If you’ve ever spent a few hours being dead tired but unable to sleep at night, or had a pounding headache on which even pills had zero effect—I hope you never have to go through that again. But, if such a situation should arise, try “toe tapping.”
Toe tapping is a simple exercise found to be highly effective for relieving headaches, insomnia, tension, and fatigue. It also works for lower back pain and releasing tension from your hip joints.
Toe tapping restores a state of Suseung Hwagang (“water up, fire down”) in your body by bringing fire energy down from your upper body into your lower body and dahnjon, your energy center located in your core, so that you feel more grounded and centered. Improved blood, oxygen, and energy circulation also adds a healthy glow to your skin and more smoothness in your joints; and stimulating the acupressure points in your feet, which connect to your entire body, makes your whole body refreshed and rejuvenated.
If you have poor energy circulation, the exercise will be tougher than it looks at first. Once you get used to it and open your energy channels, it’ll be a breeze.
I once challenged myself to see how long I could continue the toe-tapping exercise without stopping. I used to think 200 repetitions was a lot, but I kept going for 45 minutes or so that day, an hour and a half the next day, and two and a half hours the day after that.
During the exercise, I felt a lot of burning, especially along the inside of my legs, as I pushed through sensations of stale energy being stuck in my body. If I felt too much pain, I went a little slower, but I kept going until I felt better and I kept trying to move my feet as fast as I could. After a while, though, it wasn’t hard anymore and I could continue without too much effort.
The moment I finished toe-tapping that last day, I felt a huge, continuous sensation of release as waves of energy washed through me, almost as if my body were being buoyed up by the energy and all the cells in my body were diffusing into the space around me. I felt incredibly free and light, and I was energized for days afterward.
It usually takes about 10 minutes to do 1000 repetitions. If you take just 10 minutes every night to do toe tapping before you go to sleep, you’ll sleep deeply, have better rest, and wake up energized and ready to go.
Toe Tapping in 3 Easy Steps:
1) Lie down comfortably with your feet together. Close your eyes and relax your body.
2) Keeping your heels together, swing your feet outwards and inwards so that you are repeated tapping your big toes together and then the sides of your feet to the floor.
3) Move your feet as fast as you can without straining yourself, starting with at least 50 repetitions and gradually increasing the number of repetitions as you practice.
* When you finish, let your body breathe comfortably as you feel subtle vibrations and energy sensations running through your body.