Research has shown that reflexology directly stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system. Eighty percent of our parasympathetic nervous system is our vagus nerve, so it can help with heart rate, digestion, and overall relaxation.
Reflexology is based on the Chinese medicine belief in Qi which is our vital energy. Qi flows through our bodies differently, but when we are stressed, it tends to be blocked, and it can be blocked in certain areas of the body.
In Chinese medicine, different parts of our body correlate with different specific reflexology or pressure points. The vagus nerve point for your hand is right inside of the pinky, for example. This is great because it’s so accessible during the course of your day.
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How can you stimulate the vagus nerve via this hand reflexology point?
Place pressure on the inside of your 5th finger, your pinky. Start with a sustained pressure for approximately 30 to 60 seconds.
After that, make small circles in that area, while keeping pressure on the skin.
Lastly, you can use feather-light strokes back and forth. You can perform this for 30 to 60 seconds.
You might notice that as you’re doing this, you may experience some form of relaxation. This could be a yawn, sigh, swallow, or simply a sense of calmness.
Just like all of the other hacks that we have spoken about thus far, this is yet another simple way for you to regulate your nervous system during the day. Anytime you’re feeling stressed, you can easily do one of these three techniques, or all of them, to create a relaxation response. If this was helpful, please make sure to incorporate it into your lifestyle.
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