Allergies are pretty common this time of year and chances are you want to get rid of the bothersome symptoms. Maybe you’ve tried many remedies but nothing seems to work! We sat down with our resident energy guide and spiritual reader, Linda Yoonjin, to see if there were any unconventional ways to deal with seasonal allergies and keep them at bay.
Q: What do you think is the main thing people suffer from during spring time allergies?
Linda: I meet many people around this time who have a lot of sinus congestion—runny nose, itchy eyes, etc.—which sometimes lead to headaches and dizziness in bad cases. It’s already irritating enough to have allergies, but it can be a whole new level when it goes beyond just allergies to affect us physically, mentally, and emotionally. Since people feel really groggy and stuffy during allergy season, it affects their mood at work, home, school and in their personal life, which is overall not a good state to be in. I think the problem is not the allergies themselves, but rather, not being able to overcome them and letting them control us.
Q: Why are those such big issues, and why do they happen?
Linda: First of all, springtime is allergy season because the pollen from plants irritates our immune system, which recognizes it as foreign invasion into our system. Looking past those problems alone, the symptoms we can have like congestion, itchiness, and dryness, can be exacerbated by poor energy circulation. With too much heat being unevenly trapped in the head due to sinus congestion, it can create a vicious cycle that makes runny nose, brain fog, and head stuffiness worse, too.
Q: What do you recommend people do when they experience these symptoms?
Linda: Of course there’s lots of information on the internet about natural remedies and foods we can eat for allergies, but I want to tell you about a very simple exercise that you may have never heard before. It’s called toe tapping, and it brings trapped heat from the head down the body to increase blood and energy circulation to alleviate congestion and sinus irritation. It’s a very unconventional method, but when done right, works WONDERS.
Q: What’s toe tapping?
Linda: When you just look at it on a surface level, toe tapping might not make sense how it could help alleviate allergy symptoms. But from an energetic perspective, the congestion we feel with allergies traps heat in our head, which energetically leads to headaches, dizziness, brain fog and grogginess. What you want to do is release the heat that is trapped there by sending it down the body, and toe tapping helps do that. Where your mind goes, energy follows. So with toe tapping, your mind will go to your feet naturally with the movements, and as a result, the energy will follow and go down.
Q: How does toe tapping help with allergies?
Linda: It works according to an energy phenomenon called
Water Up, Fire Down. This is the optimal energy state of the body, in which you have a cool head and warm core. When we think too much, our energy balance flips upside down to have a hot head and cold core. Have you heard the term being “hot headed?” It describes someone who’s lost control of themselves, and that’s because they’ve lost control of their energy balance. Toe tapping will help bring the hot energy from the head down your body to promote Water Up, Fire Down, which can reduce allergy symptoms.
Q: Sounds great, how do I do it?
Linda: Lie down comfortably either on your bed or on carpeted floor (or a yoga mat). Rest your arms next to your body comfortably with palms facing up and bring your legs together so your big toes are touching. Try relaxing your body as much as you can—it helps to close your eyes to focus on your body better. The movement of toe tapping is the repetition of pointing your toes out to the side then touching your big toes together. Point out to the side, then touch together. I recommend getting into a rhythm without going too slow or too fast. The important thing to remember is to move your whole leg while you tap so you can feel all the way up to your hip joints. A common mistake people make is only moving from the ankle down, but that results in tense legs, which defeats the purpose of bringing circulation to that area. Keep everything loose, and move the whole legs while tapping. I recommend doing this 100 times for three sets, resting after each set to take a deep breath in through your nose and exhale heavy energy through your mouth. Remember to breathe throughout as you do toe tapping, especially when you feel tension come up. There’s no real limit to how many you should do in one sitting. Go for 1,000 if you feel inspired! Just remember to take a break to breathe after each set of 100. You’ll feel your energy sinking deeper and body becoming warmer in your core to decongest your sinuses as you connect with yourself.
Q: Is it good for anything else?
Linda: Yes! Toe tapping really is an easy, one-trick exercise for so many symptoms. It’s great for people with hip, lower back, and knee pain, sciatica, and dizziness (like vertigo) too. Moving the entire leg all the way up to the hip joints loosens the blockages in your lower body and circulates blood and energy there to create heat. This heat in your lower back is really great for activating your kidneys. Go deeper and the heat will spread all throughout your body to raise your core temperature, which boosts your immunity and provides healthy blood flow. Oxygen will flow properly to your cells—making you more awake while relaxing you at the same time. People with chronic cold hands and cold feet especially will benefit from toe tapping, because coldness in your extremities is a clear sign that your body is not circulating energy or blood properly.
Final Q: Where can I learn more about toe tapping?
Linda: We have some great videos on Change Your Energy that show you how to do toe tapping. These videos will also help you experience more advanced versions of it. It’s a very easy exercise to do anywhere that permits you to have some space to lie down. I recommend watching these videos and following along!
Solar Body Method [Special Edition]: Basic Toe Tapping
Solar Body Method [Special Edition]: Intermediate Toe Tapping
Solar Body Method [Special Edition]: Advanced Toe Tapping
Try this exercise and tell us how it felt in the comments below!