, irritability, stiff muscles, headaches, and the inability to think or function properly. Furthermore, lack of adequate sleep can cause or exacerbate serious health conditions.

Western medicine and traditional Oriental medicine have different approaches to insomnia. Western doctors view insomnia as the inability to sleep soundly. If there are no apparent physiological abnormalities, it will usually be viewed as an emotional problem involving stress or depression. A patient with a mild case of insomnia is told to relax more, cut back on caffeine, and try a hot bath before bedtime. For chronic insomnia, the usual response is sleeping pills.

In Oriental medicine, the approach can be called “root and branch.” Symptoms like insomnia are considered to be the branches of a disease. The root of the disease is an imbalance of the fundamental substances - chi, blood, yin, yang, jing (essences), and shin (spirit); or of the major organ systems - lungs, heart, spleen, liver and kidneys.

When a person suffers from insomnia, the two organs most commonly out of balance are the heart and the liver. Each of these organs houses a specific aspect of the spirit. If they are out of balance, the spirit will become restless. This is viewed as a shin disturbance, and although it can manifest in a number of ways, including mood disorders and heart palpitations, insomnia is one of the most common symptoms.

There are several types of insomnia, each with differing characteristics that point to different root imbalances. The most common types of insomnia are as follows:
Dream-disturbed sleep Nightmares normally indicate a disorder of the gallbladder meridian. Recurring dreams are due to a spleen/heart imbalance.
Can’t drop-off

This is usually related to a condition of the liver or gallbladder. People will toss and turn for hours.
Light sleeping patterns Many people can fall asleep easily, but wake up and find can’t get back to sleep. They may stay awake for an hour or more, or may not go back to sleep at all. These people often have a heart/spleen deficiency pattern.
One relief for sleeping disorders is vacuum cupping therapy, which can be done at home. When you want to fall asleep, a partner should apply the cups about 5 centimeters to the left and right along the vertebral spine and keep them there for about 15 minutes. Many people fall asleep within a few minutes.

Acupuncture also has many positive benefits. It has been scientifically demonstrated to have an effect on the body’s central nervous system, and can increase levels of several neurotransmitters, including serotonin. Acupuncture promotes natural sleeping patterns, and doesn’t create the hangover effect that most sleeping pills do.
Shin (spirit) restlessness can be eased by increasing yin energy through meditation and breathing exercises, ingesting certain herbs, or by listening to relaxing music. At the same time, yang energy can be decreased through avoidance of excess mental stimulation, particularly before bedtime.

Good sleeping patterns are the foundation of a harmonious and healthy life. As the Korean proverb states, “Beautiful women are sleepyheads.”

*Raimund Royer is Medical Director of the International Clinic at the Jaseng Hospital of Oriental Medicine.

Scrap from joongang daily news