I hate sleepless nights, and I’m sure you’re not a fan of them either. No one enjoys the inevitable bleary-eyed aftermath of a night spent awake and watching the clock. There’s something lonely about being awake at 3 am when you’re struggling to fall asleep. However, if you’ve been bothered by sleepless nights, know that you’re not alone. Millions of people in the US deal with sleep problems regularly. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), over 37 million Americans have trouble sleeping on most nights—even most nights. 

Why You Can’t Sleep: Multiple Culprits

It’s important to remember that sleep is a biological process, and sleep problems are not a failure of willpower. Many conditions and situations, either by themselves or in combination with each other can cause or contribute to trouble sleeping. In this guide, we’ll discuss 7 root causes of sleep disturbances. We’ll also look at what we can learn from the Western scientific approach and the wisdom found in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).

The Western Approach: Science and Medicine

In the Western world, people look for scientific explanations when sleepless nights arise. Western science views sleep disturbances such as difficulty falling asleep and early-morning waking as biological conditions that are influenced by physical, mental, and emotional states.

Western sleep science may attribute difficulty sleeping to nervousness, stress, poor sleep hygiene, and health conditions like sleep apnea. Treatment strategies for sleeplessness in the Western approach include medication, therapy, and learning better sleep hygiene.  

The Eastern Approach: Correcting Imbalances

In TCM, sleep problems come from disharmony within the body, particularly in the balance of qi (vital energy), yin (cooling, nourishing, passive aspects), and yang (warming, active, stimulating aspects). TCM sees disharmony in organs like the heart (housing the Shen, or mind), liver (associated with emotions), spleen (involved in digestion and blood production), and kidneys (regulating fundamental energies) as the biggest hurdles to sleep.

Reasons We Can’t Sleep: East and West

1. Mental overactivity

We all know how this one works! Tension and nervous energy can keep a person awake because these anxious thoughts provoke the body's fight-or-flight response. It doesn’t take a full panic attack to disturb your sleep.

Even mild mental overactivity, like racing thoughts, replaying the day’s activities, and worrying can cause us to store tension in our bodies, particularly in our muscles. Sometimes, we carry that tension with us into sleep, making it difficult to relax and then stay in a peaceful, resting state. 

Once a person starts losing sleep, it’s easier for restlessness to become a daily---and nightly—companion.

TCM views mental overactivity as arising because of "heart fire” or “liver qi stagnation.” In TCM, the heart symbolically takes care of the mind by anchoring it. When there’s too much heat (or energy) in the heart, the mind will likewise be overactive.

Traditional Chinese Medicine sees the liver as responsible for the smooth flow of qi—our vital life energy throughout the body and is closely linked to emotions. Stress, frustration, and anger can cause Liver Qi to stagnate, which can then generate heat. This rising heat disturbs the heart, leading to difficulty falling asleep, restlessness, and waking up between 1 to 3 am when the liver is most active. 

Solution. One useful solution to a restless mind is putting it all down on paper. “Paper” means paper here! No digital screens. In brain dump journaling, you don’t have to follow any coherent structure, just dump everything in your mind onto paper.

Slow, gentle stretching movements can help relieve muscle tension, while mindful, deliberate movements like neck rolls can relax knotted up muscle groups.

Another way to gently help your body wind down is the Chill Pill®. Using the Chill Pill® with Pressure Point Therapy Technology (PPTT) calms your nervous system and encourages restful sleep. Simply hold it in your hand along the pericardium to reduce stress and fall asleep faster, naturally.

2. Irregular Sleep Schedule / Circadian Disruption

Having a reliable and consistent bedtime process also helps cue the body that it’s time to sleep. Keeping a regular routine and standard bedtime helps your body learn to relax and prepare for sleep. An irregular sleep schedule makes it very difficult for that “wind-down” cycle to happen.

In the Western world, circadian disruption and an irregular sleep schedule prevent the body from producing enough melatonin, a hormone that’s crucial for regulating sleep.

Traditional Chinese medicine uses an organ clock, in which each of the 12 major organs spends two hours when qi (the fundamental living force) dwells in those organs. One a.m. through 3 a.m. is the liver's time to purify and refine qi. 

When a person’s organ clock is out of sync with a person’s circadian rhythm, waking up at 3 am is likely to result.

Solution. Stick to a regular sleep and wake schedule—even on weekends. It’s consistency that teaches the body when it's time to head to bed. Also, try dimming the lights about two hours before bedtime. 

