More and more people are suffering from sleep disorders. The question is rarely whether there is a cause – the real question is which causes are at work, and in what proportion. In my practice I regularly see clients who have been struggling with disrupted sleep for months or even years. Often they have already consulted doctors, received a diagnosis of “insomnia,” and left the consultation with a prescription for a sedative or a psycho-pharmaceutical.

What troubles me about this picture is the speed with which it happens. A thorough exploration of a person’s life, habits, emotional state, living environment, and body chemistry takes time – time that is rarely invested in a standard medical consultation. Instead, a trial-and-error approach is taken with medications that carry serious side effects. Ironically, one of the most commonly listed side effects for almost all prescribed psycho-pharmaceuticals is – sleeplessness.

The Six Contributing Areas – An Overview

In working with people who struggle with sleep, I have found that the causes consistently fall into six main areas. They are rarely equally weighted – in one person, the primary issue may be nutritional deficiency; in another, it may be unresolved emotional stress; in a third, it may be energetic interference. Most often, however, several of these areas are active simultaneously, each contributing its own percentage to the overall problem.

The six areas are:

• Physical and nutritional factors – deficiencies, imbalances, and medical conditions that disrupt the body’s sleep chemistry.
• Emotional factors: Suppressed emotions and unresolved trauma – things that have not been processed and surface during the night when the conscious mind is no longer keeping them down.
• Physical tiredness and body work – the body needs sufficient movement to be genuinely tired, and daily attention through stretching and exercise so that energy can flow freely.
• Foreign energies and energetic interference – a dimension that conventional medicine does not address, yet which in my experience is the single most frequent root cause of persistent sleep disorders.
• Sleep environment and daily habits – light, screens, electromagnetic fields, the sleeping space itself, and the hour before bed.
• Toxic exposures and broader health influences – chemicals, household products, and other health factors with documented effects on the nervous system and hormonal balance.

The following chapters explore each of these areas in depth.

What Are Sleep Disorders – and When Do They Become a Disorder?

Sleep disorders, also referred to as sleep problems or dyssomnias, encompass a broad range of conditions that regularly interfere with the normal sleep cycle. The most widely used classifications are the International Classification of Sleep Disorders (ICSD), published by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) by the American Psychiatric Association.

According to these frameworks, a sleep issue is generally considered a disorder when it occurs regularly – typically several times per week – over a period of at least one month; when it causes significant impairment in daytime functioning, including concentration, mood, and performance; when it produces personal distress; and when it cannot be fully explained by another medical or psychiatric condition or by substance use.

The distinction between “sleep problems” and “sleep disorders” is often fluid in everyday language. “Sleep problems” is the broader term – any difficulty sleeping, whether or not it meets diagnostic criteria. “Sleep disorder” refers more specifically to conditions defined and classified in these systems – such as insomnia, sleep apnea, restless legs syndrome (RLS), circadian rhythm disorders, and narcolepsy.

What the official classifications rarely address is the question of why these conditions develop in the first place. That is exactly what this article sets out to explore.

1. Physical and Nutritional Factors

The body’s ability to sleep is directly tied to its biochemistry. Sleep is not a passive state – it is an active, carefully regulated process governed by hormones, neurotransmitters, and a precisely timed internal clock. When the body lacks the raw materials for this process, or when it carries a burden that keeps it in a state of physiological alert, sleep suffers.

Key Nutrients Involved in Sleep Regulation

Magnesium is perhaps the single most important mineral for sleep. It activates the parasympathetic nervous system – the branch responsible for rest and recovery – and regulates the neurotransmitter GABA, which quiets nervous activity. Magnesium also controls the release of melatonin and helps regulate cortisol. Studies have shown that magnesium supplementation in people with low levels significantly improves sleep onset, sleep duration, and sleep efficiency (Abbasi et al., 2012, Journal of Research in Medical Sciences). Modern diets and depleted soils mean that magnesium deficiency is extremely common, often undetected, and frequently overlooked in sleep consultations.

