Sleep Balance!

Have you ever noticed that the same people who can’t stop moving during the day are the same ones who can’t fall asleep at night? If that sounds like you, or someone you know, then what we are talking about is a Yin-Yang imbalance.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, Yang is the energy of Motion. It is an active, outward, expressive energy. Yin is the energy of Stillness; the energy of rest and winding down. Sleep and everything required for sleep are Yin based activities. It asks the body and the mind to move from everyday Motion into deep Stillness.

For someone whose natural predominance is Motion, that transition does not come easily. Their energy is built to keep going perpetually. So at ten o'clock at night, when the day is supposed to be over, their mind is still going.  They are planning and problem solving while replaying conversations that happened hours ago! They are not doing it on purpose. Yang does simply have an on-off switch that works on command.

Here is where it gets interesting for relationships. Picture a couple where one partner is Motion predominant and the other leans toward Stillness. At bedtime, one is asleep within minutes, and the other is lying there wide awake with a full mind. Or one wants to talk through the day to eleven at night, because that is when their mind finally slows enough to process, while the other one simply wants peace and quiet. Neither person is wrong! They are simply running on different rhythms, and the bedroom is where those rhythms collide.

If you are the Motion partner, the answer is not to force Stillness. It is to give your Motion somewhere to land earlier in the evening. Hitting the gym, a walk after dinner, getting the thoughts out of your head and onto paper or talking throughout the day with your partner rather than waiting until bedtime. That is Motion finishing its work, so Stillness can take over.

And if you are the Stillness partner, try asking, what do you need to be able to wind down tonight? That one question changes the whole feeling in the room. Good luck out there and sleep well!