This poem with sleep as the theme was written by Wang Anshi, a famous politician and writer in the Northern Song Dynasty. It illustrates the importance of sleep to people: good sleep is more effective than a fairy prescription. The following is a brief introduction to how to sleep well and scientifically in autumn.
According to traditional Chinese medicine, “Yang enters Yin and sleeps, while Yang comes out of yin and wakes up”. Sleep refers to falling asleep and waking up. Sleep can help the human body regulate Yin and Yang, and only when Yin and yang are harmonious can there be good sleep. At present, it is just autumn, and Yang Qi is gradually receding and Yin Qi is gradually growing. It is necessary to adjust sleep habits in accordance with autumn. The Yellow Emperor’s Canon of internal medicine says: “in the autumn of March, this is called Rongping… Lying down early and getting up early can make you happy with chickens; make your mind peaceful, so as to slow down the punishment in autumn; restrain your spirit, so as to make the atmosphere of autumn calm.”. First of all, autumn is full of the spirit of silence, which can easily lead to depression. At this time, we should maintain peace and tranquility, treat people and things around us with a normal heart, and reduce the impact of bad emotions on sleep quality. In addition, in autumn, Yang Qi gradually recedes, and you should go to bed and get up early. Just like the activity law of chickens, you should get up at dawn and go home early after dark. This also reminds people who love sports to exercise in the morning. In addition, in terms of sleep orientation, Sun Simiao said in “a thousand gold Prescriptions”: “ordinary people lie in the East in spring and summer, and West in autumn and winter.” In autumn and winter, you should try to sleep with your head facing west and your feet facing east, which conforms to the law of “Nourishing Yin in autumn and winter”.
In addition to the above three points, there are many things to pay attention to in autumn sleep. In autumn, the weather is dry, so it is easy to lack lung yin and heart Yin, leading to insomnia. You can drink some crystal sugar lily lotus seed soup, asparagus and ophiopogon tea to protect Yin. In autumn, the weather is cool in the morning and evening. It is recommended not to directly blow the wind. The windows should not be fully opened when sleeping to avoid catching cold from the wind. In addition, autumn is the season to collect Yang Qi and protect Yin essence, and sexual life is also recommended to be restrained. It should not be met at will like spring and summer.
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