The "Expelling the Venom" exercise (p. 219) releases tension
in the torso and extremities and can calm your entire system.
The "crown pull" (p. 77) releases tension in the head and
upper body. Extend the movements down to the neck and off the shoulders.
The "Smoothing Behind the Ears" exercise (pp. 235 - 236)
relaxes triple warmer meridian. An activated triple warmer keeps all systems on alert.
Another way to sedate the triple warmer that helps with sleep is to hold the triple warmer
neurovasculars at the indent at the front of the neck with one hand (see p. 274) and the
top of the public bone (toward the bottom of the central meridian) with the other. This
simultaneously relaxes triple warmer and central meridian, which governs the front area of
the brain and affects all of the chakras.
The "Separating Heaven & Earth" exercise (p. 248) creates
space and releases tension from the body.
The "Hook-Up" (p. 119) completes the circuitry between the
central and governing meridians, which then serves to bring balance to all of the
meridians, strange flows, and chakras.
If panic or intrusive internal conversations are keeping you up, a very
simple technique is to shift your eyes and look toward your right ear. A deficiency of
inositol, part of the vitamin B-complex, can also be at the root of panic and incessant
inner chatter. This can be determined with an energy test.
To release facial tension, rub the cheekbones with small circular
movements. Move to the bridge of the nose and push your figures up about an inch, and
again with small circular movements, travel across the forehead out to the temples.
Rubbing the points between the frontal neurovasculars and the hairline
breaks up tension within the head that may interfere with sleep.
Holding the frontal neurovasculars with the palm of one hand and laying
your other hand flat across the second chakra simultaneously draws the blood back up to
the forebrain that had gone into the body to handle stress, and at the same time helps the
lower part of the torso to relax.
A Brazilian technique that is surprisingly relaxing, called teffening,
is to scratch very soft and lightly down arms with the fingernails.
The Celtic weave (see discussion beginning p. 179), done slowly and
deliberately, paced with the breath, weaves a protective energy around you that will leave
you feeling more peaceful and ready to sleep.
My late friend Jack Schwartz taught people to imagine that you are
looking at a clock right in front of your face. Imagine you are looking at the 12. Then go
all the way around the circle until you are at 12 again. Now go around again, imagining
that you are winding up the clock tighter and tighter each time you go around, as if the
hands were on a spring. Keep going until you cannot wind it up any tighter. Then let the
spring go so it unwinds and all your tension unwinds with it.
Research has shown that if you are in TOTAL darkness, your brain begins
to produce its own melatonin, which is the body’s own natural sleeping pill. Wearing
a black mask will produce this effect.
This technique takes a bit more time than the others, and it is
particularly effective for chronic insomnia. Place your left hand around the back of your
head until it touching the bone behind your right ear. Press in with your fingers. Place
the palm of your right hand over your forehead (frontal eminence neurovasculars points).
After one to three minutes, move your right hand down and let the palm of your hand rest
on the bottom of your rib cage, with your fingers cupping around the ribs on the right
side of your body. Your left hand is still pushing behind your right ear. Hold for one to
three minutes. Then move your right hand under the right cheek of your gluteus max. Again,
hold for one to three minutes. Repeat the entire sequence on the opposite side (right hand
behind left ear, etc.).
