Foot Reflexology 101 & A 15-Minute Practice For Better Sleep

Reflexology is the therapeutic practice of applying pressure to various points on the feet, hands, face, and ears. Foot reflexology is especially popular since there are nearly 15,000 nerves in your feet alone, making them very sensitive to touch (hence why foot massages feel so good!).

Foot reflexology is similar to a foot massage, but it's more targeted. To do reflexology, you use your thumb and fingers or a small massage ball to apply pressure to reflex points along the foot. In a foot reflexology map (pictured below), every part of the foot corresponds to organs and glands in the body.

Ready to massage your way to a better snooze? The following bedtime reflexology routine can be done solo or as a nurturing ritual with a partner. You can even use these same techniques to help your child go to sleep more easily. Sweet dreams!

1. To begin, sit in a comfortable position in a quiet room. Using a light, absorbent greaseless lotion, massage the feet with squeezing, stroking, kneading, and wringing motions.

2. Next, cross your foot over your knee and hold the ankle firmly. Place the thumb of your other hand on the sole of that foot.

If you have other particular areas of your body that are stressed, you can press the corresponding reflex area or point using the chart above.

4. Finish with another thumb press on the foot's solar plexus point.

5. End with "breeze strokes." Lightly run your fingertips down the tops, bottoms, and sides of each foot in a feathery motion, barely touching the skin. Repeat this several times. It is very soothing to the nerves.

6. Repeat the routine on your other foot.

Certain parts of the feet—also known as reflex points—are thought to correspond to other areas of the body. By stimulating them with reflexology, we are also sending a signal to those inner organs and glands.

While the scientific mechanisms involved in this process are not entirely clear, they might have to do with the peripheral nervous system, which connects our central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord) with the rest of the body and acts as a biological highway of sorts, sending signals between our limbs and brain.

While more research needs to be done on reflexology2, preliminary studies show that it can help decrease systolic blood pressure3 and promote healthy circulation4.