Zinc works in close interaction with magnesium in sleep regulation. Research published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society found that zinc and melatonin together significantly improved sleep quality in elderly subjects. Zinc is also involved in the conversion of tryptophan to serotonin and then to melatonin – the cascade that initiates the sleep process.

Iron deficiency is a well-documented cause of restless legs syndrome (RLS), a condition in which uncomfortable sensations in the legs – particularly at night – compel movement and disrupt sleep. A 2014 meta-analysis in the European Journal of Neurology confirmed the strong association between iron deficiency and RLS severity.

Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to sleep disorders in multiple epidemiological studies. Vitamin D receptors are found in areas of the brain that regulate sleep, including the hypothalamus. A 2017 study in Nutritional Neuroscience found that supplementing Vitamin D in deficient individuals improved sleep quality, reduced sleep latency, and decreased daytime sleepiness.

B vitamins, particularly B6, B9 (folate), and B12, are essential for the synthesis of serotonin and melatonin. B12 also plays a role in regulating circadian rhythm. Deficiency in B12 has been linked to disrupted sleep-wake cycles, and methylated forms of B vitamins (methylcobalamin, methylfolate) are preferable for people with MTHFR gene variants that impair the conversion of standard supplemental forms.

Calcium helps the brain use tryptophan to produce melatonin. Research suggests that disruptions in calcium metabolism may contribute to REM sleep disturbances.

Omega-3 fatty acids (EPA and DHA) influence both melatonin production and the regulation of the sleep hormone via their role in neuronal membrane function. A study in the Journal of Sleep Research found that higher blood levels of DHA in children were associated with better sleep and fewer nighttime awakenings.

Medical Conditions That Impair Sleep

Beyond nutritional deficiencies, a number of medical conditions are known to disrupt sleep:

Thyroid dysfunction – both hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism – significantly alters sleep architecture. An overactive thyroid tends to cause difficulty falling asleep and frequent awakenings; an underactive thyroid may cause excessive daytime sleepiness despite prolonged night sleep. Thyroid hormones regulate metabolic rate and interact directly with the neural circuits that control the sleep-wake cycle.

Adrenal dysregulation and elevated cortisol – often the result of chronic stress – can make it difficult to fall asleep or cause early morning awakening. Cortisol is supposed to be low at night and rise in the early morning to facilitate waking. When this rhythm is inverted or flattened through chronic stress or HPA axis dysregulation, the normal sleep pattern is undermined.

Blood sugar dysregulation can cause nocturnal hypoglycemia – a sharp drop in blood sugar that triggers an adrenaline response, interrupting sleep and often accompanied by sweating and a racing heart. This is particularly relevant in people with insulin resistance or type 2 diabetes.

Chronic pain, sleep apnea, and cardiovascular conditions are additional medical factors with well-established effects on sleep that should be evaluated by a physician.

What to Do

The most rational first step is a comprehensive blood panel. This should include, at a minimum: complete blood count, ferritin (not just serum iron), magnesium (ideally red blood cell magnesium rather than serum), zinc, Vitamin D (25-OH), B12, folate, thyroid panel (TSH, free T3, free T4), fasting glucose and HbA1c, and cortisol (morning and evening where possible). This gives a factual baseline and makes targeted supplementation and dietary adjustments possible.

2. Emotional Factors: Suppressed Emotions and Unresolved Trauma

There is a reason why the night is when our unresolved emotions often choose to surface. During the day, we are occupied – with tasks, conversations, distractions, and the constant effort of managing our outer world. The conscious mind is busy, and it is quite effective at keeping difficult feelings suppressed or compartmentalized. But at night, when this management effort ceases and the conscious mind relaxes its grip, what has been pushed down during the day rises to the surface.

This is not a weakness or a dysfunction. It is the psyche’s way of telling us that something needs attention. The problem is that most of us have never been given tools to work with what comes up in these hours – so we lie awake, caught between a resting body and an activated nervous system – feeling helpless to process what wants to surface.

