Yesterday I was tired and out of sorts. A string of sleepless nights had finally caught up with me, and my focus was purely on putting one foot in front of another to get me closer to bedtime. My planned new thing of learning some basic philosophy was definitely not going to cut it, instead, I found something new that might help me drift off to sleep: reflexology.
I found an interesting article on Mind Body Green on how to use reflexology to aid deep sleep, which was just what I needed.
Although I’d normally say I’m open to anything (I think the past 6 months have proven that!), I can be a bit sceptical when it comes to alternative medicine. I gave Reiki a good try a few months ago, and do get a lot of benefits from practising Qi Gong and Tai Chi but I’m not quite on board with the idea of the alignment of chakras and chi energy. However, I really do like the idea of everything in our body being connected: I know that a headache feels better if I pinch the fleshy bit between my thumb and forefinger for example, so I was thought this could be interesting to explore.
I slowly ran through the series of exercises from the article: gently kneading my foot, then pressing certain reflex points to relax the different areas of my body, before lightly brushing my fingers over my feet to calm the nerves. I have to admit, it felt a little silly at first but it felt really relaxing. My poor feet could finally unwind, and my body and mind felt a little heavier and more prepared for sleep than it had done in a few days.
Unfortunately, I still had a terrible sleep, but this was so nice and relaxing that I’m going to do it again tonight, and try and incorporate it into a bedtime routine. I’m not sure if the reflexology worked, but at the very least my feet are finally getting a bit of love and attention, and I think that’s worth keeping up.
New Day, New Thing 