“When we walk like (we are rushing), we print anxiety and sorrow on the earth. We have to walk in a way that we only print peace and serenity on the earth... Be aware of the contact between your feet and the earth. Walk as if you are kissing the earth with your feet.”
The definition according to Google:
re·flex·ol·o·gy
ˌrēˌflekˈsäləjē/
noun
- 1.a system of massage used to relieve tension and treat illness, based on the theory that there are reflex points on the feet, hands, and head linked to every part of the body.
- 2.PSYCHOLOGYthe scientific study of reflex action as it affects behavior.
"One of the biggest influences for zone therapy came from the Native American Indian tribes. This may possibly have been passed down to them by the Incas around the 17th century.
The feet were and are an important symbol of the Native American Indians:
'Your feet walk upon the earth and through this your spirit is connected to the universe. Our feet are our contact with the earth and the energies that flow through it'."
Over the weekend I earned a certification in Reflexology. I went into the program several weeks ago blind to the benefits. I signed up without ever receiving a treatment myself. I had read about the benefits and they sparked an interest in me because it reminded me of "earthing".
I had heard the term "earthing" (walking around outside barefoot) years ago and I didn't scientifically understand the benefits at all but I did understand that I love to be barefoot outside all summer long. Give me mud, grass, rocks, rushing streams of water on my toes, sand, or the bark of an old tree beneath my bare feet because I LOVE the sensation. It grosses my husband out at sometimes
"your feet are so dirty, put some shoes on!"
"I'm not touching your feet."
Its hurtful, I think my feet are pretty cute! But in his defense they are usually dirty by the end of the day because I need them to be bare and I'm not alone, there is an entire movement of earth to foot lovers!
After reading a few books I am making the connection between earthing and reflexology. I am also making the energetic exchange connection.
I have found when I start using the word "energy" I start losing people. Energy being coined as some hippy dippy fru fru term, but energy is real. Energy is science. And energy, like it or not is present in every body. Your body, my body, the air, the earth and energy doesn't discriminate. It behaves the same with whomever and whatever it interacts.... sort of.
Here is a really great article written by Daniel Howell PhD author of The Barefoot Book, that in my humble opinion points to the relationship of "earthing" and reflexology and the general health benefits of stimulating the feet.
http://barefootprof.blogspot.com/2011/04/foot-anatomy-101-biofeedback.html
My husband has worked in the electrical field for well over 10 years. He is fully educated and has systematically moved up in his work place because, the man gets it. He is smart (husband brag). He can fix anything, he amazes me and he understands how energy works. So, as a "kinetic energy" worker myself I am also a Yoga teacher, it has been interesting to bounce ideas off of him, a "potential energy" worker, and to note the overlaps in the two systems.
There are two basic forms of energy:
Kinetic, Moving Energy and Potential, Stored Energy.
Where do humans fit into these categories of energy?
Obviously both. We have both moving energy (we move our bodies) and stored energy(we use food as energy to fuel the body) and the two forms interact constantly.
Registered Dietitian Ashley Koff, author of Momenergy writes:
" In the body, thermal energy helps us to maintain a constant body temperature, mechanical energy helps us to move, and electrical energy sends nerve impulses and fires signals to and from our brains. Energy is stored in foods and in the body as chemical energy"
We are energy receptors and conductors. We simply are, in the physical sense and the psychological sense. The two systems of energy work hand in hand. No energy can just disappear, it can be absorbed but there is no such thing as no energy exchange in the body or outside of it. We are always exchanging energy and scientifically no energy just up and flies away. It is either contained or absorbed, then being contained by the object which absorbed it, until it releases that energy.
In reflexology we have the opportunity to work with energy, our own and each others. The nervous system is basically the bodies internal wiring and we can work with that wiring with external stimulation.
When my husband goes to work each day and works with extremely high voltages of electricity he has to make sure that he is grounded and the material around him that energy can move through are grounded for his safety.
I actually called him this morning and asked him about the trucks that have the grounding strip on the bottom of the truck...
Me: "Whats it for?"
Husband: " Well you know how if you rub your socks on the ground on a cold winters day and then walk up to a person and touch them to shock them?
Me: "yeah"
Husband: "Well that works because everything has a potential every object is a potential and each objects potential is different. If a truck is grounded it changes the objects potential so that it wont get shocked."
Me: "Ohhhh, so the energy cant enter that object?"
Husband: "The energy still enters but it goes through rather than shocking the person"
Me: "Interesting, on so many levels. Think about it. If you are grounded energy can pass through you but it cannot stay in you. That's so cool, on so many levels and just true both physically and emotionally!"
