Why Summer Can Leave You Feeling Tired but Still Switched On

You know that feeling—it's 9 p.m., you're completely exhausted, but your mind won't stop spinning. Your body is tired, but you're wound tight.

Summer amplifies this feeling. Summer is a disrupter - in both a good and challenging way. The long evenings, extra heat and different routines means the harder you push, the harder it becomes to settle at night.

Many women, especially those juggling teens, ageing parents, work and all the invisible bits of family life, notice that summer leaves them feeling tired but strangely unable to switch off. It's so frustrating when you want to rest, but it evades you.

If you're like us, the holidays, lots of visitors, eating later meals, and family plans throw things into a tizzy. You may find yourself reaching the end of the day depleted, shallow breathing and and a mind that keeps circling.

The Pattern Behind Feeling Tired but Wired

It's a pattern of overstimulation. Your body is tired, but your system has been running fast for so long that it doesn't easily shift into rest mode.

Chinese Medicine offers a helpful lens. It sees this as a mix of depletion and stuck, overheated energy. In simple terms, your cooling, calming reserves are running low, while your energy is still moving in an agitated way. That can leave you feeling both drained and restless at the same time.

Why Simple Evening Habits Work Better Than Big Routines

In Chinese Medicine, the feeling of being tired but wired is linked to an imbalance between our Kidney (Water) energy and our Liver (Wood) energy.

Essential oils are viewed as the pure, concentrated Qi (life force energy) of the plant. As an acupuncturist, I advise my patients to work out the easiest way to use these oils during the Summer. If it is easy .. you will do it!

I love to inhale an oil from the bottle, as this works for me. Inhaling these oils will quickly shift your nervous system into a calmer state.

I also apply to specific acupuncture points to restore harmony.

This is why big, perfect evening routines are not always the answer. When you're already tired, the last thing you need is a long list of things you should be doing before bed. A simple, repeatable pause works better. It helps your body recognise that the day is ending. It creates a small bridge between the busyness of the day and the quieter feeling you want at night.

Choosing Oils for a Simple Evening Routine in Summer

We need to consider both cooling (Kidney Yin) and soothing (Liver Yang), so choose one oil from each section and you are ready to go! Essential oils help keep this simple. You can match what you reach for to how you actually feel that evening.

Cooling oils are useful when you feel hot, restless, emotionally tender, or overstimulated.

Soothing oils are helpful when tension is sitting in your chest, shoulders, jaw, or thoughts.

You don't need lots of options. Just a few that feel familiar and easy to use.

Cooling Oils to Reach for When You Feel Overstimulated

These are our favourites for Kidney Yin - to Cool and Nourish.

Lavender is often the first oil people think of, and it earns that place. It has a gentle, cooling quality that helps take the edge off a noisy, busy day. If you feel a bit frayed around the edges, this is a lovely one to reach for.

Rose feels softer and more nurturing. It can be especially supportive if you feel emotionally tender, stretched thin, or in need of a bit of softness at the end of the day. Sometimes scent can help us come back to ourselves more quickly than words can.

Geranium is another beautiful summer choice. It has a balancing feel to it and can be especially effective when you feel scattered, warm, or a little irritable. It brings a sense of steadiness without feeling heavy.

Soothing Oils for Tension, Irritability, and a Busy Mind

These are our favourites for Liver Qi Stagnation - to Move and Soothe.

Bergamot is a good choice when stress feels like it is sitting in your chest or when your thoughts are looping. It has a bright quality, but it's also soft and settling, which can help you feel less mentally gripped by the day. It has a way of dispersing the tense energy and clears your heat.

Camomile is gentle and comforting. It suits evenings when you feel prickly, tired, or like your body is holding on to the day in your shoulders, jaw, or belly. It can make rest feel a little more accessible. It's used to harmonise Liver energy, therefore soothing nervous tension and emotional volatility.

Lemongrass can be surprisingly helpful when your mind feels cluttered and you need help mentally setting the day down. It brings clarity and lightness, which is useful when irritability and mental noise are what stop you from settling. It's interesting to know that Lemongrass is used as a "tendomuscular" oil to relax tense, overactive muscles.

A Simple Evening Routine for Women Who Feel Tired but Can’t Switch Off

Here is a simple five-minute routine. We love the idea of reinstating the ‘evening’ - the gap between our working day and downtime/family time. Use this five minutes to think about yourself...yes yourself...only yourself (it is just five minutes!).

Find a quiet spot, whether that is your bedroom, the bathroom after everyone else has finished in there, or even the garden if the evening air feels good. Sit down or lie down and let yourself pause. Take three slow breaths, making the exhale a little longer than the inhale. This small shift can help your body start to recognise that it is safe to soften.

Then choose one cooling oil to cool Kidney Yin and calm your system. Either inhale deeply or massage the oil into Kidney 1 Acupuncture point, called Yongquan. To find this point, curl your toes, then find the deepest depression on the sole of your foot. Press the point breathe for a few minutes, imagining the oil grounding your wired and restless mind, calming and cooling your body.

Next, open your second oil, the soothing one, to soothe stuck Liver energy.

Either inhale deeply or massage the oil into Liver 3 Acupuncture point, called Taichong (find this point on the top of your foot, in line with your big toe joint, between your big toes and second toe), breathe for a few minutes, imagining the oil moving stuck energy and soothing your body.

Then simply breathe. Notice whether your jaw loosens, your shoulders drop, or your breathing deepens just a little. That is the whole thing. No complicated steps. No pressure to do it perfectly. Just a small ritual that helps your body move from day mode into evening mode. If you would like more simple, seasonal ideas like this, get weekly wellness tips here.

Let Your Evening Routine Become the Bridge into Night

When you feel tired but can't switch off, the answer is not usually to try harder. Create a transition. A small evening moment that is so helpful, especially in summer. This isn't about adding more to your life. Often the simplest things are the ones we actually use, and those are the ones that help the most.