17/07/2018

Sleeplessness 不寐 (bu mei)

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”  Matthew 11:28 New Living Translation

‘Sleeping Disorder,’ and ‘Insomnia’ are interchangeably used to depict how people having the problem to sleep at night. We also have the terms of 不寐 (bu mei), in TCM  two thousand years ago.  The condition is definitely not pleasant and varies a lot, from person to person. According to the publicly available information, it has become an epidemic that has affected millions upon millions of people globally. It is estimated that more than 100 million Americans have occasional sleep problems and some of them are chronic insomnia.

Research has been continually trying to look for the pathogenesis of it. Whether it is recurrent or chronic or acute sleeping disorder, people seem to accept it without reservation that the negative emotions such as anxiety, stress, fear, or worry.. are the contributing factor to it. Personally, I never believe it as coincidental that Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has viewed that emotional (情志- Qíng zhì) elements play a significant role in line with the cause/Effects of the sleeping disorder.

The latest medical equipment still wouldn’t able to scan the movement of our Mind (Y-). If we brought in the etymology of the two Chinese words Chinese phrase of 休息 Xiūxí which means ‘rest, repose or break.’ The first character 休 (Xiū) means to stop or to cease of. The formation of the 息 (Xi) comes with two independent characters, it has the self (自) on the top and the word of the heart (心) at the bottom. Evidently, we would be very restless in our spirit if we put ‘self’ on top of our mind, instead of faith, hope and love. 

Now we know that Yin/Yang is the guiding principle for TCM in diagnostic and treatments. In fact, TCM is all about how each individual can be in perfect harmony with nature; so the most descriptive Diagnosis in Differentiation (辨证– Biànzhèng) of ‘Sleeplessness’ must be as what says of 阳不入阴 (Yángbù rùyīn). The Google translation of 阳不入阴 (Yángbùrùyīn) would say that ‘Nothing Yin or Yang.’

However, it literally means Yang Qi (阳气 = Y+) couldn’t find pathways entering into Yin Qi(阴气 = Y-), as for how the day (Y+) into the night (Y -). If I added some wit to it, I would say that Yang Qi doesn’t have the Yin Qi to tangle together with. Without having any medical or TCM training, the Chinese have always held on to the belief that any form of imbalance of Yin/Yang would be detrimental to the body, mind and the spirit.

The Sound Asleep is a cycle of two opposite states from the technical terms of REM (rapid eye movement) stage that is (Y+), which most dreaming befalls. And the NREM (Non-REM) stage that is (Y-), which is when people gradually pass from tossing (Y+) and turning to deep sleep (Y-). During the day (Y+) our entire being is in sync with the Yang Qi (Y+) in the air, and we become Active (Y+) and Charge up (Y+). As Night (Y-) befalls that Yang Qi (Y+ >Y-) starts diminishing out while Yin Qi (Y-) circulating in (Y ->), and our body should be in sync with the Yin Qi (Y-) and grow into the need for a Retiring from the day mode.

Even if people didn’t have any medical or TCM training background, as long as they can have a good grip of the idea of Yin/Yang, and sensitive to the inner voice of their body, and never miss the window of the time for retreatment, everything shall be fine. Finally, in the line of the complexity of the condition/disorder, many questions are still pending for answers. Such as ‘Is Insomnia Curable?’ Is it Hereditary? ‘Is Sleeping disorder a part of Mental Disorder?’ ‘Is a Disability?’ Or ‘is it part of PMS Syndromes or Post Menopause Syndrome?’

Scientists wouldn’t be able to tell us what causes insomnia. But most sleep disorder clinic would engage in proper scientific,  procedures (Y+) to test the hypothesis (the unproven idea Y-) to see if it is what might be causing insomnia. The most common one is to keep a Sleep Logbook for many weeks, in which patients set up a Sleep Log to record down how well they sleep at night and a Day Log of how they did and how they felt the next day. Keeping a Sleep Logbook can be time-consuming, but it helps to understand the patient’s sleep pattern, before treating it.

In tune with the above passage of scripture, it says it loud about the spiritual root cause of our restlessness and Jesus’ promise of rest. In the beginning, in God’s creation, we learn in the book of Genesis, that God has to cause Adam, the man, to sleep before HE created the woman. So all born-again Christians can conclude that God is also in the business of our sleep at night. Further, in HIS hesed wisdom,  it says in the book of Proverbs 14:40 ‘It is healthy to be content, but envy can eat you up.’ – Christian Standard Bible. That’s why it has been said that ‘envy’ is the worst form of torment to our soul.

Finally, what comes to my mind is the paraphyses of what I read from “The Overshadowing of God’s Personal Deliverance” by Oswald Chambers from his devotional book, ‘My Utmost of His Highest“(1). It reads that ‘we need to shield our minds from emotional invasion; we shall replace our common sense with God’s; we shall hold on to our worldly possessions loosely; we shall never look for justice, but never cease to give it, and we shall love our God wholeheartedly.’ It is not easy to be content, we all need to rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to rejoice with those who rejoice.

1. Posted on 27/06/2013, 6:28:43 PM by Vision