The Chinese Clock defines the human circadian rhythm. It’s a simple tool that tells us the best times to sleep, eat, exercise, and even when to have sex. When our stress is high, life needs to become very simple. We may need to pay more attention to our physical needs. Thousands of years old, the Chinese Clock has always been a reliable guide to keeping body and soul together, to help you build health every day. Our ideal biorhythms are based on movements of the Earth, Sun, and cosmos in Nature. It’s like a gold standard, a smart way to live.
If you set healthy stable biorhythm patterns every day, then your body knows when to expect different things. You wake up, eat, work, move go to sleep, and make whoopee in a balanced way. When a surprise happens, your fight-fight response doesn’t kick you into high emergency gear, because that eliminates all healing in one second. If your emotions are in a tumble, your healing stem cells and your immune system temporarily shut down to wait for the terror to pass. You need these functions! If we disregard Nature’s cycles, the body’s natural harmony goes off track. Our emotions run ragged, our sleep suffers, our digestion gets stuck, we get crabby, and we age faster.
Following the natural biorhythms of the Earth makes us strong and resilient to change. When we develop the habit of quietly rooting or grounding into the Earth, we become subtly aware of the movements of the Sun, Earth, and seasons that intimately affect our health. And that’s highly important now, because these are radical times, and life can turn on a dime. When realities shift, we need to be ready. If you build your internal body balance now, you will have enough of a habit to function under pressure. Because when the rug is pulled out from under you, insanity is not a good place to be. If you fall into a state of imbalance, it’s very hard – sometimes impossible – to pull yourself back to health. And you might die. These days the whole world is stressed out, everyone super-distracted in their own version of PTSD. This article is about preparing and creating your own personal safety net for balance and long-term health every day.
Executive summary:
- The Roots of Classic Chinese Medicine are from Ancient Tibet. Legendary Gods Fuxi and Nuwa rebuilt Chinese civilization after a great flood.
- The First Known Medical Book 4,500 years ago describes true medicine. I’m almost laughing because true medicine is so very different from our modern practice. In ancient China, the wisdom leaders said: “You must never wait for a disease to manifest, because that’s too late to reverse a pattern.” This is the historic secret to health. Chinese doctors were paid by the patient. But payment was made only as long as you enjoyed good health. If you became sick, by law the doctor was required to provide you treatments free of charge indefinitely or until your health was regained. For every patient that died, a red lantern was to be hung outside the doctor’s treatment center to warn others of the failure. Mao Zedong reorganized and simplified TCM it in the 1950’s and diluted much of the ancient wisdom.
- The Chinese Clock is even more important in TOUGH times. We have countless modern obstacles to balance. Just look at widespread PTSD, health imbalances, shots, addictions, tsunamis, fires, political stress, and not much support from a medical system that is essentially based on money. So, we must each be responsible for our own health. And all these stresses make it even more imperative to establish balance every day.
- The Chinese Clock description. Scroll down for details to see what’s happening in your body each hour.
- Best times for your important Activities?
Sleep times: Wake up 5-7 am, Go to sleep at 10 pm
Meal times: Big Breakfast 7-9 am, Medium Lunch 11-1, Light Dinner 5-7 pm
Exercise times: 7-9 am is good. Other good times are 9-11 am or 1-3 pm away from mealtimes.
S.e.x – Absolute best time for romance is 7-9 pm Pericardium time. Other good times are 11 am – 1 pm and 9-11 pm. - Conclusion: In tough times, it’s ESSENTIAL to live by Nature’s Patterns. Biorhythms are your internal weather. You can use an app to measure your body temperature, heart rate, blood oxygenation, metabolism, diet, water hydration, and how many steps you take. But an app can’t tell you about the spirit, your level of joy, your emotions, or the invisible energies moving in and through you. We’re humans, meaning we are an eloquent mixture of physical and spiritual together in this body. That’s the big advantage of not being a robot. So, maybe it’s better to just listen inwardly to your body. Then you can control of your own biorhythms. Ha Ha!
