In EM Level 4 we will discuss energy cycles including circadian cycles and also the movement of energy through meridians called Ying. The Ying moves exterior to the body from morning to dusk and interior to the body from dusk until dawn. During night hours, its flow enters the bones and when it enters the marrow we dream.
In order to fall asleep easily, we need plenty of blood in the ligaments and tendons immediately connected to the bones where the Ying enters before it deepens into the bone. If there is insufficient blood in these areas, this is called “Liver Blood Deficiency” in Chinese medicine. Blood is Yin and so this is a form of Yin deficiency – a lack of cold energy. Whenever there is heat where there should be cold, the process of falling asleep and staying asleep is disturbed. In the case of relatively too much heat in the ligaments and tendons means the patient cannot fall asleep. In order to rectify this problem, apply the EM Circulation Treatment to the Liver Array and Gallbladder Array. You might also consider facilitating the construction of more blood by using the EM Bone and Marrow Treatment to increase circulation to the bone marrow as well as the EM Bone Marrow Treatment to facilitate a balance of Yin and Yang in the bone marrow to help with blood building.
The Ying will grow dramatically more cold when it moves from the ligaments and tendons into the bones. Bone is the coldest tissue type in the body, being comprised almost entirely of Water Qi which is the coldest of the Five Elements. When the Ying fills with cold, it quiets the mind and allows one to drift off into slumber. However, if the bone is not as cold as it should be or has heat where it should not then the sleep is light or interrupted. Certain hormone histio quisquiliae can build up in the bones such as cortisol, epinephrine, norepinephrine, estrogen, and progesterone leading to insufficient cold in the bones. This is known in Chinese medicine as Earth Qi Invading Water Qi. In order to rectify this problem, clear the histio with the EM Clear Histio _histo type_ Treatment, especially applying it to the Bone Array and Cartilage Array but also to the Kidney Array, Bladder Array, Gland Array, Urinary Tract, and Reproductive Zones. All of these are areas where Water Qi should predominate. Once you remove the histio, you should resolve the problem the histio created which is an insufficiency of Water Qi where it is necessary to deepen sleep. Apply the Water Qi Deficiency Treatment as well as the Tonify Excess Water Qi Treatment to these same arrays to cool the bones down once again.
Often, the need to urinate at night (called nocturia) awakens people. This will often resolve by treating as I just described above, as the Earth Qi invading the Urinary Tract and the subsequent lack of cold Water Qi in the Urinary Tract stimulates more frequent urination. Sometimes, however, this frequency is from a urinary tract infection, a kidney infection, or an infection of the prostate leading to symptoms of Benign Prostatic Hypertrophy (BPH). Please see chapters in the curriculum for dealing with these issues.
Some people fail to sleep as a result of nightmares. Nightmares actually tend to be a spiritual problem resulting from Yin spiritual entities attaching the the patient. You will find remedies for this in the EM Level 3 Spirit Module.
Another helpful tool for insomnia is treating the patient with the EM Balance Yin and Yang Treatment. Utilize this treatment only in the morning or midday as it may stimulate too much Yang at night and worsen the problem just as a result of timing. Clearing the stress hormone histio mentioned above should also only be treated in the morning or midday as treating it will result in some short term increase in these molecules in circulation which might also make sleep more difficult. Additionally, I have found treating steriods at night also makes it difficult to sleep. While I have not as yet connected steroid histio with insomnia it may very well be another avenue to pursue should the techniques I have described above failed to make headway.