Modern life has turned sleep into a crisis. 

What was once an effortless nightly descent now requires apps, supplements, therapy, and willpower. According to the Real Insurance sleep report, approximately 39% of Australians report frequently or consistently struggling with sleep difficulties. 

This crisis isn’t simply the result of stress, screens, or overstimulation. On the pursuit of productivity, we somehow dismantled the cultural, biological, and communal scaffolding that once made sleep intuitive.

Technology has further complicated this landscape. Sleep-tracking devices encourage individuals to evaluate their nights through quantifiable metrics, which paradoxically (and ironically) increases performance anxiety. Researchers have termed this “orthosomnia,” the pursuit of statistically perfect sleep at the expense of the psychological ease required to achieve it. The more we monitor our rest, the less rested we feel.

What is often overlooked is that sleep depends on a perception of safety—physical and emotional. A nervous system attuned to threat, whether through stress, overwork, or constant digital interruption, resists the vulnerability required for sleep. In this sense, insomnia can be understood not simply as a disorder, but as a rational physiological response to an environment that never fully powers down. This is the basis of the polyvagal theory[i].

Ancient practices make sense because they support the nervous system. Many traditional remedies dismissed as “unscientific” actually work not only because of their effect on biochemistry by also they encourage  the restoration of the physiological cues modern life has stripped away. Acupuncture, Ayurvedic practices and aromatherapy are all holistic in their approach; a reason for their effectiveness.

Acupuncture

The principles of acupuncture emphasise human touch and patient-practitioner connection, as well as consistent appointments for at least a few weeks to see results. Acupuncture is part of a wider, holistic approach within Chinese medicine practices which look at diet, movement and lifestyle for long-term benefits.

A systematic review of 10 studies has shown that acupuncture is effective in improving subjective sleep quality, and it can also improve objective biomarkers related to sleep. It has been suggested that it helps to regulate neurotransmitters (such as glutamates and GABA), hormones and cytokines (increased IL-1 and TNF-a levels help sleep come easier)[v]

Ashwagandha

Ashwagandha is served as a warm milk preparation (ksheerapaka) by simmering the herb in  milk with ghee or honey to induce sleep. This practice is typically prescribed for 6-8 weeks. 

Scientifically, it has been shown to improve subjective sleep quality, sleep efficiency, sleep duration and sleep latency. The mechanism of its effects have been linked to compounds (withanolides and triethylene glycol) specifically found in the mushroom. Ashwagandha can reduce hyperarousal and stress which helps reduce insomnia and support more restorative sleep. [vi]

Aromatherapy (Lavender)

Lavender is the most popular herbal remedy in the west. It has been shown to improve sleep scores compared to control. Most interestingly, it seems that one can only feel the sleepy effects of lavender after 2 weeks.[vii]

Mechanistically, compounds found in lavender oil has been shown to decrease sympathetic activity (stress and hyperarousal), lower cortisol, enhance GABAergic inhibition and support serotonergic pathways[viii].

To sleep well again, we must reconstruct the conditions that make rest possible: dimness, predictability, boundaries around stimulation, and a genuine cessation of demands. Sleep is not something we achieve through force; it is a state we enter when the body is permitted to stand down.

The modern person does not lack the capacity for sleep. What we lack is social, environmental and psychological conditions that support the vagal calm necessary for rest. In this light, insomnia becomes less an individual problem and more a cultural one: evidence that our pace, our technologies, and our expectations have outstripped the nervous system’s ability to comply.