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Reflexology Rituals for Restful Nights & Deep Sleep · The MODERN YIN Podcast

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  Hey, hey, Yinning at Life Gang. It's Kimberly Roberts, your host
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  here, and I'm so excited to deliver little bits of insight
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  on living your best, most extraordinary life with, of
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  course, Yin yoga, traditional Chinese medicine, reflexology,
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  and even mindset acts. So thank you so much for
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  pressing play on today's episode.
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  Let's do this. Well, hello there, everybody.
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  It's Kimberly, and welcome back to the Yinning at Life podcast,
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  where we slow things down, we breathe a little deeper, and we
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  explore some really cool yet simple ways to feel calm,
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  grounded, and vibrant, especially when we're over the
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  age of 40 and navigating what I consider to be a beautiful, busy
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  season of life. So today I want to talk about
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  one of my favorite topics that I've been kind of diving into a
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  lot lately. If you've been on the podcast
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  and that's sleep, but more specifically how reflexology, I
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  call it feet playing. But you'll realize it so much
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  more than that soon. How reflexology can actually
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  become one of your most powerful self-care rituals to unwind your
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  body, quiet your mind, and invite deep, deep rest and
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  sleep. If you've been tossing and
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  turning lately or waking up around 2:00 or 3:00 AM with your
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  mind already halfway through tomorrow's To Do List, this
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  episode is for you. So let's talk about the sleep
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  struggle after 40. I have talked about this on the
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  podcast before, but let's be honest, we're going to dive a
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  little deeper. Sleep gets trickier as we age.
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  We've got things like hormonal shifts, stress, endless screen
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  time, doom scrolling, the mental list that never shuts itself
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  off. Guess what?
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  It all adds up. Like literally it all adds up.
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  And in traditional Chinese medicine Meridian theory, we say
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  that you're yin energy. That's like the quiet
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  restorative energy. It starts to decline naturally
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  after 40. Real bummer, right?
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  The Yang, that's that active Gogo energy that push and push
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  and do and hustle energy. It begins to dominate.
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  That's a big bummer. So when bedtime comes, the body
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  is ready to rest, but the mind, it's still scrolling, planning,
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  solving, overthinking, ruminating.
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  But here's the thing. Reflexology works beautifully
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  here because it helps rebalance the yin and the Yang through the
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  nervous system and through energetic pathways.
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  So why the feet? Like I don't have a foot fetish
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  here like people say to me all the time.
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  Like you're a foot reflexology therapist, you must have like a
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  foot fetish. No, I don't.
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  I truly honestly think of the feet as the gateway into the
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  body, into the body, into the energy, into the mind, into the
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  nervous system. And here's the thing, our feet
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  are packed with over 72,000 nerve endings.
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  Just like, think about that for a hot 2nd.
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  And every single what we call reflex point or nerve ending
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  corresponds to something in the body, an organ, a system, a
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  part. Like, isn't that cool?
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  Like, your whole body is literally mapped out in your
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  feet, and when you apply gentle intentional pressure, it sends a
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  signal up the spinal cord and into the parasympathetic nervous
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  system. You all know what the
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  parasympathetic nervous system is, right?
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  That's your rest and digest mode, rest and repair, rest and
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  nourish. So I often say to my patients
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  here in my Kanada reflexology practice, like the moment I
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  begin to work with your feet, your entire body starts to melt
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  and your nervous system starts to decompress.
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  Shoulders drop, breath slows down, the mind softens.
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  It's that instant message to the body and the nervous system that
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  says, you know what? You're safe now.
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  You can let go. And quite frankly, most of my
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  patients just fall asleep on me and they make the cutest sounds
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  like it's hilarious. And then they they kind of wake
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  up afterwards and they're like, oh, God, I think I was like
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  snoring or I was making sounds. And I'm like, yeah.
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  And they're like, Oh my God, I'm so sorry.
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  And I'm like, why are you apologizing for something like
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  that? That's actually a gift to me.
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  Seriously, the best gift that you can give me when you're on
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  my table is to fall asleep and to really soak in that
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  parasympathetic state. So let's play a little game
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  here. We've got some reflex points for
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  better sleep that that I'm going to go through.
