13/01/2018 update from 05/01/2018
While people still exchange seasonal greetings for the new year, I received the same link from three of my chat groups. It is a four-minute read of excerpts from a book ‘Why We Sleep?’ by Dr Matthew Walker, a Neuroscience and Psychology professor of UC Berkeley in the US to discuss on “What Happen To Your Body and Brain If You Don’t Get Sleep.”
According to Dr Walker that the sleeplessness is considered be associated with the heart problem, Alzheimer, and cancers…We all know that insomnia has become an epidemic for decades, and no root cause of it has been found yet. And ‘How To Use Acupunctural Therapy To Treat Insomnia’ just happened to be the topic of my thesis for my degree in TCM (1) so I rework part of what I wrote back in 2013 here:
27-06-2013 – rework
Insomniac – Pt One
Psalms 4:8
In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.
An article with a title of ‘Sleepless in Singapore No More’ in the local newspaper, the Straits Time, dated 28/05/2013, which reveals an alarming figure of how many people are having the problem of ‘Sleeplessness.’ Many remedies were recommended by experts or doctors but didn’t say much about why people had the disorders. I definitely don’t have the answer. However, the textbook Root Causes of Sleeping Disorder is all about the imbalance of Yin/Yang according to TCM (1)
Before I could find times to expand on the doctrine of Yin/Yang, we all know that sleep is essential for mental and physical restoration. The contributing factor for the disorder might be due to the various circumstances, conditions, or diseases, and also emotional distress. Unfortunately, we still don’t have any scientific and conclusive findings to pin down the actual root causes of it.
People may get different insights from looking at two Chinese words 休息 (xiuxi) that articulate Rest and an old phraseology of 不寐 (Bu Mei) that defines ‘Sleeplessness, ’ which first occurred in 内经 (Neijin) (2). And the Chinese character of 忙 – Máng could also help elaborate the importance of rest/sleep.
The word 忙 – Máng is of two Chinese pictograph words put together as one that means Busy or Hurry or Haste.
忄 Xin is Variant of 心 (“heart”) when used as the radical in the dictionary that means heart; a frame of mind, a mental state.
亡 Wáng means Perish, lose, destroy and death.
We need to let our physical, emotional and spiritual Heart taking on a core dwelling within our body. If we allow the constant busyness to push our heart aside (忄), then it is possible for people to have a cardio related condition. And for example, a heart attack may result of overwork (忄亡 = 忙).
息 – Xi = 自 Zi (“nose”) + 心 Xin (“heart”)
The word of 息 Xi means Breath life through one’s nose, Rest, Cease breathing, to hold the breath, to Stop, or to put an end,
自 Zi is originated from the ancient stone script of Nose, and later the word was being adapted to use as the common word of Self.
心 Xin is both an independent Pictograph word that means of human Heart as well as an ideographic radical in the dictionary that means Heart, Mind, Intelligence, Soul and Center Core.
We have the word of Nose 自 Zi (“nose”) on top and the word of Heart (心 Xin) below. Personally to me, the word of 息 – Xi is an ideographic compound word to denote that we are breathing at night, our heart is reclining in the mood of Rest. Therefore, I like what it says that ‘We sleep with our Heart.’
不寐 （Bu Mei)
不 (Bu) is a pictogram (象形) word of a person spreading his arms to signify negation or refusal. Therefore, it means Un-; Not; No or Prefix of Negation
寐 (Mei)
According to the Kangxi Dictionary, the radical of 宀 (mian), which means ‘Indoor’ or ‘Roof.’ And 寐 (Mei) under the radical of 宀, so we find a bed =床 (Chuáng) under the roof that pictograph ‘Sleep’ or ‘to Sleep.’
Therefore, the phraseology of 不寐 (Bu Mei) literally means ‘Sleeplessness’ ‘No Sleep,’ or ‘Un Sleep.’ And it first occurred in内经 (Neijing) that have been the phrase to expound ‘Sleeplessness’ for more than two thousand years.
In the ancient Chinese art of healing, to understand causes/effects are primary in clinical trials, and treatments are determined by syndrome differentiation. The valuable medical finding through tests on the human for thousands of years had been well catalogued and documented concurrently for people to use as the point of reference for diagnostic purposes, and after thousands of years later those Classics are still valid until today.
For example, if we were to look for the root of ‘Sleeplessness,’不寐 (BuMei) we need to start with the category of 心脑病证 (XinNaiBinJin). Contextually, in the TCM, the word of Heart (心/Xin) infers our Cardio Qi or our Cardio system, as for Brain (脑 /Nao) is part of the Nerve System but never the anatomical organs in our body. That’s why the latest Scan still wouldn’t be able to tell what’s on our mind.
Symptoms like ‘Palpitation (心悸),’ ‘Stroke (中风),’ ‘Vertigo (眩晕),’ ‘Epileptic (痫病) and ‘Dementia (痴呆)’… have all been classified in the same category of 心 脑病证 (Xin Nai Bin Jin). Although TCM has never had its claim as part of Anatomical Medicine, its evident that any one of the above symptoms would lead people to have the problem sleeping at night. So I have to ask that what say you? After you read the excerpts of the book by Dr Walker, a US Neuroscience and Psychology professor on “Why We Sleep?’
My heart goes out to anyone of you who are having the problem to get to sleep at night. I would find times to address the issue again. While we are waiting for the scientific findings, we shall have an open mind to see the possible spiritual root of the problem. Therefore, I put it under the category of ‘Healing and Belief,’ which will lead me looking the issue through the lens of the scriptures in the Bible.
Stay tuned and Happy New Year
The Light Of Faith 