What is the Traditional Chinese Medicine Body Clock?
All forms of medicine and healing are languages of sorts—and the Chinese body clock is no different. It’s part of the vast philosophy and practice of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), which has been in existence for thousands of years.
As scholars and healers studied the body and disease they discovered a way to relate and interpret the body’s response to its environment. This provided great insight into physical or emotional conditions. They began to see patterns within life, death, illness, and recovery. These medical concepts form the very centerpiece of Chinese medical theory.
The body clock encourages us to closely examine what we’re doing throughout the hours of the day, and to match our actions to the most suitable energetic times. It’s all about optimization, balance, rest, and recovery.
TCM scholars were able to pinpoint when our organs are at their typical strongest or weakest, or of higher or lesser function. (Keep in mind that the concept of TCM organs can vary somewhat from the Western definitions and are often more comprehensive with their roles.)
You might be wondering: how did they figure this out? That’s a great question without a clear answer. What TCM practitioners do know is that this ebb and flow throughout the body is ascribed to the flow of qi throughout the body. When this concentration of qi reaches different organs it enlivens or strengthens them to do their functions. When this flow of qi is “furthest” away from the organ, it is of course still working—but at its weakest, at least energetically.
So, how does the Chinese body clock work?
The clock is based on a 24 hour time period, and each organ corresponds to a two-hour interval when it’s most abundant and strong. As mentioned, the time opposite each organ’s interval is when it is at its weakest energetic point. This relative strength and weakness is reflective of one of the main underlying principles in TCM: balance.
The most significant aspect of the body clock is its ability to explain how the body functions at particular times of day, in order to maintain our wellness and fight disease. The TCM body clock tells us when it is best to eat, sleep and exercise, among many other things.
Below you will find a simple chart that states the two-hour interval, the organ with its highest functioning state, and a box for considerations of the organ’s clock opposite time when it is weakest.
You will also read some comments about emotions. Specific emotions are inherently connected with organs in TCM, which also link to times of the day. For example, many people tend to wake up between 3-5 am, during the Lung time. The emotion associated with the Lungs is grief or worry, so we hear a lot of patients say they wake up during that time of the night worrying, or feeling sad.
The first twelve hours involve TCM organs that have actions that help us have a healthy and productive day. For example: respiration; elimination; taking in, digesting and assimilating nutrients; building blood; strong mental-emotional health, etc. As the day starts to wind down and our activity (should) become less, the next twelve hour period sees qi move through organs that have a lot of functions in storing, protecting, repairing and balancing the body.
Check out the chart below that begins with the Lung time, when the Chinese body clock begins the day.