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  So if you're listening at home right now, you can try this
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  right away. But if you're driving, come on
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  back to this part of the podcast, OK?
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  Because you don't want to be doing this while you're driving.
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  So we're going to stimulate some reflex points.
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  And I'm literally going to show you how easy it is to AKA play
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  with your own feet. So let's talk about the solar
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  plexus reflex point. This is what I often say is like
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  the that reset button. I literally have patients where
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  when I start my treatments with them, I press on this point and
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  they literally I can feel them starting to decompress.
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  So the solar reflex point, solar plexus reflex point is located
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  right in the center of the ball of the foot where the arch and
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  the ball meet. So if you kind of trace a line
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  down between like your second and third toe and you go right
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  to where the ball and the arch meet right in that center there,
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  that's it. So you want to apply gentle
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  circular pressure with your thumb.
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  And this is the important part while breathing slowly, because
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  the combination of the pressure and the breath helps calm your
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  nervous system, relax anxiety that's held in your diaphragm.
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  OK. And they often say, like the
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  solar plexus is like, it's the pit of your belly.
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  So it's like there's a second brain that lives in there.
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  So it's literally like turning it off, right?
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  And we could all use a little bit of that.
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  So in terms of how long do you want to press and make circular
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  motion, I usually say about a minute.
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  And you want to do this on both feet.
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  You can do both feet at the same time or you could do 1 foot at a
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  time, just depends on your preference.
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  Now the next one I want to talk about is the brain reflex point,
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  because let's face it, the brain is always on and let's start to
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  turn it down a little bit. OK, so this point is located on
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  the very top of your toes. You're starting with the big toe
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  and you're going all the way to the baby toe.
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  So right on the very top. OK, this is going to help again,
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  to shift into the parasympathetic state.
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  It's going to help quiet the mind.
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  And if you're a ruminator or an overthinker or overanalyzer,
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  this is going to help. This is also really good for
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  headaches, migraines, or just any kind of like head tension
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  that you have. And it also helps with, you
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  know, balancing your whole body. So again, it's applying gentle
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  circular pressure on the tip of each one of your toes.
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  I say roughly, you want to spend about a minute again on each toe
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  and you're going to do all 10 toes, OK.
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  And I'll tell you, sometimes that alone can be enough to be
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  like, oh, OK, I'm chilling now. The third one I want to talk
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  about, and this is a little bit more towards our yin energy, OK?
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  We want to really keep that yin energy in us.
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  So this is the kidney reflex point and in Chinese medicine
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  Meridian theory, the kidneys are considered are organs of
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  longevity vitality. It's where our vital essence are
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  Jing lives. And this is what predetermines
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  how long we have on this planet in this flesh and bones blood
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  body, right? So the more we're in hustle
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  culture mode of do, do, do, the more we're in our Yang energy.
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  That means the less we're in the yin energy, which makes this
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  point so important to stimulate. So where you're going to go to
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  find this point is you're going to trace a line from underneath
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  your big toe all the way to where the arch and the ball
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  meets right on the medial side of the foot, OK?
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  And you're going to start to make circular pressurized motion
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  both feet. OK, this point is deeply
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  connected to fear, fatigue and that wired but tired feeling.
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  You know what I mean by the wired and tired?
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  Like you're so freaking exhausted.
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  But then you go to sleep and you're like wired like an
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  Energizer Bunny and you're like, great, now I can't sleep.
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  So when you're massaging and stimulating this point before
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  you go to bed, it helps to nourish the body's yin energy
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  and it helps you feel safe, grounded, relaxed, calm.
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  So again, I want to reiterate that as you're working through
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  each one of these points for about a minute on each one,
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  you're taking long, slow, deep breaths and you're literally, I
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  want you to imagine like your energy is sinking from in your
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  head down into your feet. You're releasing the day with
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  every single exhale and every little circular motion.
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  So this is about bringing that yen energy to bedtime so that
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  you sleep better, so that you sleep deeper.
