Following the clock to rest is the best way to help protect your heart and to allow your body to detoxify. This will not only improve your sleep quality, but also your health.
Phase one sleep: 7 p.m.-9 p.m.
According to traditional Chinese medical science, the 7 p.m.-9 p.m. period corresponds to the heart. Proper activities in accord with such a connection can strengthen the pericardial sac. The key to this phase is to relax. Loosening up both your mind and body is important. You can take a walk in the open and drink a bowl of sleep-inducing tonic soup, such as the following:
Soup with spine date seed, dwarf lilyturf root, and thin leaf milkwort
Serves to soothe and induce sleep.
Soup with longan and lotus seed
Serves to soothe and nourish the spleen and kidneys.
Phase two sleep: 9 p.m.-11 p.m.
The endocrine system is the corresponding connection for the 9 p.m.-11 p.m. period. A proper endocrine system functions to detoxify and repair. The key to this phase is to calm down. Work, your mobile phone, and your computer should all be put aside. You can listen to some light music, soak your feet, and do some massage and exercise.
For the feet
Press on the yongquan (gushing spring) acupuncture point on the sole of the foot 10 times each on both the right and left foot to warm up the feet.
Lie on a bed, lift the feet up about 8 inches, and flex the feet alternately 10 times.
Lay the feet down, point the toes once, and relax.
For the head
Press lightly on the head with your fingers and rub on the ears.
Phase three sleep: 11 p.m.-7 a.m.
This is the sleep phase. The 11 p.m.-1 a.m. period is connected to the gallbladder, the 1 a.m.-3 a.m. period to the liver, the 3 a.m.-5 a.m. period to the lungs, and the 5 a.m.-7 a.m. period to the large intestines. Delaying sleep beyond these periods causes various problems with the connecting systems. Start off the day with a glass of warm water and massage clockwise on the abdomen to help daily excretion of the body’s waste.
Translated by CC and edited by Helen
