Stress Awareness Month: How Reflexology Reduces Stress & Anxiety

Feeling stressed, anxious or completely overwhelmed? You’re not alone. April is Stress Awareness Month — a gentle reminder that it’s okay to pause, breathe, and look after your mental and emotional wellbeing. And if you’ve been carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders lately, we want to share with you how reflexology might just be the soothing support your body and mind need.

At ABWR, we believe in slowing down, reconnecting with yourself, and nurturing your nervous system. Reflexology is a gentle yet powerful therapy that does exactly that helping to reduce stress, ease anxiety, and create space for deep rest and healing.

Why Stress Impacts Your Whole Body

Stress isn’t just something you “feel” in your mind. It affects every part of your body. When you’re under pressure or feeling anxious, your body goes into fight-or-flight mode, releasing hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. Over time, this constant state of alert can lead to:

• Sleep problems and insomnia
• Muscle tension and chronic pain
• Hormonal imbalances
• Digestive issues
• Mood swings and emotional fatigue
• Weakened immune system

If you’ve ever felt “wired but tired,” snappy for no reason, or emotionally drained by the smallest tasks... that’s the stress talking to you.

How Reflexology Helps Reduce Stress & Anxiety

Reflexology is a deeply calming and holistic therapy that works by applying gentle pressure to specific points on the feet, hands, or face, each corresponding to different organs, systems, and areas of the body. It encourages your nervous system to switch from “fight or flight” to “rest and digest,” helping you feel more balanced and calm.

So what can reflexology support with to reduce stress and anxiety?

1. Deeply calms the nervous system
Reflexology activates the parasympathetic nervous system (your body’s natural relaxation response). This helps slow your heart rate, ease muscle tension, and regulate your breathing. You’ll leave your treatment feeling lighter, calmer, and more grounded.

2. Improves sleep quality
Poor sleep and stress go hand-in-hand. Reflexology helps rebalance your circadian rhythm and supports the production of melatonin, the hormone responsible for restful sleep. So if your mind’s been racing at 3am, reflexology can help bring your sleep back into harmony.

3. Boosts mood and emotional wellbeing
By helping to regulate hormones and improve circulation, reflexology can lift your mood, reduce anxiety, and increase your resilience to stress. It gives your mind a bit of a breather and provides a safe space for your emotions to settle.

4. Helps with physical symptoms of stress
If stress has been showing up in your body in the form of headaches, jaw tension, gut issues, and fatigue, reflexology supports the systems that are feeling out of sync and helps reduce tension in your body.

3 Reflexology Points We Focus On to Ease Stress & Anxiety

During your reflexology session at ABWR, we make sure each treatment is personalised to you and your specific needs. This is especially important if you're feeling overwhelmed, anxious, or out of balance. There are several key reflex points on the feet that we’ll gently stimulate to help your body calm down, regulate, and reset. Here are three of them you might find we focus on during your treatment:

The Solar Plexus Point (Centre of the Foot Arch)
This point is all about your inner calm. The solar plexus is a major nerve centre that plays a huge role in how your body handles stress. We apply gentle pressure here to help release tension and bring about a deep sense of relaxation. Some clients say this is where they feel a lovely emotion of ‘letting go’.

The Head & Brain Reflex (Tips of the Toes)
If your mind feels foggy or overactive, this is an area we focus on. By working the tips of the toes, we help support your brain and nervous system, encouraging mental clarity, reducing overwhelm, and calming the internal chit chat your brain feels like it's having. It’s like a mini-reset button for your mind.

The Adrenal Glands Reflex (Upper Inner Arch of the Foot)
Your adrenal glands are responsible for producing stress hormones like cortisol. If you’re feeling wired but tired or emotionally burned out, this point on the foot is key to work on. Stimulating this area helps bring your body back into balance, lowers stress levels, and regulates your natural energy.

We work with these points, and others, by using gentle, soothing techniques to calm the nervous system and encourage your body to move from “fight or flight” into full rest-and-repair mode.

De-stress with AB Wellness & Reflexology

If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed, anxious, or simply stretched too thin, reflexology could be the support your body’s been calling out for. Stress Awareness Month is the perfect time to pause, check in with yourself, and give your nervous system some well-deserved TLC. You can book your reflexology session with us here in Chapelton, Aberdeenshire, by clicking here. Your wellbeing matters and we are here to serve as a sanctuary to relax, release, and reset. Gift vouchers are also available if you know someone who could do with a little calm.