Why do I keep waking up at 3am?

According to Chinese Medicine the organs of the body run on a 24hr clock too. Certain times of day relate to busy times for them. Waking up at certain time of the night could suggest that a little TLC is needed for that particular organ.

9pm-11pm – adrenals. These little glands that sit on top of the kidneys are in charge of producing our stress hormones – cortisol, adrenaline and noradrenaline. If you get wired and tired at this time, it’s likely that your cortisol production is too high (it should be the lowest here to bring on restful sleep).

11pm-1am – gallbladder. In charge of emulsifying fats and getting cholesterol out of the body.

1am-3am – liver. Our immune system is heightened at this time as the liver detoxifies our blood.

3am-5am – lungs. Associated in Chinese medicine with immune function and grief too. If there is an imbalance, then you can experience wheezing and coughing at this time.

5am-7am – large intestines. It’s normal to wake up and need a bowel movement but if you wake and don’t need one then constipation and dehydration might be an issue here.

I’ll be talking through what to do about replenishing these organs at my Sleep Retreat on 19 March.