Insomnia + the Shen

Insomnia has a way of creeping in quietly. It often begins as a phase, an unsettled week, a few broken nights, and then, almost without noticing, sleep becomes something that requires attention. Something to be monitored. Something negotiated. It really is one of the aspects of our cycles that, should there be a lack of it, nothing else really matters until it’s restored.

Most people describe it as not sleeping. They talk about being tired but alert. Maybe waking at the same time each night. About a mind that doesn’t quite stand down, even when the body clearly wants to. By the time insomnia becomes a problem worth naming, sleep has usually stopped feeling like a neutral, background function. It becomes a thing.

From a Chinese medicine perspective, insomnia isn’t treated as a single condition. It’s understood as a disruption of rhythm - specifically, the body’s ability to move smoothly from activity into rest. And that movement is not automatic. It depends on the internal conditions being right.

The night doesn’t fully arrive

Sleep is often imagined as passive, as though consciousness simply switches off.
In practice, falling asleep requires cooperation.
Yang activity needs to descend; yin needs to be sufficient to receive it.
When that exchange falters, nights can feel oddly active.

Thoughts become looping. Sleep stays light, mostly dozing. The body feels exhausted but internally alert. It doesn’t mean something is broken. More often, it suggests that the nervous system has learned to stay watchful.

Different patterns show up in different people; you might have difficulty falling asleep, frequent waking, vivid dreams, or a sense of never quite dropping deeply enough. The form varies, but the theme is consistent: something is staying present that would usually withdraw.

The Shen and sleep

In Chinese medicine, we think in terms of the Shen. The word is usually translated as spirit, though it’s less abstract than that. The Shen reflects how the mind is housed - how settled, coherent, and at ease it feels inside the body. It resides in the Heart and is evident in attention, emotional tone, and the ability to rest. It can be confusing as the Shen is used to describe the spirit as a concept, but also as the spirit of the heart (each organ has its own spirit).

Sleep depends on the Shen being able to settle.

When the Shen is unsettled, through prolonged stress, emotional strain, overstimulation, or depletion, sleep is often the first thing to change. This might show up as a restless mind, light or fragmented sleep, or waking with a sense of internal activity already underway.

It’s a reflection of how much the system is being asked to hold.

Still learning the Shen

I’m still learning what the Shen is. It’s a huge subject with many views for many different people.

It doesn’t arrive as understanding so much as recognition, and even that shifts. What I think I know about it rarely remains the same for long. It feels less like something to define, and more like something that shows itself quietly, sometimes, and when you’re least expecting it.

It’s noticed most when it’s unsettled. In periods of insomnia, when sleep thins and the mind remains too present. My understanding of the Shen has changed over time, and now it feels more subtle. Less something I can point to, more something I feel by paying attention to rhythm, emotional regulation, and how my body responds when I feel supported.

It seems to respond less to intention and more to conditions: how much is being carried, how much is being processed, how much space is left unfilled.

Acupuncture and settling the Shen

Acupuncture doesn’t aim to induce sleep in a direct way. It doesn’t sedate or override the system. Instead, it works by reducing background alert, supporting the Heart, nourishing what’s depleted, and easing the patterns that keep the Shen active.

During treatment, people often notice small changes. These aren’t dramatic shifts, but they suggest that the system is moving out of vigilance and moving towards peace.

Over time, this tends to affect sleep quality. Nights become less effortful. Waking is less abrupt. Sleep holds more reliably, not because it’s being controlled, but because the Shen has somewhere to rest.

Insomnia as information

Insomnia often appears during periods of change, stress, recovery, hormonal transition, burnout, or emotional strain. It doesn’t necessarily mean something is wrong. Often, it means something is adjusting.

Seen this way, insomnia isn’t an enemy to defeat.
It’s information.
A signal that the balance between effort and restoration has tipped, and that the system is compensating as best it can.

Treatment focuses on restoring that balance - supporting the body’s capacity to rest, rather than insisting that it do so.

Sleep, when it returns, usually does so quietly. Not as a breakthrough, but as a remembering. When the Shen feels housed, the night tends to take care of itself.

How’s your Shen doing? Come and see me if it needs housing. You can find out where; here.