The best time to exercise, have a coffee, meditate, or watch a movie can have a tremendous effect on your body. It’s long been believed, including in Traditional Chinese Medicine theory, that every organ or internal system is most active for a specific two-hour period in any given 24-hour day.
According to these Eastern theories, there is a ‘best time’ to rest, sleep, meditate, and sauna for our body. Thankfully, in support of these theories, we know a lot more about science these days than we did thousands of years ago. There’s a lot of real data supporting the ‘best time’ theory. For this reason, we thought it’d be interesting to explore these different times. For passionate infrared sauna and steam room goers, this may be information worth retaining.
The stomach
The stomach is most active between 7 am and 9 am which probably makes sense. After all, as human beings, we’ve trained ourselves that this is when we eat breakfast. In a way, breakfast feeds us for the day ahead. It’s also the meal we eat after sleep which is a period of fasting. For these reasons, this is stomach time and the best time to get food in your body.
The spleen
The spleen and the system relating to it are most active between 9 am and 11 am. This is when muscular energy is recharged. For this reason, between 9 am and 11 am are the best time to exercise. Don’t forget to pick up some of that after-exercise sauna time, either! Alternatively, between 7 pm and 9 pm is the worst time to exercise as this is when the pericardium system is most active. This is the cover of the heart so needless to say, it should be a time to meditate, listen to soft music, or to take a warm bath.
The liver
The liver is most active between 1 am and 3 am. Do you tend to wake up often between these hours? This may be in part why. The liver helps the body regenerate and does so overnight. If you’re awake during this time, it may be a sign you’re overly stressed. This may be a sign you should be getting a little more relaxation time. If you’re not already going to the sauna 4-7 times weekly, you may want to up that amount if you tend to be contending with wakefulness overnight.
The heart
The heart and systems relating to the heart are most active between 11 am and 1 pm. For this reason, most heart attacks tend to happen between these hours. Avoid caffeine and other stimulants during this time. If anything, lunchtime is an opportunity to relax. This is an opportune time to jump in a sauna and relax. It’s a time meant for peace and no distraction.
The large intestine
The large intestine’s best time to function is 5 am to 7 am. This makes this time the best period to have a bowel movement. Throughout the night, the body has been digesting and working to recharge itself, and come morning, it’s ready to push out any waste products it doesn’t intend keeping.
Sauna users committed to being the healthiest they can be should stick with these times, meditating, resting, sleeping, and sauna-ing when their bodies are most attune to producing results!