I can’t get to sleep

Hi I am Sarah at Cascade Wellness with our seasonal wellness tips.

I am here to tell you about some ways to balance your heart energy which can help with so many summer ailments from insomnia to anxiety to joint pains and anything that leaves you stuck and ungrounded. These are never meant to diagnose or prescribe as you should be making an appointment with your provider to find out what exactly fits you. Chinese herbs and supplements can be used effectively when they are carefully chosen for the right person at the right time. We also believe you are your best healer so having this knowledge can empower you to find what is best for you with the help of your provider. We offer low cost to you herbal consultations if the situation fits so we can help guide you to the safest most effective treatment for your unique condition.

As spring moves to summer we want to balance the oncoming sun light, heat, and brightness with the ability to rest our hearts and minds with sleep.

Herbs offer us an intricate and specific way to access body pathways that can coax us into health and harmony through thousands of years of biological observation.

Through careful anaylsis of the classics and the formula literature, “Can’t get to sleep” can be encapsulated neatly and simply by stating that inability to get to sleep is due to heat in the lower jiāo, our root and connection with yin and rest, which flares upward.

In Huáng Dì Nèi Jīng Sù Wèn it said: “The qì also circulates downward, [if ] the yángmíng counterflows, [then the yángmíng is] unable to follow the way, therefore [one is] unable to lie down. 

The path of the yang ming circulates downward, if it counterflows one is unable to lie down.

The stomach helps us receive nourishment including, nutrients, love, money and everything we need to survive. 

Counterflow brings heat and over thinking. Digestion of food and digestion of ideas can become affected. 

The Xià Jīng said: [If ] the stomach is not in harmony, then [there is] disquiet [upon] lying down The qì of yángmíng is supposed to descend, but if it does not descend, and instead counterflows, then it ascends upwards, and when the yángmíng ascends, it brings the heat of the stomach with it. It this heat which then causes the “overthinking” which causes the insomnia in the Can’t Get to Sleep pattern. 

Therefore, to treat this pattern we have to clear heat from the lower jiāo and sedate and sink the counterflow. 

Can’t get to sleep should be used all day, it is not a sedative and it can help you stay calm, focused and clear for your day as it helps you prepare for the night through an intricate balance.