P. Sze 
The average adult sleeps between 5 to 9 hours a night, but it turns out that the quality of your sleep may be just as important as the quantity of sleep you get. When I hip periods of low-quality sleep or have tiring days, I often notice myself getting drowsy at earlier hours. A bad night and low energy levels meant my productivity suffered, and I would struggle to stay awake. My solution? I used acupressure points to stay awake!
Energy drinks, deep breaths, and exercise didn’t give me the natural awareness I needed wherever I would get a wave of daytime drowsiness. They made me jittery or even more exhausted. On the other hand, acupressure for staying awake gave me the energy I needed to stay aware, awake, and focused. I have found this simple strategy for fighting drowsiness to be easy and effective, so here is how you can give it a try!
How Can You Instantly Stay Awake?
Changing from a state of sleepiness to instant awareness can be difficult to accomplish, especially if you are lacking proper sleep or are physically exhausted. Sure, coffee and energy drinks, work but they can leave you with even less energy after the caffeine high ends.
Self-applied acupressure has been reported as an effective method for staying awake. Students often use this technique as a discrete way to stay alert in long classes where they have to sit relatively still and often get sleepy. It is believed that this method is effective for increasing awareness because it improves blood circulation and improves energy flow throughout the body.
What Pressure Points Keep You Awake?
While many acupressure points may improve blood flow and mental clarity, a few, in particular, are best suited to keep you awake. These points are the best at heightening your awareness, and they may even help you with a few other things that could improve your ability to stay awake on a daily basis, like resetting your internal clock.
Acupoint: LI-4 (Other Names: Large Intestine-4/He Gu/Joining Valley)
Despite its location in the hands, LI-4 is an acupressure point that affects the head and brain. This point is well known as acupressure for circulation in the hands, and this is because it improves blood circulation in various areas of the body. This improved blood circulation will fuel your brain while also keeping your body alert.
You can locate LI-5 on each hand in the web of skin between the pointer finger and the thumb. It is a bit further into the hand, near the muscle and bone, where you will feel a slight indent. Press here with the opposite thumb for a few seconds and ensure that the pressure is firm.
Acupoint: PC-9 (Other Names: Pericardium-9/Zhong Chong/Middle Rushing)
This is another acupressure point to keep you awake that is located in the hand. PC-9 is commonly referred to as the central hub in English. This point is popular on the hand acupressure points chart as it aids with insomnia. You may be wondering why a point to help you sleep can also help you stay awake, and that is because this point releases stagnant energy, allowing your body to rebalance things like your internal clock, which may be causing you to feel sleepy.
This point is located near the tip of your middle finger. To activate it, you should flex your hand to stretch the fingers apart, then, with the other hand, apply firm pressure to the finger’s tip gently.
Acupoint: GB-20 (Other Names: Gallbladder-20/Feng Chi/Wind Pool)
GB-20 is near the top of the gallbladder channel, placing it in the perfect position to affect the brain. This point is commonly used as acupressure for headaches during pregnancy because it is so effective at relieving discomfort from neck strain and gastric-upset-related headaches. These factors also make GB-20 effective at clearing the brain of any tension or fog that may be causing premature exhaustion.
This point is located high on the back of the neck, near the base of your skull. It is a mirrored point so that you can activate both sides at the same time. Slide both thumbs up the back of your neck on either side of your spine. Close to the base of your skull, you will feel two depressions. Press firmly here while taking deep breaths; you may even incorporate a slight rubbing motion if it is comfortable.
Acupoint: Bl-1 (Other Names: Urinary Bladder-1/Jing Ming/Bright Eyes)
This acupoint is accurately known as the bright eyes point since it rejuvenates the eyes and is even known as an effective facial acupressure point for wrinkles. When you stare at work or a computer screen for too long, your eyes become dry and tired, causing you to feel drowsy, but with this point they will feel bright and wide awake.
Care is to be used when activating this point as it is located at the inner corner of each eye. Place your thumb on the bone at this point and gently press in and up. When you activate this point you, should not feel any discomfort, and you should not be applying pressure to the eyeball in any way.
Acupoint: EM-5 (Other Names: Tai Yang)
The final acupressure point in our list of acupressure points to stay awake is EM-5, which is also known as Tai Yang. Commonly used as an acupressure point for facial paralysis, this point is known to stimulate the autonomic nervous system and jump-start the brain in times of sleepiness.
Tai Yang is located close to the temples and about one finger’s width from the brow bone. This area of the face contains a slight indent where the point resides. When you find that indent apply firm yet gentle pressure for a few seconds. You can repeat this process a few more times for improved awareness.
