For the past three nights, I’ve been waking up at the same time, heart racing, and feeling anxious. It has been awhile since this has happened, so the first night it caught me a bit off guard; I simply sat (or laid in bed) with it, resisted the urge to look at the time on my phone, turned inward and focused on deep breathing (link) until my system calmed down and I was able to return to sleep. The morning after the second night, I got curious:
Noticing the dark chocolate/caffeine connection, I decided to keep it to lunchtime or before 2p, which I did, but the third morning, I remembered something else:
The latter is called the “Body Clock” and is explained by Traditional Chinese Medicine. Photo credit: Chalkboard Magazine Within this and many alternative medicine practices, it is acknowledged that our body undergoes a system-wide detox throughout the day, and so paying attention to our symptoms and whether they have a time-of-day occurrence can be a helpful tool in understanding which organ/system is feeling overburdened. As many of our organs of detoxification are being cleansed at night, it is often recommended we be in bed by 10:30 pm and asleep by 11:00 pm so that deep detoxification can take place. With a schedule roughly close to this, our bodies move first into gallbladder detoxification, where bile is released and cellular repair is enacted. Between 1-3 am, the LIVER begins to detoxify. Next, the body focuses on the lungs, and this is also a place where deep sleep and dreams take place ( anyone else’s wakeup time fall during a dream!?). As 7 am approaches, the body is focused on the stomach; this is a good time to eat breakfast! And the cycle continues.
So as you can see, for me, the organ feeling challenged/overburdened is the liver. This isn’t hard for me to believe, as the liver is one of our PRIMARY organs of detoxification- food, alcohol, caffeine, supplements, antibiotics, birth control medications, metabolic byproducts- all of these and more require the support of a high-functioning liver. As many of us have incur AT LEAST one of these daily, if you ARE experiencing middle-of-the-night waking, or increased anger/frustration/irritation (the emotional component to the liver), it can be helpful to support the liver function. Thankfully, there are ways to do this in our very own kitchen! The liver LOVES cruciferous and leafy green veggies. So one way to support the liver and detoxification is to include more of these into your meals:
Another simple way to help the liver flush first thing in the morning is to drink a full glass (at least 16 oz) of room temperature water with lemon (vitamin C), sea salt (mineral/electrolyte balance), and a splash of Apple Cider Vinegar (balances blood sugar; boosts metabolic function). Finally, if it feels like a good fit for you, after speaking with your health care provider, you may opt to add in a supplement for extra liver support. Two potent (and usually safe) ones include Milk Thistle and NAC (N-Acetyl Cysteine). That’s it for today! I hope you found this information helpful! As always, I LOVE To hear from you! Please share if/how you would like to incorporate the Body Clock and liver support into your health routine below! Additionally, I have space to take on TWO PRIVATE COACHING CLIENTS right now! If you are a women who is in the throes of burnout, exhaustion, overwhelm, and is experiencing hormonal imbalances, digestive distress, and blood sugar dysregulation, I would LOVE To connect with you to see if we are a good fit for working together! CLICK HERE To schedule a FREE 30 minute coaching call with me. All the love, Jadi
1 Comment
6/22/2022 03:49:06 am
Hi Jadi - I hope this message finds you happy & healthy.
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