The Yin and Yang of Waking and Sleeping

All creatures above a certain phylogenetic level sleep. This means that once the nervous system develops a brain and reaches a certain level of complexity, it shows the obvious yin/yang of wakefulness and sleep. I’m interested in this from a Daoist point of view, as Daoist theory, which presaged binary theory, can apply directly to our state of consciousness. I’ll call sleeping yin and waking yang, because from a Daoist point of view the former is quiet and dark and the latter is loud and bright. This same concept applies to the rational versus the intuitive mind, as well as the left and right sides of the brain.

One of my students has had a long-term sleep problem. She has tried pharmaceutical sleep aids, aromatherapy, craniosacral therapy, massage, exercise, professional talk therapy, anti-depressants, white noise machines and more—pretty much exhausting the gamut. Today we discussed the idea that her yang, conscious, waking mind was somehow intruding on her yin, quiet sleeping mind and rousing her repeatedly in the middle of the night for no apparent reason.

I suggested that she might try to address what’s bothering her. She said there was nothing in her conscious mind that seemed an issue. I asked about her career, her family, marriage, health, finances—in short all the usual suspects. She replied that although no life was ever perfect, she did not feel she had any big, pressing problems. From a Daoist, or tai chi perspective it sounded as if her yin and yang were not in balance, that something that belonged on the yang side (wakefulness) had migrated over. The obvious question was how to get those two halves/sides back in equilibrium.

In the traditional tai chi world we often discuss the concept of wuji, which is a Chinese philosophical term that strictly speaking means emptiness pregnant with infinite possibility, but in a more nuts-and-bolts way means keeping your balance. Tai chi practice specializes in developing this balance on a physical level, while our Daoist meditations help on a mental/emotional side; in a sense they are analogues.

I suggested she slow her physical practice down to focus on the meditative side of things (we can get a bit carried away with swords and halberds and spears in my little corner of South Florida) and create a bit more discipline around daily meditation practice. More on this as we see how increasing meditation time helps her sleep.