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  For my local Kanata reflexology patients, I always say
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  reflexology is one of the most beautiful gifts you can give
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  yourself. Even a 60 minute treatment once
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  a month helps regulate your nervous system, improve sleep
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  cycles naturally without any supplements or any screens
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  needed. And quite frankly, one hour once
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  a month is so worth it. And it is a compounding
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  treatment in the sense that what I mean that every single time
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  you have a treatment, your nervous system starts to
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  remember, starts to remember what it feels like to
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  decompress, to relax. So the compound ripple effect is
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  that every time you come to see me, you actually decompress
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  faster even before you arrive on my table.
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  Now, if there are some of you that are like, I don't live
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  anywhere near you, but I want to learn more about reflexology and
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  how I can help support my body, not just for sleep, but overall.
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  I've got you. I've got you.
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  So inside the Soulful Yin Yoga app, I've got self-care
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  reflexology techniques for like helping to support organ health,
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  mental health, emotional health, specific body parts, hormonal
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  transitions, and the library is growing and growing.
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  I literally guide you through gentle self reflexology and
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  soothing breath work in these practices.
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  But of course, I also have very calming and deeply nourishing
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  yin yoga classes, all designed to slow your energy for the
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  evening so that you can pop into bed and chill and sleep deeply.
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  You can even listen to some of my TuneIn audios with your
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  earbuds and let your body decompress.
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  So here is a simple sleep ritual that I want to talk about that
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  you can start to incorporate right now from home.
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  Dim your lights at least one hour before bed so you start to
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  produce more melatonin. Bright lights does the complete
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  opposite. OK, you want to rub.
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  Maybe if you've got lavender essential oil or vetiver
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  essential oil, you can mix a little bit of that with a
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  carrier oil like jojoba or almond and massage it into your
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  feet, especially the arches and the and the toes, OK.
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  And then you can go through that little sequence of those 3
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  reflex points. And while you're doing that,
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  you're breathing deeply in through the nose and out through
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  the mouth, kind of like this. And as you're doing that, you
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  can whisper in your mind, I am releasing the day my body is
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  ready to rest and sleep deeply. Over time, if you keep doing
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  just this simple sleep ritual, your body begins to associate
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  that ritual with safety and sleep.
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  And even better, on the Soulfully and Yoga app, I have a
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  free sleep breath work ritual where we do a little bit of
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  pressure point therapy and a little bit of breath work and
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  it's free. So you can go and download the
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  app and right away you get immediate access to free classes
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  and all of which are going to help you to sleep better.
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  Because here's the thing, sleep isn't something that you force,
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  it's something that you allow. And when you care for your feet,
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  it's really like you're caring for your entire body, your
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  entire being. That's why I say like when I
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  work on somebody's feet, it's actually, I don't think of it as
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  the feet, I just think of it as the gateway into their body.
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  And you know, it's really reflexology is really about
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  nourishing the nervous system, hormones, our energy, making
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  sure our yin is in line with our Yang and just literally coming
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  back into balance. So whether you're looking to
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  book your next in person reflexology treatment with me
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  here in Canada, or if you're rolling out your yoga mat with
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  the reflexology and sleep practices inside the Soulfully
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  and Yoga app, remember that you're calm begins from the
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  ground up, meaning your feet. I will link up in the show notes
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  how to book an appointment with me and how to get your free
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  classes on my app. Thank you so much for tuning in.
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  And I wanted to say one other thing.
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  If you loved this episode or any of the other episodes, please
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  take a moment to leave a review because it helps more people
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  discover simple practices for real life Over 40.
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  Take care of your souls because you know what?
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  At the end of the day, they'll take care of you.
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  There is something that is so incredible that's happening in
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  the soulful yin world right now. The Soulful Yin Yoga App.
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  An app that is designed to serve people over 40 who are craving
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  calm, Who are craving better sleep.
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  Who are craving ease in their body, in their minds and in
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  their lives. Who want deep flexibility and
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  mobility in their body. Who want to feel good in their
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  body. Who want to live a life that is
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  beyond extraordinary at the age of 40 and way beyond into that
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  50s, sixties, even the 80's. The Soulful Yin app.
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  I invite you to come in, join the membership and start to
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  explore and discover how Yin Yoga along with reflexology,
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  acupressure, breath work, meditation, and even very
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  exclusive Yin Yoga series that are all designed for people over
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  40 who are craving that simple, peaceful life.
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  Thanks so much again for pressing play on today's
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  episode. I look forward to seeing you in
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  the next one.