If you're waking at 3-4AM feeling wired yet exhausted, your body may have shifted into survival mode. Discover how allostatic load, cumulative stress that overwhelms your system, creates early morning insomnia and learn the functional medicine, Chinese medicine, and breathwork approach to help your nervous system remember it's safe to rest deeply again.

Can't fall asleep or wake up at 1am with racing thoughts? Discover the 5 root causes of overthinking insomnia and how gut-brain dysfunction, hormones, and breathing patterns disrupt sleep.

If you're an anxious sleeper lying awake for hours despite feeling exhausted, your nervous system may be stuck in protection mode. Discover how neuroception—your body's unconscious security system—affects sleep, and why addressing gut health, breathing patterns, and neurotransmitter imbalances through functional medicine and Chinese medicine can finally help you feel safe enough to rest.

Explore how hormonal changes impact sleep and natural ways to restore deep rest. If sleep is hard to come by, there’s a good chance your hormones are involved. The most obvious time this shows up is during perimenopause and menopause.

This isn’t an anti-Ozempic message. It’s a reminder that quick fixes often carry costs. And when sleep is the cost, the whole system pays.

A reminder that your body needs rhythm, not endless light. Discover how artificial light and long summer days affect your sleep—and how to reclaim rest through functional medicine, light rituals, and circadian support.

After forgetting my own sleep advice, I rediscovered the power of the cortisol awakening response. This piece invites you to pause, wait for your body’s inner sunrise, and feel the difference one morning at a time.

What does a sleep specialist actually do? Discover how a holistic approach can uncover the hidden causes of insomnia—like gut issues, hormonal imbalances, and nervous system stress—and support real healing. Virtual and in-person care available.

As a sleep-focused clinician, I often think in rhythms—daily, seasonal, cyclical. Every few months, I pause to reflect on what’s unfolding in my practice: what patterns are emerging, what my patients are experiencing, and how we’re working…

When life feels like too much—whether from global events, personal loss, or the wear-and-tear of being a sensitive human—sleep is often the first thing to slip.

The nervous system holds tension even when…

Some sleep issues aren’t just about stress—or even about sleep itself. They might have more to do with hormones than you think. One of the quiet but powerful players in this realm is progesterone, and its deeply calming companion, GABA.

If you’ve been feeling tired but wired and…

Melatonin is often spoken of as 'the sleep hormone,' and it's true—it plays a key role in guiding the body into rest. But to think of melatonin as simply a supplement you take when sleep is hard to find is to miss the full beauty of what it actually does. Yes, melatonin is a hormone. But it's also the result of a deeper alchemy—one that involves serotonin, the health of your pineal gland, your gut, your iron levels, and even your thyroid.

What if a few tips for sleep hygiene could make a real shift in your sleep? The tips for sleep hygiene can make a small or big difference depending on how severe or how chronic your sleep struggle is.

Nighttime brings a peculiar and frustrating phenomenon for many of us: the acceleration of thoughts just when we need our minds to quiet down. If you've experienced this, you're not alone. Many people describe the frustration of being physically tired but…

Have you ever noticed how your sleep patterns seem to change without explanation? One month you're sleeping soundly through the night, and the next you're staring at the ceiling at 3 AM, wondering what changed when your bedtime routine is exactly the same? If this sounds familiar, you're not alone. What many don't realize is that hormones are often the hidden driver of your sleep patterns.

Have you ever experienced that familiar feeling where you're exhausted, lying in bed, but your mind refuses to slow down? Your heart might be racing slightly, your thoughts churning, as sleep…

This comprehensive guide explores foundational herbs and supplements that address the root causes of chronic insomnia, rather than just treating symptoms. Dr. Corca examines three interconnected systems crucial for sleep: gut health (affecting serotonin and melatonin production), hormonal balance (especially for women experiencing cycle-related sleep issues), and stress response (the most critical factor for lasting sleep improvement).

For the longest time, I understood that stress was behind why many of us can't sleep. What I didn't fully grasp was just how deeply old trauma—both big and small—can linger and disrupt sleep. It's insidious, creeping into the night and causing chronic sleep issues long after the events themselves.

Dr. Damiana Corca and Dr. Jill Carnahan dive deep into understanding insomnia and how to achieve restful sleep naturally. In this comprehensive discussion, Dr. Corca explains the five distinct causes of insomnia: the Anxious Type, Overthinking Type, Overtaxed Type, Depleted Type, and Overburdened Type.

Known in Chinese as “Wenliu,” Large Intestine 7 translates to “Warm Flow.” The name itself already creates an image of something soothing and comforting—like a wave of warmth gently flowing through your body. Located on the forearm, about five finger-widths up from the wrist crease along the radial side….