If we are grounded other peoples negativity might pass through us or by us but we don't have to hang on to it. We can cant always see it but we feel it and let it pass on by! Its a very physical transaction even though we cannot see the energy. Reflexology is said to effect not only physical health but also emotional health because the two systems are working hand and hand not separately.
I believe reflexology is a physical practice of grounding.Grounding can help to keep us safe. Physically and emotionally.
Maybe you have accepted that you are energy, maybe you have not. Either way I find the science behind reflexology to be pretty convincing.
The basic idea is that you have literally hundreds of thousands of nerve endings in the bottom of your foot (hands and ears too). This is anatomy, not a made up theory. The nerve endings in the foot wire up to the brain and then make connection to other organs within the body. The idea is by physically manipulating the bottoms of these nerve endings you send energy back up to the brain or cause a reflex that outputs that energy back to the corresponding organ. A process that I believe would happen naturally if we were to walk barefoot but because of shoes and the general sedentary nature of our culture these nerve endings are not properly stimulated which can possibly lead to build up or miscommunication in the nervous system.
Think of a straw. If you are trying to clean out a straw or some type of tube, you come at it from both ends.
What could cause build up of energy in the nervous system or miscommunication of the nervous system?
What causes damage to the nervous system?
Disease and injury.
You have these fragile threads that run throughout the nervous system if you wreck your car you can damage them. If you eat an unhealthy or vitamin deficient diets you can cause damage to the organs and the nervous system.
In a physical sense if you have to cut a wire and then splice it back together there is a disturbance in the line. My husband said it causes resistance in the line. That resistance causes a build up of energy making the line "hotter" at that point.
I guess reflexology in comparison could be viewed as a practice of smoothing out the resistance in our internal lines of energy. Finding the "hot spots" and working them out.
Reflexology does not claim to cure disease its claims to help create an environment in the body that is better able to heal itself, homeostasis within the body.
Reflexology can help blood circulation, reduces stress and tension in the body, and increase communication or nerve unblocking in the nervous system, and help to work with nature to achieve homeostasis within the body.
What if all of this is false and all reflexology is, is a glorified food rub?
Would a foot rub relax you?
What is the importance of relaxation or better, the absence of stress?
Since approximately 75% of today's diseases are attributable to some type of stress on the body be that physical stress or emotional stress, both cause trauma. Id say relaxation is extremely important and undervalued in our society.
Here is another great article article published by NPT, The Neuroscience of Psychotherapy Magazine, written by Robert Scaer MD
Robert Scaer, MD, has practiced neurology and rehabilitation for 36 years. His three books, The Body Bears the Burden, The Trauma Spectrum, and 8 Keys to Brain-Body Balance, address the intimate relationship between life trauma and chronic disease, the ubiquitous association of modern society with intrinsic sources of trauma, and the role of somatic techniques for healing trauma.
Find Dr. Scaer's article here:
http://www.neuropsychotherapist.com/the-body-in-stress-trauma/
Reflexology is not a replacement for your doctor, medication, or medical care. It is a compliment to that care.
In closing Ill tell you about my personal experiences with reflexology. I started the program on the first day I had about 4 hours of receiving reflexology. I went home that night and I was exhausted like crazy tired and a little nauseated but I thought it had just been a long day. The second day I went back and again received tons of reflexology as the other participants in my class practiced on me. Went home that night couldn't get off the toilet and threw up. I know TMI but I think its worth sharing. Two weeks pass and symptoms disappear so I assume I just had a stomach bug and return to my class. Third training day while working on my digestive system I break into a sweat and my stomach becomes a mess again. I vomit again that day. Day 4 I feel a little more mental clarity and decide I'm not eating junk because obviously its causing disruption in my digestive system. I am certain that my body reacted to the reflexology and sometimes flu like symptoms pop up as we release toxins and or built up energy (healing crisis). After regular reflexology the body will quite possibly find homeostasis and the negative side effects should subside.I have also been using the practice on my children, they LOVE it and regularly ask me for foot rubs now, which I am happy to give because it seems to calm them down and regulate their energy levels, besides I know the importance and healing power of physical touch it helps my children to thrive. I have also had the opportunity to share reflexology with my Grandmother who is on dialysis and in stage 4 kidney failure. She has neuropathy of the feet and after receiving reflexology she said she immediately felt more movement in the foot that causes her the most pain and trouble. I gave a reflexology treatment to my mother and she fell asleep before I started the next foot, so I am convinced she was in a state of deep relaxation! lol
Im super excited about my own experience and cannot wait to start offering reflexology appointments to the general public!