The Science of Emotional Suppression and Sleep

Research consistently confirms what practitioners of psychology and somatic therapies have long observed: emotional suppression is physiologically costly. A 2011 study in the Journal of Experimental Psychology demonstrated that deliberate suppression of thoughts and feelings increases cognitive arousal and significantly worsens sleep onset and sleep quality. The body does not simply “store” a suppressed emotion quietly – it holds it in a state of low-level activation – and this is precisely what prevents the parasympathetic rest state the body needs for restorative sleep.

Trauma – including what is often called “small-t trauma” (recurring emotional injuries, relational wounds, childhood experiences of shame or helplessness) – has an especially pronounced effect on sleep. Bessel van der Kolk (The Body Keeps the Score, 2014) and Peter Levine (Somatic Experiencing) are among those who have been particularly influential in establishing the understanding that trauma is held in the body as much as in the mind – and that verbal, cognitive approaches alone are often insufficient. PTSD is the most pronounced example: its root cause is experiential and somatic, and requires approaches that work at that level.

A Practical Approach – and What I Offer

Addressing emotional factors requires a degree of willingness and courage. We have often buried certain things for good reason – because at the time, feeling them was too much. Revisiting them requires a safe container and effective tools. And here is the good news: the process does not have to be as long, painful, or complicated as most people fear. And a great deal can be resolved at the energetic-somatic level without necessarily requiring years of verbal psychotherapy.

In my work, I can often directly absorb and clear emotional trauma that is stored in the unconscious and no longer accessible to conscious memory from a client’s body and energy field – including PTSD-level material that the client does not consciously remember, in a way analogous to how a Peruvian → shaman would work to draw out illness from a patient’s body.

Beyond this, my primary goal in working with clients is always empowerment – giving people tools they can use independently, quickly, and effectively. I have developed a simple technique that I can teach in a single session – sometimes in as little as twenty minutes – that allows a person to calm their nervous system rapidly in almost any situation, and to dissolve emotional trauma and emotional triggers that they do consciously remember within a few minutes, for good. Many clients find that this single skill transforms not only their sleep but their entire relationship with stress and emotional reactivity.

See also: → Deep Trauma Release (DTR)

3. Physical Tiredness and Body Work

For good sleep, the body needs to be genuinely tired – not exhausted or overstimulated, but physically: muscles used and stretched, joints and fascia in balance, sufficient movement throughout the day.

Modern sedentary lifestyles mean that many people arrive at the end of the day mentally depleted but physically under-exercised. Sleep requires both mind and body to be ready to rest. A body that has spent most of the day at a desk is less ready for deep sleep than one that has moved, stretched, and been structurally cared for.

Intense training is not necessary – in fact, demanding, adrenaline-driven activity close to bedtime can raise cortisol levels and core body temperature, delaying sleep onset. Regular, moderate movement, on the other hand, improves sleep quality, reduces daytime fatigue, and maintains flexibility, joint function, and muscular balance (Mental Health and Physical Activity, 2010).

Stretching and Flexibility

Flexibility work – particularly stretching before bed – is one of the most effective practices for better sleep. Stretching activates the parasympathetic nervous system, releases muscular tension accumulated during the day, and signals that the active phase is ending. A 2015 study in the Journal of Physiological Anthropology found that stretching exercises performed before sleep significantly improved sleep quality in middle-aged and older adults.

The Five Tibetan Rites

The Five Tibetan Rites – a sequence derived from Tibetan monastic tradition – combines yoga, stretching, and controlled breathing. Once learned, the full sequence takes 10-15 minutes, is gentle enough for almost any age, and makes an ideal evening wind-down routine. It promotes spinal flexibility, activates the lymphatic system, and calms the whole body.

The original book by Peter Kelder and a demonstration video are available as free downloads in my → library.

