There's A Reason You Feel Most Creative In The Middle Of The Night — An Acupuncturist Explains

If you've ever been up late or can't sleep, you might've experienced a wave of emotion around 1 to 3 a.m. Perhaps you get a spurt of creativity, and you frequently keep a notepad at your bedside to jot down your best ideas. Or maybe you face waves of anger—replaying a confrontational conversation over and over in your head. Or maybe you just get a second wind around this time.

"In Chinese medicine, you have a clock where every two hours, there's a different organ system that kind of takes over," says Bourassa. Commonly dubbed the "Chinese body clock," or "Chinese organ clock" each two-hour interval signals where chi moves through each of your body's organ systems. At certain timestamps, it's believed that each organ reaches its peak energy. For example, between the hours of 11 p.m. and 1 a.m., your gallbladder is hard at work, breaking down waste. Between 5 and 7 a.m., your large intestine is on call—and so on. 

Back to the scenario we mentioned above: If you experience a wave of emotion (so intense, say, it wakes you up), "That's your false energy, when your liver is kicking up," Bourassa notes. In TCM, your liver is the organ responsible for a smooth flow of emotions (in addition to its basic functions), so when it's imbalanced, you may experience an overwhelming sense of energy. If it's always at the same hour each and every night, a la the Chinese body clock, it's an even bigger clue.