Meridians: Organ clock

A symptom with a fixed hour tells you whose it is

Each channel has two hours of peak activity. A symptom that repeats at the same time points to that channel before you look at anything else.

Waking between 1 and 3

Liver

Waking between 3 and 5

Lung

Slump between 15 and 17

Bladder

She wakes every night at two and struggles to fall back asleep. Where do you start?

1. With the Liver, whose time slot it is
2. With the Heart, because it is insomnia
3. With the Kidney, because it is night-time

Every slot has its opposite

A channel peaks for two hours and bottoms out twelve hours later. A symptom appearing in the opposite slot also points to that channel: not through excess, but because that is when it supports least.

Lung peak, 3 to 5

trough 15 to 17

Bladder peak, 15 to 17

trough 3 to 5

Liver peak, 1 to 3

trough 13 to 15

Common mistake: Dismissing the clock because the symptom does not fall in the suspected channel's peak slot.

Order the morning slots starting at 3.

1. Lung↑↓
2. Large Intestine↑↓
3. Stomach↑↓
4. Spleen↑↓
5. Heart↑↓

Constipation that only eases if the person goes first thing in the morning. Which slot backs that up?

1. 3 to 5, the Lung slot
2. 5 to 7, the Large Intestine slot
3. 7 to 9, the Stomach slot

Match each afternoon slot with its channel.

Every afternoon between four and five they run out of energy and the lower back aches. What do you check?

1. The Bladder–Kidney axis, which holds that slot and the next
2. The Heart, because fatigue is always its business
3. The Stomach, because they have not eaten properly

Sort each symptom by the slot in which it appears.

• Wakes up and cannot fall back asleep1 – 33 – 57 – 9
• Dry cough that wakes them before dawn1 – 33 – 57 – 9
• Nausea right at breakfast1 – 33 – 57 – 9
• Vivid dreams and sweating before dawn1 – 33 – 57 – 9
• Asthma attacks before sunrise1 – 33 – 57 – 9
• Heaviness and sleepiness after the morning meal1 – 33 – 57 – 9

Deep fatigue that always shows up between 13 and 15. What does the clock add?

1. Nothing: it is digestion time and that is all
2. That there is too much Small Intestine
3. It may be the Liver's trough, since its peak slot is 1 to 3

Match each habit with the slot that favours it.

Palpitations appearing right at midday, with no preceding effort. Which slot is it and what does it suggest?

1. The Spleen slot: it is digestive
2. The Heart slot, 11 to 13: look there first
3. The Pericardium slot: hence palpitations

Dry cough every night between three and five. Build the reading of the timing.

Constant knee pain, the same at any hour. What does the clock contribute?

1. Little: with no time pattern you lean on the pathway and the other signs
2. It points to the channel whose slot matches the appointment time
3. It shows the problem involves all channels at once

Two different insomnias: one cannot fall asleep, the other wakes at three on the dot. How do you separate them?

1. They are the same problem at different intensities
2. Trouble falling asleep is a channel problem; waking is emotional
3. Trouble falling asleep points to the Heart; waking at a fixed hour points to that slot's channel

Someone who has worked nights for years. What does the clock predict?

1. Nothing: the clock adapts to each person's schedule
2. Sustained wear, because the repair slots are spent on activity
3. That their channels run in reverse order