1. The Roots of Classic Chinese Medicine Came from Tibet!
Before we talk about the Biological Clock, I’d like to tell you a story. Ancient Chinese legends tell us that the land was swept by a great flood, and all civilization perished. Only Fuxi and his sister Nüwa survived. They came from Mount Kunlun in Tibet, and since they were the only people left, they asked the Emperor of Heaven for a sign to allow them to be man and wife. Their union was approved, and they began creating the human race. No one knows for sure when Fuxi and NuWa lived, maybe roughly 4,000 BCE….
The roots of the Chinese Medicine come out of ancient Tibet. After the great flood this wisdom was kept alive in the high mountains and gradually spread to China. The Shamans that were called the “Wu”. These people were advanced souls that communicated with spirits of plants, minerals and animals. In meditation they traveled to distant galaxies, deep into the earth, and communed between human and other realms. Their practices were shared in rituals, ceremonies, and techniques of many lineages.
Fu Xi and Nu Wa became the first Emperor and Empress after the flood, and they are revered as Gods. In fact, many legendary depictions of them show them as snake creatures. with little horns on their heads. I can’t explain that – maybe they were some kind of multi-dimensional extraterrestrials that helped humans. Clearly these early Chinese God-Emperors were wise, gifted, and they helped humans a great deal. Fuxi is said to have introduced fire, acupuncture needles, fishing nets, breeding silk worms, domesticating animals, and musical scales. Fu Xi is also credited with inventing marriage. This led to human family lineages, as previously it is said that children knew only their mothers, and society was matriarchal. Fuxi also invented the amazing BaGua divination system, a forerunner to the I-Ching. The geometry of the BaGua revealed the underlying mathematical structure of the universe. WOW! When you study the BaGua and the I-Ching – it’s totally amazing!
The Chinese spoken language is a distant relative of Old Tibetan. Fuxi was said to have invented a script of Chinese characters as a picture language. This allowed people to carve messages, meaning, and thoughts into bone and tortoise shells. The Empress Nüwa created human figures of clay. Then she breathed spirit into them to bring them to life.
The Yellow Emperor, called Huangdi, came about two thousand years later. Huangdi had a very long life and was said to have actually ruled for a whole century from 2,697 – 2,597 BCE. Another God-king, the Yellow Emperor was credited with many amazing accomplishments. He invented the compass which pointed to magnetic North, so people could draw maps. He taught people how to find salt in the earth and grind it into crystals for food. He refined the calendar and Chinese calligraphy.
2. The First Known Medical Book is over 4,500 years old!
Perhaps the most brilliant accomplishment of the Yellow Emperor was to write the first known medical book, the Huangdi Neijing. He co-authored it with two of his finest physicians: Qibo and Shaoyu. The Huangdi Neijing consists of two books of 81 chapters each, arranged in Q&A form as a dialogue, a common way of writing at the time. Each chapter examines a particular aspect of medicine and healing. I bought the book online and found it totally fascinating.
The Huangdi Neijing is over 4,500 years old. Chinese medical practice had developed over untold thousands of years based on empirical study, anatomical observation, healing experience, as well as deep meditation on the laws of Nature that rule our bodies. Hence, it was not only a study the material aspects of the physical body, but also an esoteric study of how to enliven the spirit as a physical being. Yes, it encompassed both worlds. This is the crux of today’s discussion contrasting Eastern and Western Medicine through the integration of the physical body with the spirit. And it underlines importance of the 24-hour clock in our lives right now.
During the time of the Yellow Emperor, all medical schools were based on the Eight Branches of Medicine. What are these?
