Massage Your Ankle Bone for Deep Sleep

What is An Ankle Bone?

Are you having difficulties falling asleep at night? 

It may be because your your talus bone, or ankle bone is distorted.

Talas bone, or ankle bone is heart-shaped bone, located at the center of your ankle.

This bone act as an interface between your foot and your leg. It’s a crucial part of the body for human movements such as standing or walking. 

Side Effects of Misaligned Ankle Bone

And if your ankle bone is out of alignment or distorted, you may experience symptoms like:

• chronic knee ache
• chronic lower back ache
• chronic fatigue 
• stiff shoulders 
• Bunions
• Bad circulation 
• headache

Mr. Takeshi Shimizu, an experienced judo bodywork therapist, was the first in Japan to notice that the misalignment of the ankle bone may be a contributing factor to various unknown symptoms including the above.

He had also discovered through years of treating clients that quality of sleep may be affected.

Structure and Role

He explains that the ankle bone is the only bone in the foot that is not attached to any muscle. This is to achieve free movement like a ball bearing so as to allow smooth walking. 

The downside of the ankle bone being a freely moving bone is that it has not muscular support. As a result, it starts to get distorted the moment you get out of bed and stand up.

And because the ankle bone is not attached to any muscle, you would not feel any pain even if it is misaligned or distorted, which could happen easily to us humans walking on two legs.

Cascading Effects

Since the ankle bone is closely associated with the pelvis, its distortion causes the pelvis to tilt forward or backward, throwing off your centerline out of balance.

• When your ankle bone is distorted forwards, the backside of your body stiffens, causing your pelvis to tilt backwards.
• On the other hand, when your ankle bone is distorted backwards, the front side of your body is strained, making your pelvis tilt forwards.

As a result, your backbone tightens, imacting the autonomic nerveous system that runs along the spine.

The autonomic nerve operates around the clock, 24/7, regulating bodily functions unconcsiously for the most part, such as 

• digestion
• heart rate
• respiratory rate
• body temperature
• functioning of internal organs
• circulation of fluids

So if the autonomic nervous system is affected by the stiffened spine, it goes without saying that your entire body can be thrown off balance. This includes your sleep cycle. 

Self Foot Massage for Better Health and Sleep

The good news is that by correcting the misaligned ankle bones,which is the root cause of the above, you may feel better and be able to sleep well.

You can do this yourself by massaging the 3 locations below.

1. Toes: Loosen them up; they are constricted of movement during the day when you are wearing shoes.

1. Pull your thumb and index finger apart for 5 seconds. Repeat it 5 times. 
2. Pull your index and middle finger apart for 5 seconds. Repeat it 5 times.
3. Pull your middle and ring finger apart for 5 seconds. Repeat it 5 times.
4. Pull your ring finger and pinky apart for 5 seconds. Repeat it 5 times.
5. Pull your index finger and ring finger away from the middle finger for 5 seconds. Repeat it 5 times.
6. Pull your thumb and pinky outward for 5 seconds. Repeat it 5 times.
7. Follow the same steps for your other foot.

https://youtu.be/Xb-rHeNq0es

2. Malleolus (the bony projection on each side of your ankle that looks like a hammer head): the ankle bone is located underneath it. Release tension built up during the day.

1. Grab the lower part of your malleolus on each side, placing your index finger and middle finger immediately below the outer malleolus, and your thum immediately below the inner malleolus.
2. Rotate your ankle inward 5 times, while grabbing your malleolus firmly. Instead of trying to rotate with your hand, try to rotate the entire ankle. 
3. Rotate your ankle outward 5 times, while grabbing your malleous firmly. If your ankles are not rotating smoothly, increase the number of rotation as needed.
4. Follow the same steps for your other foot. 

https://youtu.be/6NHiowNNnVU

3. Heels: Loosen them up thoroughly; they support your body weight all day long.

1. Grab your heel with the opposite hand by wrapping your heel with the palm of your hand, and placing your thumb on the inner side of your foot.
2. Tilt your heel outwards and inwards and repeat this cycle ten times.

https://youtu.be/1os0y9la8YA

The links to Mr. Shimizu's videos are attached for your reference. They are in Japanese, but the visuals should hopefully be enough for you to follow through.

The ideal time for this massage is after taking a bath, when you are all warmed up and your muscles are relaxed.

It is ideal if you can do it 3 times a day, first when you get up in the morning, secondly when you get back home, and finally after taking a bath before going to bed.

But if you don't have time, even once a day for a minute can do wonders.

Visit my website for more information: www.noriko-hasegawa.com

Enjoy!