Jin Shin Jyutsu for Sleep

Jin Shin Jyutsu is an ancient Japanese method of harmonizing life energy through gentle holding of specific points on the hands, wrists, and body. It requires no pressure or equipment and can be practiced while lying down. Many clients report falling asleep during or shortly after a self-help session.

Specific holds – such as holding the little finger (associated with the heart and small intestine meridians) or specific safety energy locks – calm the nervous system and support the transition into sleep. I regularly teach self-help Jin Shin Jyutsu to clients. More information: → About Jin Shin Jyutsu.

4. Foreign Energies and Energetic Interference

This is an area that conventional medicine does not address – yet one that in my long experience in practice frequently plays a central role in persistent, treatment-resistant sleep disorders.

The concept of “foreign energies” falls outside the framework of Western biomedicine, but is well established in numerous traditional healing systems: in shamanic traditions of North and South America, Siberia, and Central Asia, in Tibetan and Chinese medicine, and in many indigenous healing traditions worldwide.

In my work, I use this term for energetic influences such as entities, attached thought forms, foreign energy structures, and also deliberate negative influences (such as curses or forms of black magic), which can bind themselves to a person’s energy field or body. These can disrupt the body’s natural energetic regulation and in turn affect physiological processes – in particular, sleep.

The effects on sleep often follow a characteristic pattern. Clients report abrupt waking without apparent reason, intense or disturbing dreams, and disruption during the falling-asleep process. Also typical are perceptions in the threshold state between waking and sleep – that moment when conscious control loosens. These include:

• the sense of a presence in the room
• visual impressions such as distorted or unfamiliar faces appearing while falling asleep
• pressure on the body or the feeling of being unable to breathe
• perceptions of being touched, pulled, or disturbed
• inner restlessness or fear without a clearly identifiable cause

These phenomena are often not adequately explained by nutritional deficiencies or psychological stress alone, and in many cases show no lasting response to purely pharmacological treatment.

When such energetic influences are the primary cause, their resolution in practice frequently leads to a rapid and marked improvement in sleep – sometimes within a very short time.

Location Matters – Environmental Energetic Interference

Foreign energies do not only affect the person – they can also be present in the sleeping environment itself. A house, flat, or specific room can carry energetic burdens: residues from past occupants, geopathic influences (such as so-called earth rays), or in some cases deliberate negative influences (referred to in traditional cultures as curses or black magic).

These environmental factors affect not only sleep quality but can also impact physical and mental health more broadly. Crucially, they affect all people who regularly spend time in that space or sleep there – not only particularly sensitive individuals.

Space clearings of homes, workplaces, entire properties, farms, and land are a regular part of my practice and frequently represent the decisive intervention – particularly in cases where a client’s personal health work has already been comprehensive, but the living environment has not yet been considered.

Full information on this area of my work, including what foreign energies are, how they attach, and how I work with them, is available here: → Foreign Energies.

5. Sleep Environment and Daily Habits

The sleeping environment and the habits of the hours before bed are a significant and often underestimated factor. This is also the area where conventional sleep medicine offers the most evidence-based approaches – and where simple adjustments can produce measurable improvements relatively quickly.

Blue Light and Screens

The influence of blue light from screens – smartphones, tablets, laptops, and televisions – on melatonin production is well documented. Blue light (wavelength range approx. 450-480 nm) can suppress melatonin secretion by the pineal gland and shift the circadian rhythm later. Studies including those by Charles Czeisler show that intense evening light exposure can significantly delay natural sleep onset.

Most modern devices include blue light filters (e.g. “Night Mode” or “Night Shift”), which are worth activating in the evening. Blue light blocking glasses can be an additional option when screen time is unavoidable. The most effective measure, however, remains reducing screen use in the last hour before bed.

The Hour Before Bed

The transition from an active day into sleep does not happen abruptly – the nervous system needs a period of settling. Stimulating content such as series, social media, or news can keep the sympathetic nervous system active and raise emotional arousal.

