Foot soaking #
Place some warm water in a dishpan1 with a handful of salt.2
Sit comfortably on a chair, put your feet in the salt water, and meditate for 5-15 minutes.
Helps address Restless Legs Syndrome and improves sleep quality.345
Can combine with withdrawal of the senses. In fact, with lukewarm water, foot soak could be regarded as withdrawing the feet from the touch and texture of being on a surface.
If your legs still feel restless, try calf raises.
Use cold exposure instead if you need greater relief.
Credit #
This technique is from Sahaja Yoga Meditation.
Notes #
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A half-size steam table pan works great too. ↩︎
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Use table salt 🧂 (sodium chloride) to mimic ocean water. Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) is a great fertilizer for plants. ↩︎
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Haghayegh, S., Khoshnevis, S., Smolensky, M. H., Diller, K. R., & Castriotta, R. J. (2019). Before-bedtime passive body heating by warm shower or bath to improve sleep: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Sleep medicine reviews, 46, 124–135. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2019.04.008 ↩︎
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Aghamohammadi, V., Salmani, R., Ivanbagha, R., Effati Daryani, F., & Nasiri, K. (2020). Footbath as a safe, simple, and non-pharmacological method to improve sleep quality of menopausal women. Research in Nursing & Health, 43(6), 621–628. ↩︎
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Sung, E. J., & Tochihara, Y. (2000). Effects of bathing and hot footbath on sleep in winter. Journal of Physiological Anthropology and Applied Human Science, 19(1), 21–27. https://doi.org/10.2114/jpa.19.21 ↩︎