Eight Branches of Classical Chinese Medicine:
- Meditation, Self-Cultivation
- Qigong, Gong Fu, Tai Chi
- Diet & Nutrition
- Bodywork, Tui Na
- Cosmology, Cycles, BaGua, I-Ching
- Feng Shui & Astrology
- Herbal Medicine
- Acupuncture
Of all eight branches, the first two were considered most essential. That’s because Meditation and Qigong require years to take root in the body-mind. They are the most powerful, very subtle, and they arise out of one’s spiritual wisdom and personal practice. For that reason, medical students were first trained in Meditation and Qigong before beginning to study “secondary” subjects like physical acupuncture or herbs.
Chinese Medicine recognized the union of the body and spirit. If a medical system just treats the physical body, it’s missing the other part. And since we know the physical is a reflection of the larger spirit realm, physical medicine seen only by itself is altogether missing the point! This has nothing to do with religion. It’s about knowing your TRUE Source in the larger world. This is why I have great respect for the roots of Chinese Medicine.
Chinese doctors were paid by their patients. But payment was made only as long as he or she enjoyed good health. If a client became sick, by law the doctor was required to provide treatments free of charge indefinitely or until health was regained. Further, for every patient that died at an early age, a red lantern was required to be hung outside the doctor’s treatment center to warn others of the failure.
There were three kinds of doctors in ancient China:
“To treat disease after it develops is like someone who tries to dig a well when they feel thirsty, or who begins to make weapons after the battle has started.” – Huangdi, the Yellow Emperor – 2,500 BCE
For thousands of years traditional medicine flourished in China. However, in the late 1800’s under British influence, it became an embarrassing symbol of old backward ways. In 1912 the Kuomintang government actually abolished Chinese medicine and adopted Western medicine instead, although it was still practiced by the country folk. In the 1950’s Mao Zedong completely banished Chinese medicine throughout China as “superstitious and shamanic beliefs”.
Mao later reversed his stance and reinstated Chinese Medicine side by side with Western medicine. However, he reorganized it in a simplified form consisting of acupuncture and herbs, eliminating esoteric studies and the other 6 branches. The advantages of the new standardized model were clear: it could be easily codified and taught to more people. However, it abandoned age-old complexities in diagnosis and treatment, in favor of simple, standard prescriptions that could be memorized in lists and bullets. Mao’s new TCM lost the thousand-year tradition of apprenticeship under a true Master in which you gleaned knowledge from your master, in a lineage that assimilates many lifetimes of spiritual practice and healing experience.
The new simplified TCM downplayed any aspects they considered esoteric or shamanic in nature in order to garner respect from the materialist Western scientific believers. This style of medicine is exported as TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) by the Communist regime, and has become the pervasive style of Chinese medicine throughout the West. However, the more traditional “Classical Chinese Medicine” (CCM) still survives in many areas of the world, independent of Mao Zedong’s changes.
3. Modern Obstacles to Balanced Health.
Why is the Chinese Clock even MORE important TODAY?
PTSD is now a global syndrome. We need to learn to calm ourselves. Everyone seems over-amped with intense emotion. Just this week I saw floods in China, earthquake in Alaska, fires in Turkey, riots in France, volcano eruption in Central America, Lockdown warnings everywhere.
Many people unwittingly follow the cycle of sugar ups and downs based on high-sugar meals. Sugar addiction, biorhythms and acidic body pH fluctuations will cause disease, and will make your meridians go haywire. We need to quit the addictions to have a chance for balance.
Late-night cyber googling. Most people are inundated with electronic WiFi 5G digital overload, and much of this happens at night. If you’re in a pattern of drinking coffee and late night computer browsing, you may suffer exhaustion and accelerated aging. Coffee addiction subtly dehydrates the tissues, inhibiting fluid flow. causing exhausted adrenals, and constipation.
Desperation is no way to establish natural balance. With governments under pressure to impose lockdowns, some people take to the streets. Others just suicide and leave.
Pharmaceuticals, shots, pesticides, air and water pollution all disrupt your natural balance. If you have a solid foundation of health through your regular habits each day, these will affect you far less.