3. Overstimulation

We love relaxing with our digital devices, but the blue light coming from those brilliant screens suppresses melatonin production, the hormone that regulates sleep. This tricks the brain into thinking it's still daytime, increasing alertness and delaying the onset of sleep. Overstimulation disrupts circadian rhythms, leading to difficulty winding down and relaxing. Sleep problems are usually the result.

Just a few of the many other forms of overstimulation come from vigorous exercise within 2 hours of bedtime, loud sounds (including loud music), focusing on social media (especially bad news, a practice called doomscrolling), or strong odors.

Eastern traditional medicine identifies overstimulation as excessive Yang energy at night that’s not paired with not enough Yin. Yin helps a person rest; Yang is stimulating.

Solution. Create a “wind down window” and set a boundary of no screens (that includes TV!) one hour before bed. Try a warm shower or calming tea, and no doomscrolling once you’re in bed!

4. Cortisol Imbalance / Stress Response

Cortisol is a stimulating hormone that helps govern our circadian rhythm. Its levels should be high in the morning and low in the evening. When cortisol levels remain high at bedtime, it’s much more difficult for the nervous system to slip into sleep mode. Although you may fall asleep with elevated cortisol levels, your sleep will be light and easily disturbed.

Solution. Breathing exercises are helpful in reducing cortisol levels. Try box breathing (inhale for a count of 4 seconds, hold 4 seconds, exhale 4, and then wait 4 seconds before starting your next inhalation).

Try using the Chill Pill on the Pericardium 8 (PC8), a pressure point found in the center of your palm. The Chill Pill’s light, gentle impulses help trigger your body's natural relaxation responses. 

5. Digestive Disturbance

As with so many other health concerns, digestion and sleep rely on good timing. During the day, a good meal may be followed by drowsiness and the urge to nap. However, when you eat close to bedtime, whether it’s a meal or a snack, poor sleep may be the result. That’s because digestion takes a lot of energy, energy the body needs to spend on rejuvenation. 

Solution. West and East agree—finish eating 2-3 hours before bed. Both traditions recommend warm herbal tea, like ginger, mint, or chamomile for settling digestion.

6. Energetic Imbalance / Meridian Disruption

TCM offers us the idea of meridians. Meridians are invisible energy pathways throughout the body that are believed to circulate qi, blood, and other fluids. When meridians become blocked by emotional stress, the organ clock falls out of rhythm and becomes unbalanced. Stagnant qi in the liver is particularly responsible for causing sleep disturbances in the hours from 1 am to 3 am.

Solution. Gentle acupressure in the palm of the hand or using the Chill Pill on PC8 before bed. 

7. Environmental Disruptions

A sleep space needs to be calm and cozy; it must invite us to rest and sleep. If your bedroom contains a gaming system, stereo, and TV, your brain may associate your sleep space with excitement. Excitement isn’t quite the mood that encourages deep, restorative sleep cycles. 

Here are some tips for making your bedroom restful:

• Take out entertainment systems, televisions, exercise equipment, and anything that's not geared toward sleep or dressing. 
• Consider adding a white noise generator to help tune out distracting noises.
• Sleep masks help block light that curtains or shades don’t.
• Try different room temperatures. Many people like to sleep in a cool environment. What’s important is that you find your ideal comfort zone!

In TCM, when external yang penetrates yin time, the “energetic principle” of our life force intrudes into the calm, sleep-inducing aspects of our qi. 

The Pressure Point That Helps With All of This: PC8

Western approaches often involve medications, but the East approaches things differently.

TCM and Pericardium 8 (PC8)

Traditional Chinese Medicine values PC8 as a grounding point for overthinking, stress, and nervous energy. This point is crucial for calming the mind and promoting relaxation.

How the Chill Pill Works

The Chill Pill uses Pressure Point Therapy Technology (PPTT), combining acupressure with electrotherapy. When held in the palm of the hand, electrotherapy pulses from the Chill Pill stimulate nerve endings at PC8. These gentle electrical pulses trigger your body's natural relaxation response.

Benefits of the Chill Pill 

The Chill Pill helps you sleep by calming the nervous system and reducing stress, without the side effects medications often have and relieve panic attacks. It's a drug-free, non-habit-forming alternative.

Rest Isn’t Just Possible—It’s Teachable

When your sleep feels unpredictable, it’s easy to blame yourself. But most of the time, your body is simply reacting to things it hasn’t had a chance to process. By understanding what’s behind your restlessness—whether it’s mental chatter, a disrupted rhythm, or just too much stimulation—you can begin to teach your system how to rest again.