Insomnia
To be certain of having enough energy during the day, it is important that we get enough sleep to recharge our “battery”. When your battery isn’t sufficiently charged, it will directly affect our well-being and behavior.
Sleep disorders can mean different things: having difficulty falling asleep, falling asleep or waking up too early. In the Netherlands, over 15% of the population occasionally suffer from insomnia. Two thirds of these are women. The term “insomnia” is used to indicate that there is a systematic lack of nighttime sleep. How much sleep someone needs is completely a personal matter. Some need three hours of sleep, others definitely need eight hours to feel rested and fit. As we get older, we often wake up at night and then fall asleep again. That is certainly not unusual or unhealthy.
Causes and consequences of insomnia
Tension at home or at work, worry (worrying), or tiredness are major causes of sleep disorders. But pain complaints, alcohol consumption or a restless sleeping environment can also have a negative effect on sleep. Working in shifts or the impact of jet lag on the natural biorhythm is notorious for causing insomnia. The consequences of these nocturnal disturbances can be: concentration problems, irritability, loss of appetite and reduction in general resistance. Sleeping aids seem to offer some solution, but there is the disadvantage of distracting you from finding the real cause to your insomnia, and they can be addictive.
How does acupuncture help?
From the acupuncture point, insomnia is seen as a disruption of the energy balance. In the well-known yin-yang symbol, the dark half, the yin energy, stands for rest (night) and the light part, the yang energy, for action (day). These merge smoothly. From the moment we get up we become active (yang), and gradually during the day the yin energy becomes more important. We are slowly preparing for our night’s rest. That is a natural process. But if you have too much on your mind, if you are worrying or if you are already planning your business for the next day, then your natural balance is disturbed. Because of this you cannot fall asleep, with all its consequences. Acupuncture treatment with the ChinaMedic Approach will focus on repairing the yin energy deficit or the excess yang. We can also give you advice on how you might set up your daily routine differently together with a discussion on the influence of eating habits.
