I recently had my first reflexology treatment with the wonderful Clare at Caversham Holistics and I wanted to share my experience with you ❤

I didn’t really know much about reflexology before my visit with Clare but I’ve heard such good things about it, I wanted to try it for myself.

I truly believe in the importance of having a strong and clear energy flow in our bodies and that blocked pathways cause huge issues for us that we are completely unaware of until they manifest themselves in illness or disease. Reflexology is one of the many holistic practices that can be beneficial for our overall well-being and restore homeostasis (balance) in the whole body.

A bit more about reflexology (provided by the lovely Clare ❤ )

Reflexology is a natural, holistic treatment that enables the client to relax deeply, reducing stress levels and promoting positive well-being. Stress has a major impact on us, physically as well as psychologically, therefore, by reducing our levels of tension, we are able to function more optimally. Mood is improved & better sleep is promoted.

Reflexology is a very gentle and non-invasive technique, using specific thumb and finger pressures on certain points on the feet or hands that are said to mirror the body’s systems. Reflexology not only works on the physical level but also the emotional level.

For instance, we consider the right foot to signify the past, and the left foot to signify the present, but also the Male and Female aspect of ourselves, or the role of someone important in our life. 

Grief = Lungs, Anxiety = Stomach or Solar Plexus. Liver = Anger

Reflexology shares its development with many different cultures. It dates back to ancient civilisations such as Egypt, China & India but was only introduced to the West in the early 20^th Century. Near Cairo there is a Pictograph in the tomb of an Egyptian Physician named Ankhmahor, (Tomb of the Physician) that is dated 2500 – 2330 BC.

Modern Reflexology is founded on the concept of “Zone Therapy” which was first documented in the 16^th Century and has developed further with findings from Sir Henry Head, an English Neurologist, & Dr William Fitzgerald, an Ear, Nose & Throat surgeon from America. This technique was then developed further, by American Physiotherapist, Eunice Ingham, whose workings now form the basis of the chart we commonly use today. No two Foot Charts are the same and this is mainly due to copyright.

There are several different theories about how reflexology works. None of them has been proven as a fact but they all agree on one basic principle – that Reflexology helps people to relax, improves circulation & helps the body to manage stress.

My personal experience 

I’ll start by explaining that I’ve recently had a lot of stress in my life, we’ve just finished a complete refurbishment project on our house that took 6 months and we lived in the house the whole time it was going on. I quit my job to project manage it and it was hard work! Things went wrong and took longer than they should have, we lived without a working kitchen and bathroom for months and we had all those kinds of problems you see on the renovation programmes on TV but think will never happen to you ha ha! 😉 This, (amongst other things), has taken a toll on my ability to relax or handle any stress and has unsurprisingly made me feel pretty run down.

This is the reason I decided I needed something to help my body re-balance itself and decided it was a good time to try reflexology for myself.

I purposely didn’t look at any reflexology charts before I went or read up about it so that I went completely open to my experience rather than with expectations of what should happen.

 

Clare worked on my right foot first (as it signals the past) and as she was massaging and pressing on an area below my toes, I felt the need to take a deep inhalation and it felt like my lungs needed to take in extra oxygen very quickly. Whilst the treatment is done in silence (if you want it to be) so that you can relax, I simply had to ask Clare what area she was working on as I had responded by taking a sharp intake of breath and it had surprised me. She explained that she was working on the lungs and diaphragm and that specific area was where she was aiming to get my lungs to inhale deeply. Wow!

 

I have asthma and have done since I was a child so this explains why I could really feel a difference in this area when she was working in it.

I then relaxed back into silence until Clare started working on a part of my foot that felt quite sore and a little painful. I asked Clare what area this was and she explained that it was my adrenal glands which of course makes complete sense. It’s no wonder my adrenals were quite sore… they’ve been working on overdrive helping me deal with stress for quite a long period of time.

Click here for some information on the role of the adrenals

We also found that my stomach and neck were also quite tender and these are places people quite often hold their tension. I know I do! The stomach area is very sensitive to emotional tension and when triggered can produce problems in the gut and when I’m stressed I tend to scrunch up my shoulders which then scrunches up the muscles in my neck. When Clare was working on the area of my foot that relates to the neck, it was quite knotty… just like my neck is!

Overall the experience was very relaxing and also very surprising. I didn’t expect to react so much to the treatment but I went in with a completely open mind and I left believing that our feet really are connected to our organs and that reflexology is something I do believe can really help us in re-balancing our bodies.

I will be going back for my second treatment soon and I hope that this post has made you consider the benefits of reflexology if you feel you are in need of a little re-balancing.

With love, Tash ❤ x