Seasonal Wellbeing

If you have been lying awake since the clocks went back, you are not imagining it. Darker evenings, later sunrises and a sudden one-hour shift can throw the body clock out for days. Chinese medicine has its own way of explaining why: it sees sleep as the nightly moment when energy turns inwards and the mind comes home to rest, and it treats winter as the season for going to bed early and storing energy. In this guide, the UK Centre of Chinese Medicine (CCMUK) explains how that works, what your waking time might be telling you, what the research genuinely shows, and the small habits that make the biggest difference.

Why do we sleep worse after the clocks go back?

On paper, the October change gives us an extra hour in bed. In practice, it often does the opposite. Our internal body clock is set mainly by light, and once sunset slips before 5pm, many of us spend our evenings under bright indoor lighting and screens, then struggle to get up in the dark. For people who already sleep lightly, that small shift can be enough to tip them into a run of bad nights.

Poor sleep was already common before the clocks changed. A survey of 2,000 UK adults for the Mental Health Foundation found the average person gets only three nights of good sleep a week, and that worry and stress are among the biggest reasons why.

How does Chinese medicine explain sleep?

In Chinese medicine, day and night are the clearest expression of Yin and Yang. During the day, Yang energy is outward and active. At night, it is meant to draw inwards and settle into Yin, which is cool, quiet and nourishing. Classical texts describe sleep as happening when the body’s defensive energy (Wei Qi) moves inside at dusk, and waking as the moment it comes back out at dawn.

The mind, or Shen, is said to live in the Heart. When there is enough Blood and Yin to anchor it, the Shen settles at night and we sleep deeply. When the Shen is unsettled, by heat, worry, exhaustion or a heavy stomach, we lie awake, dream vividly or wake in the small hours. We explore the Shen and emotions in more depth in our guide to the seven emotions in Chinese medicine.

Winter is the season for storing energy

Each season has its own rhythm in Chinese medicine. Winter belongs to Water and the Kidneys, and its theme is storage and rest. The Huangdi Neijing, written more than two thousand years ago, advises that in the three months of winter we should go to bed early, get up late and wait for the sun before starting the day. It is striking how closely that matches what sleep scientists say today: morning light is the most powerful signal for setting the body clock, and winter is the time to protect it.

In winter, go to bed early and rise with the sun. Chinese medicine was giving body-clock advice long before anyone measured melatonin.

What your waking time may be telling you

Chinese medicine divides the 24 hours into two-hour periods, each linked to an organ system. Practitioners often ask when you wake, because a regular waking time can hint at which system is under strain. This is a traditional framework, not a diagnosis, but many people find it a useful starting point for a conversation.

Five common sleep patterns in Chinese medicine

Two people with insomnia can be treated very differently. A practitioner will look at your tongue and pulse, ask about digestion, temperature, dreams and mood, and then work out the pattern behind the poor sleep. Our article on pulse and tongue diagnosis explains how that assessment works. These are the patterns seen most often.

What does the research say?

As a centre committed to research and education, we think you deserve an honest picture of the evidence, including where it is still thin.

Eight winter habits for better sleep

None of these are complicated, and you do not need to do them all at once. Pick two or three and give them a fortnight.

1. Get daylight in the morning: even 15 to 20 minutes outside, ideally within an hour of waking, helps reset your body clock after the clocks change.
2. Go to bed a little earlier: in keeping with the winter advice of the classics, aim to be winding down by about 10pm and keep the same wake time every day, weekends included.
3. Eat a lighter, earlier dinner: try to finish eating two to three hours before bed and go easy on rich, spicy or very sweet food in the evening.
4. Cut caffeine after midday: that includes strong tea, cola and dark chocolate, which can all keep a sensitive Shen awake.
5. Warm your feet: a ten-minute warm foot soak before bed is a traditional Chinese way to draw energy downwards, and warm feet help many people drop off.
6. Swap screens for a wind-down ritual: dim the lights, put the phone in another room and give yourself 30 minutes of reading, stretching or quiet.
7. Breathe slowly: a few minutes of slow breathing or simple qigong in bed helps move energy out of the head and quieten a racing mind.
8. Write down your worries: if your mind spins at 2am, a notebook by the bed gives those thoughts somewhere to go until morning.

Where food, teas and herbs fit in

What you eat during the day shapes how you sleep at night. Regular meals, plenty of vegetables and wholegrains, and foods traditionally used to nourish Blood and Yin, such as dates, goji berries, oats and leafy greens, all have a place in a sleep-friendly winter diet. Our colleagues at Phoenix NutriScience have written a practical guide to how food and lifestyle support a calmer mind, which is well worth reading alongside this one.

A warm, caffeine-free drink is also a simple signal to the body that the day is ending. If you would like to explore traditional options, Aura Nutrition, part of the same Phoenix family as CCMUK, makes a range of functional herbal teas and a Mind & Lifestyle collection of classical formulas made as food supplements. As with anything herbal, check with your GP or pharmacist first if you take sleeping tablets, antidepressants or other regular medicines, or if you are pregnant, and ideally choose formulas with a qualified practitioner who can match them to your pattern.

If stress is the main thing keeping you awake, you may also find our article on Chinese herbs for stress helpful.

Frequently asked questions

The bottom line

Sleeping badly for a week or two after the clocks go back is normal, and it usually settles. Chinese medicine offers a gentle way of thinking about it: winter is a season to slow down, go to bed earlier, eat warming food and protect your energy. Pair that wisdom with what modern sleep science recommends, especially morning light, a regular routine and CBT-I if problems persist, and most people find their way back to good nights.