Reflexology: It's More Than Just a Foot Massage

For just over a year now, as part of my new health and wellness plan, I have been using reflexology. I try to go once a week for the hour-long treatment; if I miss a week, I can feel a difference. Before I go on about my personal experience, let me explain what reflexology is for those of you who are new to the concept.

Reflexology is for people seeking an alternative healing method that they can use in addition to traditional medicine to heal faster. Did you know that there are spots on your hands and feet that correlate to different parts of your body? A reflexologist can gently apply pressure by massaging, pushing, pressing, or squeezing different areas of your feet or hands to promote healing. If an area on your hands or feet is tender then it is highly likely that the body part that correlates to that area has an issue.

If you do a search on the internet ,you can find many versions of the reflexology charts available. I found a website with interactive hand & feet charts showing the correlation of the different body parts to different areas of the hand and feet on the publisher, Dorling Kindersley's Web site: click here.

If this is your introduction to reflexology you may find it a little mind boggling that by having our feet or hands rubbed we can find relieve from pain in other areas of our bodies. You should know right away, reflexology is more than a foot rub. When a trained reflexologist works on your feet or hands, they are using a form of energy healing.

Bonnie Dailey, my friend and reflexologist is very intuitive and uses this ability to listen to an inner voice that tells her where and when to apply pressure and how much pressure to apply. In fact, when she is working on my feet her hands place themselves in such a way it looks as though she is playing a stringed instrument. Her head tilts as she listens and plays her inner music. It is fascinating to watch her work.

Since I have several chronic illnesses, it's not all fun and games for me when I have a session. At the time, I first started with Bonnie most of the areas of my feet were tender. Some areas felt like I had bubbles under my skin, other areas felt like small pieces of cut glass had lodged themselves into my feet, and there were the areas that were just tender to the touch. Working through these areas was a painful process, but it was worth it to feel better.

These days I am happy to report that many areas of my feet are not tender; however I still have my trouble spots. I know that I feel healthier than I did a year ago, my headaches aren't as frequent, my sinuses are clear most of the time now and I am able to move about a little easier. I still have issues with mind fog and lacking in energy. After I have a reflexology session, I feel lighter and my energy flows better. If we are not able to meet for a couple of weeks - I start to feel very listless.

I feel that soon I will be able to have a reflexology session every other week. My goal is to be on a maintenance plan of having a session once a month. Since I have several chronic illnesses it has taken a long time for me to reach maintenance level, for those of you who are basically healthy it will not take long at all to reach that level.

It has been my experience that reflexology is wonderful for relieving stress and for increasing my energy level. I also noticed that each reflexology session positively affects my mental state of being. In short, after each session I feel healthier both mentally and physically.

References

Personal experience from June 2007 to August 2008.

Dailey, Bonnie. Interview on August 18th 2008. bonnie.dailey at inbox.com.

The International Reflexology Association http://www.internationalreflexologyassociation.com, visited August 28th, 2008.

Kunz, Barbara & Kevin. Hand Reflexology Workbook: How to work on someone's hands, Albuquerque, NM, RRP Press, 1999.

Vennells, David F. Reflexology for Beginners: Healing through foot massage of pressure points. 2003

Wolfe, Frankie Avalon, PhD., The Complete Idiot's Guide to Reflexology, second edition. New York, NY: Penguin Group, 2006.