Stuck emotions. grief, anger, stubborn emotional eruptions destroy harmony with nature. All this just means we each must take responsibility to balance ourselves every single day.
4. Details of the Chinese Clock. What systems are active every 2-hours?
Your meridians move all day, like regularweather. They cycle energy and fluids through your body up and down in a bio-rhythm. They flow through the nerves, lymphatic, and blood, and meridians, changing every 2 hours. So, if you divide a 24-hour day into 12 two-hour sections, you see a pattern emerge. The Chinese biological clock tells us which organ is dominant and when that system’s healing happens. Cellular repair happens when we are calm, undistracted, in tune, in harmony. Each organ takes its turn as waves of fluid and Qi, or vital energy, flow up and down through the body. When we are established in a regular natural flow, then our health is resilient, flexible, hard to knock out of balance. Following the Chinese 24-hour clock can help awaken a physical human grounded in the earth, cosmos, and higher consciousness. This is not a rigid rule, and there are no TCM police. It’s just a very fine guide to help you optimize your health every day your life.
DAILY RHYTHMS Of THE CHINESE BIOLOGICAL CLOCK
5-7 a.m. — Large Intestine — Good morning! Time to wake up! Drinking warm water triggers bowel evacuation to remove toxins from the night’s cleansing and make room for the new day’s nutrition. Meditate to release old thoughts, slough off old tensions, begin the day in an open and high vibration.
7-9 a.m. — Stomach — Eat a large breakfast. Stomach digestive energies are highest so we eat the biggest meal of the day to optimize nutrient assimilation. A brief walk before breakfast can jump-start your metabolism for healthy weight balance. Good mental concentration.
9-11 a.m. — Spleen — Enzymes from the spleen-pancreas continue assimilation process. Carbohydrate energy is made available. The stomach passes its contents for continued digestion. A good time to exercise and work. Mental clarity to do your most taxing tasks of the day.
11 am -1 pm — Heart — Eat a medium-sized lunch. Take a brief walk as food materials enter the blood stream. High energy time as the heart pumps nutrients throughout the system.
1-3 pm — Small Intestine — Time to absorb your food, a siesta, or easy work. Proteins requiring longer digestion times complete their digestion/assimilation. Sorting food in the small intestine is top priority, therefore brain energy is lower. Good time for a nap or exercise
3-5 pm— Bladder — Energy is restored. A good time to work, study, or exercise. Hydrate with water or herbal tea. Liquid metabolic wastes are cleared, making room for the kidney’s filtration to come. At this time your brain demands glucose (or sugar) in your bloodstream. If you feel a slump and crave sugar at this time, work to stabilize blood sugar levels. Avoiding sugars and stimulants, eat protein with each meal, drink adequate amounts of water and exercise to prevent this slump in energy.
5-7 pm — Kidney — Exercise, Light dinner. Your smallest meal of the day. Avoid a heavy dinner. Kidney filters the blood to maintains proper pH balance based on nutritional intake. Blood delivers nutrients to all tissues.
7-9 pm — Pericardium – Light reading, massage feet, relationships, self-love, calm socializing, flirting, have s.e.x. Your nutrients are carried through blood and lymphatics. This is a good time to make love to move the heart protector / circulation meridian. Have a massage to move the lymph.
9-11 pm. — Triple Burner — Winding down, getting sleepy. Meditation to settle body fluids and process emotions of the day. About 10 pm say good night and go to bed. The endocrine system adjusts the body metabolism based on fluid balance.
11 pm – 1 am — Gall Bladder — You are fast asleep now to benefit from cellular repair. Initial cleansing of all tissues, bile released, build blood cells, enhances brain function.
1-3 am — Liver — Deep sleep, Major detoxification of liver and blood, Cleansing of blood, Removal of wastes, Deep subconscious builds recovery, hope and planning.
3-5 am — Lung — Deep sleep, Detox lungs, Process memories and dreams, Expulsion lung wastes with breathing and oxygenation of blood.
