Are Your Worries Keeping You Awake?

It’s been wonderful to be back in my practice and to connect with my clients again.  One of the biggest problems presenting right now is that people are not sleeping.  The concerns surrounding our family’s health, our livelihoods, the ongoing doom and gloom in the media, the uncertainty of what the future holds is causing a lot of anxiety… and this is effecting our sleep.  I’m hearing the same story over and over… “I just lie there all night long worrying about things and just can’t sleep” or “I fall asleep ok but wake up in the middle of the night and then just can’t get back to sleep.”  This is a massive concern for me and I know I can help.

Sleep, at this time, is an absolute MUST.  Lack of sleep or fatigue has a detrimental effect on our immune system. Melatonin, the hormone that is produced while we sleep, plays a huge role (if not the GREATEST role) in strengthening our immune system.  Can you now see why you HAVE TO SLEEP.

This is how Reflexology can help you!!

It’s terribly hard to struggle with continued lack of sleep.  It leaves you feeling horribly fatigued, brain foggy, irritable and just down right miserable.  Lack of sleep can be debilitating and will affect you on a physical and emotional level. Your days feel endless as you try and function as well as you possibly can. It leaves you trying to fight off exhaustion all day long as you battle to be present for yourself and your family.

A good night’s sleep is imperative for good health.  While you sleep your body repairs and regenerates tissue, builds bones and muscle and strengthens the immune system. This is why often, if you have been experiencing long periods of insomnia, we may become ill.  Emotionally, good quality sleep helps relieve stress and anxiety and boosts brain function.  Lack of sleep has been known to push people over the edge and has been used as a form of torture throughout time.

One of the side effects of a reflexology treatment is a good night’s sleep.  It has an immediate positive effect on the circulatory and nervous system, ensuring oxygen is delivered to all cells of the body and the parasympathetic nervous system is switched on.  That’s the opposite of Fight Flight, known as Rest and Relaxation.  Just the thing we want switched on when struggling with the symptoms, anxiety and stress of not sleeping.

There are certain reflexes on the feet that need to be focused on to regulate the sleep cycle; these being the pituitary gland, the pineal gland, the adrenal glands and thyroid gland as well as the solar plexus to calm you down and encourage deeper breathing. Not only that, but the time of night you are waking relates to a meridian that will also be stimulated during a reflexology treatment. Here’s an example or two… the liver meridian becomes active between 1am and 3am. This is when the liver dumps toxins and works hard to rejuvenate itself.  Are you waking up between 1am and 3am?  Is it time to help your liver a little bit? Reflexology will help you do that.  Or do you wake up at 4.30am and then that’s it for the rest of the day? That’s your lung and colon meridians governed by the emotions “grief and worry!”

What else can you do to ensure you have a better nights sleep?  Here are a few tips:

> DO NOT read social media before going to bed or, even more importantly, while lying in bed trying to fall asleep.
> Do not look at your cell phone screen. Turn your cell phone off and do not leave it on your bedside table.
> Practice 5 minutes of deep breathing while lying with your eyes closed.  Breathe in for the count of 6 and out for the count of 8.  Reduce the count if this is too much for you.
> Download a meditation app, there are many, and do a 10 – 15 minute sleep meditation.  Most of the apps have what they call “sleep stories” which are very helpful.
> Add a few drops of good quality lavender oil to a diffuser and allow that to burn next to you as you sleep.
> Do not drink caffeinated drinks after 2pm.
> Eat dinner a little earlier, around 6pm, so your body doesn’t need to be actively engaged in digestion as you’re trying to sleep.
> Take a hot shower or enjoy a warm bath just before bedtime to help your body relax.

Wishing you all a restful night of deep sleep!

With love
Michelle xxx