Anxiety and insomnia: Why stress keeps you awake and how acupuncture can help

You’re exhausted, but as soon as your head hits the pillow, your mind switches on. Thoughts race, your body feels tense, and sleep feels impossible. Sound familiar?

Anxiety and insomnia often go hand in hand. If stress or overthinking is keeping you awake at night, you’re not alone—and acupuncture can help.

The Western perspective: Why anxiety disrupts sleep

Anxiety is like an “on” switch that’s hard to turn off. When you’re stressed, your nervous system stays in a heightened state, making it difficult to relax. Here’s why:

• Dysregulated cortisol levels → Anxiety keeps stress hormones high, making deep sleep difficult.
• Racing thoughts → The brain stays active, replaying worries and scenarios.
• Muscle tension → Physical tightness can make it hard to get comfortable.
• Heart rate and breathing changes → Anxiety keeps the body alert, preventing deep rest.

Many people with anxiety experience difficulty falling asleep, waking up in the night, or restless sleep that leaves them feeling unrefreshed.

The Chinese Medicine perspective: A restless Shen

In Chinese Medicine, restful sleep depends on a calm Shen (spirit), which is housed in the Heart. Anxiety can disturb the Shen, and here are some patterns that your acupuncturist might diagnose and treat:

🔸 Difficulty falling asleep → Heart Qi deficiency, excess Liver energy or Dampness rising up to the mind.
🔸 Waking up at night → Liver Qi stagnation or Yin deficiency causing heat.
🔸 Restless sleep with vivid dreams → Heart and Spleen Qi deficiency.

When stress builds up, it creates heat and Qi stagnation, making the mind overactive and restless.

How acupuncture can help you sleep better

Acupuncture helps insomnia by calming the nervous system, reducing stress, and regulating sleep cycles. It can:

✅ Regulate cortisol and stress hormones → Helping the body switch into rest mode.
✅ Calm the Shen (spirit) → Reducing overthinking and racing thoughts.
✅ Relax the body → Easing muscle tension and nervous system overactivation.

Key acupuncture points for sleep include:

• Heart 7 (Shenmen) → Calms the mind and promotes deep sleep.
• Liver 3 (Taichong) → Releases stress and emotional tension.
• Yintang (Third Eye Point) → Soothes an overactive mind.

Struggling with sleep? We can help.

If anxiety is keeping you awake, acupuncture can help gently regulate your sleep cycle naturally—without the grogginess of sleeping pills.

At Village Healing Centre in Curl Curl, we help you find deep, restful sleep by treating both the mind and body. If you’re in the Northern Beaches of Sydney and you’re curious about acupuncture for anxiety, we’d love to meet you. You don’t have to figure this out alone.

📍 Find us in Curl Curl
📞 Call us at (02) 9938 2182
📅 Book your appointment