Forget sleep aids and sleeping pills! If you’re having difficulty sleeping, consider the 5 pressure points to help with insomnia.
You’ve read right – there are indeed ways to beat insomnia that do not require you to resort to sleeping pills! If you have insomnia, not to worry; you’re not alone. Insomnia is a very common sleep disorder where sleep is difficult to achieve. And even if you can successfully fall asleep, you wake easily and can’t get back for the rest of the night.
If you suffer with insomnia, you know very well the negative impacts it has on your daily life. Work becomes more difficult and the quality is compromised and household chores become impossible to complete. Worse yet, due to inadequate sleep, stress and anxiety begin to creep in. The daily recommendation of seven to nine hours of sleep is but a dream – a dream you can’t even enjoy because you’re not actually sleeping!
There are cases where insomnia is just a temporary problem. Short periods of insomnia that last for a few days or weeks can happen and usually resolve by itself. But, some people suffer with insomnia for months, if not years, at a time.
Acupressure for insomniacs
Don’t despair – there is good news for insomniacs. People with insomnia can now turn to acupressure for relief. While the treatment is still considered an alternative medicine, many people swear by its beneficial effects. If you’re not familiar, acupressure makes use of physical touch to stimulate the pressure points that correspond with the different facets of physical and mental health.
Certainly, we encourage you to visit a professional for the best, most effective acupressure treatment. However, it is something you try on your own by stimulating certain pressure points on your body. Acupressure has a range of positive effects and helping you get the sleep you need – fall asleep faster and stay asleep – is only one.
The 5 pressure points for insomnia are as follows:
1. Spirit Gate
Located below the pinkie finger, down the edge of your palm, at the crease of your outer wrist, is the Spirit Gate. To treat insomnia, look for the small, hollow space in this area. Apply pressure gently either in a circular or up-and-down movement. Continue doing this for 2 to 3 minutes, then gentle pressure on the left side of the point for a few seconds and then hold the right side. Repeat on the other side of your other wrist.
2. Three Yin Intersection
This point can be found on the inner leg, just above the ankle. For insomnia treatment, look for the highest point of your ankle. Count four finger widths above your ankle on the inside of your leg. Locate the point and apply deep pressure slightly behind your biggest lower-leg bone. Massage with circular or up-and-down motions for 4 to 5 seconds.
Not only does massage of these points help induce sleep, it also helps with menstrual cramps and pelvic disorders. Do NOT do this if you are pregnant since it also induces labour.
3. Bubbling Spring
Bubbling Spring is located on the sole of your foot. If you look at your sole, you there is a little depression that appears on top of the centre of your foot when you curl your toes inward. For insomnia, lie on your back and bend your knees in a way that you can reach your feet with both hands. Take one foot in your hand and curl your toes, feeling for the depression on the sole of your foot. Apply firm pressure on this area and massage for a few minutes using a circular motion or an up-and-down motion. Stimulating this point grounds your energy and induces sleep.
4. Wind pool
You can find the Wind Pool at the back of your neck. To find it, try to feel for the mastoid bone behind the ears and follow the groove around to where the neck muscles attach to the skull. Using this pressure point, clasp your hands together and gently open your palms with your fingers interlocked so that your hands can create a cup-like shape. Apply a deep and firm pressure toward the skull using your thumb. Again, use a circular or up-and-down motion to massage this point for 4 to 5 seconds.
Aside from treating insomnia, this can also help to reduce respiratory symptoms, like coughing. It can also reduce stress and calm the mind.
5. Inner Frontier Gate
This point is found on the inner forearm between two tendons. You may ease insomnia by turning your hands over so that your palms are facing up. Take one hand and count two finger widths down towards the crease of your wrist. Put a steady downward pressure between two tendons located here and then apply a circular or up-and-down motion for 4 to 5 seconds.
Acupressure on this point helps not only to put you to sleep, but it can soothe nausea, headaches, and stomach pain.
Skeptical? If you’re struggling to sleep, there’s nothing to lose if you try. Best of all, it won’t cost you anything! Besides, you may also feel the other benefits of the process. Massage on of the acupressure points approximately 15 minutes before you go to bed.
