13/11/2025
Insomnia has 3 main causes in Chinese Medicine and each one needs a different approach.
🔥Excess Yang – Difficulty falling asleep
Restless mind
Many thoughts
Feeling wired at night
Helpful changes:
• Avoid heating foods: coffee, ginger, red meat, cheese, alcohol, chili
• Choose cooling meals: greens, cucumber, pear, mung beans
• No screens before bed
• Meditation + grounding activities
• Creative expression: dance, paint, movement
Herbs: passionflower, valerian, lavender
💧Deficient Yin – Waking during the night
Shallow sleep
Waking up multiple times
Depleted energy
Helpful changes:
• Yin-nourishing foods: fish, black sesame, goji, algae, artichoke, avocado
• Meditation + gratitude practice
• Explore where fear, control, or tension are blocking trust + relaxation
Herbs: Hops, Galeopsidis herba, Shu Di Huang
🫁 Organ Imbalance – Waking up at the same time every night
hour cycle.
When the flow is disturbed, it can wake you up:
11–1 Gallbladder
1–3 Liver
3–5 Lungs
5–7 Large Intestine
Common emotional roots:
• Liver/Gallbladder → suppressed emotions/ anger, frustration, blocked creativity, blood deficiency
• Lungs/Colon → sadness, grief, difficulty letting go, lack of rhythm and movement
Shiatsu and TCM treatments can help for each of this conditions by bringing the body’s and organ functions back into balance. Schedule your session in Cascais through the link in my bio.
🌿