The last hour before bed is ideally spent in activities that promote parasympathetic processes: quiet reading, soft or instrumental music, light stretching, exercises such as the Five Tibetan Rites, or self-help methods such as Jin Shin Jyutsu.

The Sleeping Space

The bedroom should be cool, dark, and quiet. Studies consistently show that a room temperature of around 16-19°C is associated with better sleep quality. Even small light sources – standby lights, street lighting, or displays – can disrupt sleep architecture, particularly REM sleep.

With existing sleep problems, it can be helpful to sleep separately for a time, to rule out disruptive factors such as movements, sounds, or differing sleep rhythms. In practice, this measure alone frequently produces a noticeable improvement.

The Mattress

Mattress quality and firmness influence sleep quality. A mattress that is too soft can lead to insufficient spinal support, one that is too firm to pressure points. Studies (e.g. Kovacs et al., 2003) suggest that medium-firm mattresses are advantageous for most people.

6. Toxic Exposures and Broader Health Influences

This area addresses a growing body of evidence that environmental toxins – present in everyday household products, foods, and consumer goods – can affect the nervous system, hormonal balance, and sleep quality.

Thyroid Disruption and Sleep

The thyroid plays a central role in regulating energy, metabolism, and sleep. It responds sensitively to chemical influences. Endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs) – including flame retardants (PBDEs), certain plasticizers (phthalates), per- and polyfluorinated substances (PFAS), and heavy metals such as mercury and cadmium – are described as potential disruptors of thyroid function. When thyroid function is impaired by toxic exposure, the effect on sleep can be significant. Such effects may go undetected in standard laboratory tests, particularly with subclinical dysregulation.

Further articles on specific exposures and their possible effects:

• Health Risks of Essential Oil Diffusers – VOCs and indoor air quality
• Toxic Chemicals in Children’s and Dog Toys – phthalates, flame retardants, and heavy metals
• Artificial Sweeteners and Gut Health – microbiome disruption and its systemic effects
• Risky Dementia Medications – pharmaceutical side effects including on sleep and cognition

Alcohol, Caffeine, and Medications

Caffeine has a half-life of approximately five to seven hours in most adults. This means that a coffee in the afternoon can still have a relevant stimulating effect in the evening. Studies show that caffeine consumed six hours before bedtime can significantly reduce total sleep time.

Alcohol initially acts as a sedative but worsens sleep quality, particularly in the second half of the night. It can reduce REM sleep, promote nighttime waking, and destabilize sleep architecture overall. It can also worsen snoring and sleep apnea, and lead to an early-morning rise in nervous system activity.

Many prescription and over-the-counter medications also affect sleep as a known side effect – including some substances used to treat sleep problems or anxiety. A regular review of medication in consultation with a pharmacist or physician is therefore worthwhile.

Finding Your Way Back to Sleep

Sleep disorders are rarely simple – but in most cases they are also not random. A systematic look at the six areas described in this article often reveals a clear pattern: a combination of factors contributing to the problem together – frequently over a long period, and not always consciously recognized.

In practical work, this pattern often becomes visible faster than expected – provided the attention is directed toward it. Equally, the body responds reliably when its basic needs are met again. Sleep is not a luxury but a central prerequisite for regeneration, emotional processing, immune function, and cognitive performance. When it is stabilized, much else frequently improves alongside it.

A useful starting point is a structured self-assessment: work through the six areas of this article and consider which are most likely relevant in your situation. A comprehensive blood panel can help identify or rule out nutritional or medical factors. It is also worth taking a careful look at the sleeping environment, evening habits, and daily exposures.

If no satisfactory improvement occurs over time despite addressing these conventional factors, it may be worth also bringing the energetic dimension into consideration.

If you would like targeted support in one or more of these areas – whether in the form of emotional clarification and trauma work, work with foreign energies, Jin Shin Jyutsu, or a comprehensive assessment of your individual situation – sessions are available in person in Luzern and remotely.