Just read an interesting post about circadian rhythms and the classification of people into 3 categories: Hummingbirds (those that follow the normal sleep wake cycle of the sun), Larks (those that wake up very early and are at their best before noon), and Owls (those that don't peak until about 6pm or later). Apparently there are health benefits and risks associated with each group, the genetic factors of which largely contribute. But an important factor is exposure to light, especially sunlight:
" In brightly lit offices, the light levels are some 200-300 times less than they are outside on a sunny day. Even a cloudy day is some 20-30 times brighter."
So even though those fluorescent lights at work seem bright, they are still not cutting the mustard in terms of conditioning. When we add Vitamin D synthesis into the mix, the modern office worker is coming up short on two very big counts.
The article also discusses familial advanced sleep phase syndrome (FASPS) which is a genetic disorder where people fall asleep around 7:30pm and wake up around 3-4am. Though genetic, Chinese Medicine has a lot to say about such a disorder. The time of 5-7pm is considered the time of the Kidney in CM. This is the time when the yang qi is held by the yin qi for sleep (hexagram 12). If a person is yang deficient, they are going to be somnolent during this time: the yin qi is too great. At 3-4am we have hexagram 11, which is associated with the Lung. Here the opposite is true. Because the yang qi was deficient, the yin qi is not engendered at night causing a yin deficiency leading to early waking with up-rushing yang qi. So this type of a pattern could be a mixed deficiency picture of yin and yang, also known as yin and yang not communicating. The formula Si Ni Tang instantly comes to mind.
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