Skip to main content

Natural Awakenings Healthy Living Magazine

Foot Reflexology Can Help With Sleep

In today’s stressful world, restful sleep is a precious commodity. World events, work deadlines, late-night screen time and general modern stress can all contribute to wide-awake nights and fitful sleep. It is hard to relax when the brain and nervous system are working overtime.

To calm down, exercising during the day, turning off screens well before bed, reading a calming book, meditating, and taking herbal remedies or teas are all good ways to start. Some people resort to medications which may or may not put them to sleep and most likely have unwanted side effects.

Sometimes the tried-and-true sleep inducers just don’t work because stress has put the nervous system into overdrive. A good way to calm down the nervous system before it becomes chronically hyper is to have regular foot reflexology, because it soothes the sympathetic “fight-or-flight” nervous system. This allows bodily functions like rest, relaxation and digestion to work better, resulting in a healthier body and better sleep.

Many paths can lead to the sometimes-elusive good night’s sleep.  Foot reflexology can calm down the brain, soothe rattled nerves and enable sleep, all in one therapy.

Denise Held, RN, a certified Reflexolo-Chi foot reflexologist, has office hours at the Natural Healing Center, located at 2002 Hogback Rd., Ste. 14, in Ann Arbor. For more information, call 734-649-2891, email [email protected], or visit A2Reflexology.com.