In Part One and Part Two of the Sanctuary of Sleep, I explained some basics to working with chakras and meridians for insight into why you are not sleeping well.
The next important step is trying simple techniques to help your mind, body and spirit release blocks in your energy system and allow sleep to follow. Here are some of my favourite acupressure points, chakra balances and massages and how they can help you. Acupressure is the gentle pressure of your hand or finger tips on acupoints – the points that lie along Traditional Chinese Medicine meridians. Never forget that one of the most powerful healing tools are your own hands! Each technique can be done by you or another person.
Calming and grounding after stress
If you find it difficult to wind down at the end of the day due to stress, or perhaps you are in your head too much then this is the technique for you. It is important to relax and tell your adrenals glands to switch off. By working with the Base chakra, which penetrates through the adrenal glands, and the Kidney meridian, which connects you to your source and clears anxiety, your body is able to de-stress. There are a few ways of doing this:
- Place your hands on the soles of your feet for 5-10 minutes
- Massage your feet
- Place two fingers or one thumb on the point below for 5-10 minutes:
This brings your energy down to Earth which has a grounding and calming effect. Make sure you are breathing slowly.
Helping children to sleep
The lovely aspect of working with children is I find their energy systems clear much quicker than adults! This is most likely due to the less amount of ‘baggage’ they carry. The first two techniques are best for children as you will find they quite like a massage and holding their head feels very comforting and supportive. You will only need to balance them for 1-3 minutes. It’s very empowering to know they can help themselves, so you can teach this technique to your older children. Adding an essential oil such as lavender or chamomile to a carrier oil such as almond or coconut oil will add another layer of healing and enjoyment for your child.
As we re-wire our mind, body and spirit and teach ourselves to be calm and relax, sleep will naturally follow. There are many more techniques that you can try, so start with these and see how you go! Remember to rate your quality of sleep on a scale of 1-10. Each morning, record your night and evaluate your quality of sleep in a week’s time. Email me at kate@holisticbynature.com.au or comment below to let me know how you go!
Here’s some lovely feedback from a mother in Kansas, USA who tried some techniques from Part Three: Techniques to Help You Relax and Sleep.Thank you so much for the advice! I put my hands on her feet during her bath and when I nursed her, and I massaged them when I put her lotion on. She didn’t mind that at all… I think she kind of liked it. She didn’t let me out my hands on her forehead and base of her skull for too long, but hopefully she will get used to it. She’s in bed asleep now… I’ll let you know how it goes. Hopefully we will see some changes soon. It’s been such a struggle getting her to sleep. I’ve tried co-sleeping with her, and that helped when she was younger because she still nursed at night. Thanks for the information and help. I’m so glad I came across your site today!(L.J Kansas, USA)Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! The first night I followed your advice, she slept until 530am. I brought her to bed with me and she slept until 7. I saw her wake up at 330 on our video monitor. She made a tiny noise but just laid there rubbing her hair and went back to sleep! Last night (my 2nd night following your advice), she slept through the night until 630, but stayed in her crib a little longer being sleepy. She kept lifting her head up then laying back down for a bit. I am so grateful for your help and that it seems to be working for us! I will update you next week and let you know how she’s doing! Thanks so much!(L.J, Kansas, USA)The Sanctuary of Sleep series by Kate Pamphilon is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Tina says
Hi Kate
I am 49 years young and for the past 1 week I have been experiencing broken sleep. I fall asleep ok at around 11pm to 1130pm but then, inexplicably, I awaken at around 5am. The first 2 nights though I awoke at 330am and 4am respectively but then settled into a 5am wake up for the past 3 nights. I am a person who really cannot function on less sleep as it leads to irritability and depression. I was thinking it might be the start of peri menopause because this year my period was normal Jan Feb Mar then Apr May June I failed to record it but I know July I missed a period. In August I had my period but then September and so far this month no period. My period is usually regular around 3rd of every month. I am looking for answers to solve this issue naturally. I don’t take any medications at all. I recently started taking veggie & fruit juices and realise that I have been drinking same combo ever morning this week which is a ‘detox juice’. Could that be why I am having a 5am wake up (large intestines)? Maybe need to take a different juice combination?
Thanks so much