Improve your sleep with a Japanese energy technique
I love sleep, more than perhaps someone my age should. In high school, my mother thought I had caught mono since I was napping so often and I used to openly state that I would turn down intimacy for a full night of sleep. My girlfriend is thankful that I’ve grown past this.
Later, I developed a mild bit of insomnia that kick-started my research into “body hacks” as I call them. In my searching, I learned of an ancient Japanese energy trick that puts me to sleep nearly as fast as any sleep aid I’ve ever used. It’s so simple, you might not believe how well it can work to help you drift off to dreamland.
This energy work goes by the name Jin Shin Jyutsu which is similar to modalities like acupuncture and shiatsu. While this can be used to relax at any time, this finger exercise has helped me best at the end of the day:
1. Gently grasp your left thumb with your right hand. The goal here is to think about lightly wrapping rather than gripping with your fist.
2. Loosely hold this for about a minute.
3. Repeat on your index finger, slowly working down the digits before switching to gripping the fingers on your right hand with your left fist.
While this sounds deceivingly simple, the first time I tried it I didn’t even make it to my right hand. To this day I’ve only made it through all 10 fingers a handful of times and even then I’m more relaxed then when I started. Thanks to Dr. Scott La Pidus, M.D. for exposing me to this technique.
Reference: http://skylertanner.com/2008/04/02/improve-your-sleep-with-a-japanese-energy-technique/
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