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Having decided to attend “Well-Being Day” here in London, I strolled down the conference hall viewing the various exhibitions on display by companies interested in promoting their products and methods related to natural forms of healing.
One very interesting exhibition was that of several bare-foot men and women stretching their feet while someone else seemed to be tickling them! This “tickling” session (30 minutes long) turned out to cost a ghastly £25. Much too much money for a 30-minute tickle!
My curiosity, however, got the best of me. Pulling out a 10-page brochure which seemed to be about foot massages, I was still not that confident that the effects of this method could be as successful as advertised.
I decided to try it out for myself. Having paid the £25 fee, I took off my shoes, stretched myself out on the special bed and the result? I am a believer!
Understanding Reflexology
Reflexology literally means the study of how one part reflects or relates to another part of the body. It is a holistic therapy used for health management. It can also be used for health and personality analysis.
Reflexology is explained as the scientific theory that maps out the reflexes on the feet and hands to all the internal organs and the rest of the body. In other words, certain spots on the feet and hands have an energy link to other parts of the body. By applying acupressure using massage-like techniques to the feet and hands, all other body parts of the body will be positively affected.
Reflexology is used for several purposes:
- As a hands-on natural healing method: The feet, hands and sometimes ears are worked on to create relaxation, ease pain, and stimulate the body's ability for self-healing.
- As a tool for health analysis: Reflexologists are able to recognize many types of foot ailment, thus giving them the capability to refer patients to the proper practitioner. They are also capable of discerning the condition of the various organs by finding tender reflex spots on the hands and feet.
- As a personality analysis tool: Some practitioners are capable of discerning things about the personality of an individual by observing the shapes, lines, and conditions of the feet and hands. This isn't technically considered within the scope of reflexology, however it is quite harmless and can be surprisingly accurate!
How it works
Since the body works as a whole unit, reflex points can actually be found in many places of the body. In other words, your body is all connected; you cannot isolate any part of the body completely without it ceasing to function. The holistic practitioner understands this “whole” concept and may utilize this knowledge to create natural therapies that apply to the whole body. There are several practices that map out reflex areas:
- Foot, hand, and ear reflexology.
- Bowel reflexes. Holistic practitioners also believe that the bowel also contains reflex points. This means that irritation or pain experienced in one part of the body may be linked to stagnation or some type of problem existing in the bowel!
- Iris reflexes or iridology. This fascinating study is based on the idea that the iris of the eye reflects the entire body through the central nervous system; similar to how a computer screen or a TV projects an image.
- Body reflexology. This is basically the system that maps out reflex points located in the various areas of the body that when pressed will affect a different area of the body.
The human body being one unit, affecting one part will eventually affect other parts as well. Whatever we are exposed to or whatever we ingest has some effect on every part of the body. Taking care of one part of the body will thus have a positive effect on the unit as a whole.
Reflexology is not just fancy footwork. In fact, many reflexologists are adamant that no one should call their practice a foot rub, or just foot and/or hand massage.
Zone Therapy
To help illustrate how every part of our body is interconnected we can compare our body to the globe we live on. The globe is one whole organism just as our body is one whole organism. We affect our earth's atmosphere by what we do on earth just as we can affect our minds by having our feet worked on. However, just as the earth requires a map to help us define where we are going, we need a map of the reflex points of the feet and hands to understand and stimulate the areas we want to work on.
There are many ways to chart or map the feet as related to the whole body. Charting or dividing the body conceptually into sections helps us understand how each section works. Once we figure out all the sections, the whole makes more sense.
On top of just mapping out the reflex points to corresponding organs on the soles of the feet and palms of the hands, there is another theory that reflexology encompasses: the belief that there are invisible pathways of energy that run vertically along the body. These energy flows or lines are called zones.
Imagine your body tattooed with pin stripes that run the length of your body from your toes on up to the top of your head. Each of those pin stripes forms a zone.
It is important to understand the theory of zone therapy, because disease tends to run along these lines. For example, diabetes is a disease primarily caused by malfunctioning of the pancreas. Take a look at the zone therapy diagram. The area where the pancreas would lie is located between zones three and four. All the related complications with diabetes include problems with the kidneys, also located along zones three and four (on both sides), and the eyes, which are again in zones three and four.
Each zone or section is linked to each organ or body part along the same meridian. A break or stagnation anywhere along these lines can disrupt the flow of energy to an organ, which might lead to malfunctioning of the organ. Breaking up these blocked energies with reflexology sessions or zone therapy sessions works by restoring proper energy and blood flow. This, in turn, helps restore proper energy to the organs.
Does it hurt?
Reflexology works by applying pressure to certain parts of the feet and hands, thus stimulating the corresponding organs. “Tender” areas pinpoint the corresponding organs that need help. Reflexology points may be tender because at any given time we have a certain amount of toxins flowing throughout our bodies. These toxins and other chemicals are considered waste, which the body cannot or has not yet eliminated. Frequently these toxins can settle along certain zones and interfere with the energy flow to the rest of the organs along the zone pathway.
Walking on “CRUNCHES”
“Gravity sucks”; strictly speaking this is true. Most of the time we are either standing on our feet or walking, with the feet thus at a lower position than our head. This position helps the toxic waste to settle at the end of our nerves on the bottom of our feet resulting in what we might refer to as “crunches”. These residual toxins consist of uric acid crystals and pesticide residues, and when you apply pressure to them you might be able to hear them actually crunch. Once these crystals are broken up they can be carried out by the blood stream and eliminated through our natural elimination channels.
Ancient Healers on the Nile
It appears that ancient Egyptian doctors were aware of the benefits of foot and hand reflexology. One piece of evidence was revealed in a recently discovered ancient pictograph on the wall of the tomb of Ankhmahar, located at Saqqara in Egypt. The tomb was occupied by the body of an Egyptian doctor dating back to about 2500B.C. The pictograph demonstrates two Egyptians giving and receiving reflexology treatments. One of the therapists is working on a foot and the other therapist is working on the hand. The inscription is said to read, “Don't hurt me.” The practitioner's reply, “I shall act so you praise me.”
The fact that reflexology treatments are depicted in the tomb of a doctor lends credence to the idea that the practice was used as a healing art since the times of ancient Egypt.
Sources:
Reflexology Organizations
Reflexology Charts
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