When I tell people I practice reflexology, more often than not people say “oh is that the one where you don’t touch them?” First of all, that sounds very wrong and secondly, I think you may be referring to Reiki. I guess, as I’ve trained in Reflexology for so long and lived and breathed it while I’ve been building Calmer Cactus, that I have forgotten a time when I didn’t know what Reflexology was. This realisation is the motivation for this month’s blog.
First let me give you a brief explanation of the act of Reflexology. It involves feet… wait, stay with me. I know a lot of people are “funny” about feet, but to be honest, I’ve seen so many now, it’s not even a ‘thing’.
Generally, people come to me with clean feet anyway, I mean, no one likes to be judged by their therapist, do they? (even though I clearly wouldn’t – just putting that out there!)
Reflexology can also be done on your hands, face and ears – but I will go into that another time, for this blog, I’ll concentrate on the feet.
What actually is Reflexology?
Simply put, it’s a system of pressure and massage which stimulates points on the feet called reflexes. If you want to delve further into the principles, the foot is split into zones, which act as mini maps of your organs. Each zone on the foot corresponds to a different area or organ in your body. For example, the big toe relates to the head and neck. Applying pressure to the reflexes in your big toe could bring relief to conditions in your actual head and/or neck.
So how does that work then?
There are thousands of nerve endings in your feet and if you have a stressed-out circulatory system that isn’t working as it should, toxins can gather at nerve endings and crystal-like waste materials can build up in the bottom of the feet.
A reflexologist is able to detect and break up these crystals with reflexology techniques. Kneading the feet can break up these deposits so they can flush through and improve your circulation.
Why should I have Reflexology?
At Calmer Cactus I practice Reflexology with the main aim of relaxing you, which is super important for a balanced body state and to avoid health disorders. Think about this, if you aren’t relaxed enough to sleep you lay awake, therefore don’t get enough sleep and become tired. If you are tired you may combat your fatigue by overeating or not eating enough. Not eating well, contributes to disturbed sleep patterns, which in turn leads to greater fatigue. Before you know it, you’re irritable, you can’t focus, you can’t deal with issues and you CAN’T SLEEP! Now, that’s one hell of a vicious cycle you have going on there!
I work largely with clients who are ‘out of sorts’ and have a tough time relaxing; they are generally holding some stress. Stress is a very serious condition if left untreated, because the body becomes weakened and the immune system is lowered. Many of us don’t realise we are suffering with stress until we see external indicators such as headaches, fatigue, stomach complaints (e.g. IBS), tension in the neck and shoulders, heart palpitations, chest pains, dizziness, grinding teeth, poor concentration, depression and/or mood swings. If that’s what stress is doing on the outside, imagine what it’s doing when it gets its grubby little hands on your insides!
Being in a relaxed state can be the difference between coping with stress or succumbing to it. Now, I’m not going to tell you that reflexology will eradicate stress, because it won’t, but it will boost your system and help your body regain its balance. Relaxation through reflexology reduces the negative aspects of stress and helps you feel more able to cope.
I think the most amazing thing about reflexology is that it improves your internal balance so that your body can maintain your health, improve your sleep patterns, alleviate your tensions and reduce your anxieties. Pretty cool, hey?
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Until next time, keep well
Love Charlotte x
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