Acupuncture for Better Sleep

To us Chinese Medicine practitioners, it is such a travesty that anyone should go without restorative sleep at night. This is the time for your body and spirit to cleanse, heal and recharge. In our stress-laden society, the need for adequate hours of sleep is all the more important. When we can return to a state of yin and stillness, we prepare ourselves for balanced vitality and strength during the yang of day.

Thank you @pokeacupuncture for the following information. We second these principles and delight in seeing our patients get deeper, more restorative sleep!

The goal of peaceful sleep is to have the Mind, the Heart and the Stomach at rest and unaroused. The key to this is that -as blood is descending into the Liver to be stored during rest- consciousness/Yin Tang needs to descend down to the Kidneys and Lunar Qi anchors the spirit there, away from the head.

Accordingly, the treatment is to facilitate this descension and clear potential obstructions along the way. GB-8 is used because of its relationship to the brain to first unhook consciousness from the head, and break the addiction to overthinking. RN-17 and PC-7 are to resolve Chest Bi syndrome, and release anxiety which causes the diaphragm to close. Activating RN-17 also invites the Wei Qi to retract back into the body, which inhibits that “what was that sound? did you hear that?” hyper-vigilance that prevents rest. PC-7 additionally assists the Pericardium in filtering the Running Piglet Qi that surges through the Heart and causes nightmares. RN-10 is for obstruction in the Stomach, which is typically created from eating dinner too late and requiring the body to digest food when it should be at rest. LV-8 then anchors Liver Blood back to the Kidneys as the Water point on the Wood Channel.

The intention of this treatment is to unclasp the linear nature of consciousness; to throw oneself into the unformed, unconscious and undifferentiated chaos of the Kidneys, so it is ideal for patients who are restless from hyperactivity of the mind/rumination particularly during the Liver time 1-3 am or excessive dreaming; or whose narrow, clenched vision of reality has closed themselves to the wonder and magnitude of existence such that they may have forgotten that there is more to feel than there is to know.

💙 rb