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Tapping Your Toes Can Improve Your Health

by | May 23, 2024 | Anxiety, Self-care, Sleep

As our “One Good Thing” series continues, we share a potent self-care practice with our community.  It’s called toe tapping and it’s a super simple, super accessible movement that offers a host of health benefits, to name a few:
  • Relieve restless leg syndrome
  • Relieve anxiety
  • Stimulate lymph, lymphatic flow
  • Support immune system
  • Self-acupressure treatment for lower body
  • Provide grounding
We hope you enjoy learning about how to do it and how it might help you.

Toe Tapping Exercise – How To 

  • Starting position: Lie flat on your back, legs extended long, heels together, let your toes relax out to the side
  • Movement when tapping: With movement coming from the hips, bring toes together, tapping at the midline, then releasing outward
  • Have fun as you keep it going: queue up your favorite tunes (preferably with a toe tapping beat) and keep it going for a song or two, rotating at the hips, with your ankles and knees relaxed and uninvolved

Toe Tapping – Specific Applications

  • For restless leg syndrome, it’s recommended that you do this nightly, before sleep, for about 5 minutes.  It’s also helpful in the moment if an episode arises.
  • For anxiety, it’s recommended that you practice the exercise and become accustomed to it for about a month, during times when you are not feeling anxious.  After that, you can rely on it during anxious times to regulate your nervous system and bring ease.
  • For chronic pain, it’s safe to do this, but limit the time to about 2 minutes – in other situations, approximately 5-10 minutes per day is advised.
Many traditions utilize movement/contact like this for healing and energizing the body.  Massage therapists rely upon a technique called tapotement to deliver similar tapping strokes.  Many forms of bodywork, shiatsu, chi gong, tai chi and martial arts include techniques of tapping and otherwise vibrating the body.  Even astronauts are trained on vibrating equipment that “taps into” this same healing and strengthening response. You won’t need any special equipment though….you can do this lying in bed or at the beach.
We’ve included a few videos if you are interested in learning more:
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At Satori Integrative Medicine Clinic, in addition to ketamine infusions, we utilize conventional and alternative modalities to help our patients be the best they can be, given what they have and where they’re starting. We offer advanced nutrient therapy, treatment for complex pain, integrative medicine, and medical acupuncture.  Dr. Stoner believes there are many paths to health. Her approach to patient care is to work with the patient to choose the science-based tools from a full range of medical traditions and alternative/complementary modalities that optimize their individual mental and physical health.

If you or someone close to you would benefit from our services, please contact us today to schedule an appointment and/or learn how we can help you awaken to a new life.  We will work with you and your other health and wellness providers to truly integrate your care.  We specialize in treatment for those suffering from major depression, the depressed phase of bipolar disorder (bipolar depression), postpartum depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), pain syndromes such as fibromyalgia and complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), also known as reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD), and addiction.

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