5. Summary – What are the Best Times for the Important Things?
OK, I know you’re curious about what time to eat and have sex. Right? Yep. Let’s look at the Cookie-Nookie theory of life!
6. In Tough Times, it’s ESSENTIAL to live by Nature’s Rhythms
Biorhythms are your internal weather. The same external climate effects we see in the world also exist in your body, just like rain, wind, and seasons. The body’s normal weather every day are emotions, sleep times, mealtimes, all the activities that bring movement up and down the meridians. Your internal weather affects your level of happiness, your longterm wellness.
You can use a phone app to measure your body temperature, heart rate, blood oxygenation, metabolism, calories, and how many steps you take. That’s just the small physical world, but you’re missing the bigger picture. Th so-called “Health” app can’t tell you the invisible things like your true happiness, your spirit, your fulfillment, your joy, your aspirations, your emotions. It can’t measure the most important physical factors that determine your health, like water quality, your toxic accumulation, or stuck past emotions. It can’t measure the happiness you feel when you’re in Nature. So maybe it’s better to just forget the apps and listen to your body. Then you can really take control of your own health.
Our true biorhythms are hard to measure.
When you hear bad news on TV or speak with a beautiful friend, how does this determine your inner weather? How angry are you today? If a challenging event is in front of you, how do you maintain a good balance beforehand? You can do deep breathing to bring your excitement level down, if you have time. Anyway you do it, when you can allow the emotion to pass through and out, you’ll be more likely to digest your next meal and sleep deeply tonight. Even if you’re called in to fight, you do it from a balanced state in order to be most effective.
As humans in a body, we must follow the laws of Nature to find physical harmony and health. We’re humans, so our physical and spiritual are together in this body. That’s the big advantage being human, and not a robot.
Setting regular patterns is good. However, there are also times when breaking a pattern is the BEST and HAPPIEST way to increase the flow of healthy energy in your body and your life. This is unpredictable and even counter-intuitive. Exercise (such as walking, running, taichi, and yoga) enhances your life on every level. When you immerse yourself in Nature even for a few minutes or an hour, you absorb the natural rhythms of Mother Earth. You can virtually heal yourself by being in Nature because it balances ALL the natural rhythms of your body. Just listen.
Every practice I teach is about tuning into your body, to ground into the Earth and cosmos, to balance the physical fluids with spirit. Today we’re looking through the lens of the Chinese Clock. I hope this helps you build your foundation of health. I want your foundation to be so strong, it can’t be broken even with the disruption of everything around you. It takes time and patience to establish a strong pattern of balance. So, if you start setting your healthy biorhythms now, and do a little every day, you’ll be in good shape when world events turn upside down. Because you’ll be needed as a pillar of strength for yourself and others. The secret is to listen within yourself.
Thanks for watching!
Srijana
About Srijana:
Srijana, aka Jane Barthelemy, is a writer, intuitive medium, channel, and energy healer with over 50 years experience in Kundalini and Buddhist meditation. She has an MBA and worked as CFO of Rudi’s Bakery for 10 years. Her life path followed many careers including opera primadonna in Italy and owner of a Venetian glass jewelry company. Serious health challenges led her to teach Qigong, Taichi, and to write two healthy cookbooks: “Paleo Desserts” and “Good Morning Paleo”. Her healthy food & lifestyle website JanesHealthyKitchen.com recently won the 2021 CEO Magazine award for the “Best Healthy Food & Lifestyle Blog – North America”. Her upcoming books include: “Heal Your Past Lives” and “Buddha Speaks – Channeled Passages from the Master”. She lives in Bali with her Bhutanese husband Lama D.
Resources:
- Yellow Emperor’s Medical Classic (Huang Di Nei Jing)
- The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Medicine: A New Translation of the Neijing Suwen with Commentary, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/273807.The_Yellow_Emperor_s_Classic_of_Medicine