Using Chamomile for Sleep: A TCM Practitioner's View

Chamomile shows up in almost every conversation about sleep, and for once the reputation is not just folklore. Here is where it fits, and where it doesn't.

In pattern terms, this is about heart-spleen deficiency with light, dream-disturbed sleep and daytime fatigue. Chamomile (Yang Gan Ju, 洋甘菊) is slightly cool in nature and enters the liver, spleen, stomach meridians, which is the classical reason it suits that picture.

Classically, it calms the spirit for a restless evening mind. A practitioner matching your tongue and pulse to that pattern is exactly the situation it was chosen for.

How people take it for sleep

Steep 1 to 2 teaspoons of flowers, covered, for 5 to 10 minutes.

Acupressure runs alongside the herbs in most treatment plans. The points most often paired with this pattern are yintang, shenmen, and pressing them firmly for a minute at a time is easy to learn.

For the fuller picture, including the other patterns behind sleep, see the Sleep and Insomnia guide.

Consistency beats dose. A modest amount taken regularly usually does more than a heroic amount taken twice.