You heard about Therapeutic Reflexology and may be curious or interested in this modality, but are still a bit sceptical as to what the benefits are to you, if there are any? This article will attempt to give you a condensed summary of the benefits you may experience when making use of therapeutic reflexology.
Ultimately we are living in a world where we all want to know how we can benefit from things and rightly so. There are too many things around that is a total waste of time and money and none of us want to waste our hard earned money or even our more valuable commodity; our time.
First do no harm
Let us begin by saying that healthcare students are taught a principle that in Latin says Primum non nocere which means: first, do no harm. That is the heart of the healthcare profession, to never cause any harm. Therapeutic reflexology, being part of the allied healthcare industry, is no different and making use of this modality will cause no harm, but may only be beneficial to the recipient.
Restore Balance
Therapeutic reflexology is a holistic therapy which means it is not aimed at treating any specific condition, but it attempts to deal with any underlying causes and imbalances and assists the body to be in optimal state in order to heal itself, or at least attempt to restore balance, from the inside out.
“My body out of balance; I don’t believe that!” you may say, but just consider the reality of the times and environment we are living in at present. Our diet consists of many artificial colorants and additives that are not beneficial to our health and in many instances it is even harmful. We fill our bodies with these products, not always purposefully, but sometimes even because we don’t really have any option.
Apart from diet, our internal balance is disturbed due to environmental factors like air pollution, water pollution, ground pollution, noise pollution and so forth. We inhale and take these products into our bodies and it all works together in disturbing our balance, whether it is chemically, hormonally or emotionally.
We have to help our bodies cope with these harmful substances in our environment to restore balance. Therapeutic reflexology facilitates this process of helping the body to restore balance.
Reduce Stress
Stress is the condition of the 21st century and it is believed that 85% or even more of all known illness conditions are caused by stress or at least exacerbated by stress. Stress is seen as the main factor linked to the main causes of death in the world today which includes cancer, coronary heart disease and even suicide.
Most of us are aware of the fact that we are stressed, but we keep on going without dealing with the stress until one day when you are in hospital with one of these severe conditions and then we want to deal with it. Being aware of the bad effects of stress on the body may lead to us to relook our lifestyles in order to prevent these severe conditions to grab a hold of us.
Therapeutic reflexology is one of the best stress-reducing methods available in modern healthcare. It is available, but only beneficial to you if you actually make use of it. Regular therapeutic reflexology treatments are one of the best ways to keep stress levels under control and in the process you are working towards preventing the severe illness conditions in your life. Therapeutic reflexology is thus excellent as preventative healthcare method, especially by keeping stress levels in check in the midst of our stressful modern day society. Just think about the effect of rush hour traffic on your state of health and wellbeing; you soon realise that you have no control over this type of stress and it has to be dealt with in one way or the other and therapeutic reflexology is one of the best methods to do so.
Relaxation
Relaxation may sound like a swear word to many of us, especially those believing that you cannot take time off due to deadlines, work pressure, work load and all the expectations to make it in your profession. You may be justified in that thinking by telling yourself that if you do not work hard enough you may not be able to be successful in your profession and this thinking is usually continued by believing you are not entitled to take time off.
Nothing is further from the truth. You are worth taking care of. The reality is that if you are not taking care of yourself, nobody else will. Therapeutic reflexology is an ideal modality for this very purpose; to help you relax and take some “me time”. It is not strange to see some highly stressed patients scheduling a therapeutic reflexology session once per week with the purpose of just taking one hour per week for themselves to have some “me time” and then to enjoy an hour of ultimate relaxation in the reflexologist’s office working on their overall wellbeing.
Renew Energy
Chronic Fatigue is a known condition in today’s society and people are just very tired. You may feel so tired at this very moment that you do not know how you will actually survive the day and what makes it worse, is that you go to sleep tired, but you wake up tired too and it feels like you are unable to get out of this constant cycle of fatigue.
The good news is that therapeutic reflexology is really beneficial in helping renew your energy.
Improve Circulation
Therapeutic reflexology is very good at improving circulation in the body due to the physical therapy being performed on your body. With improved circulation comes improved oxygen and nutrient provision to the entire body through the blood stream.
Relieve Pain
Therapeutic reflexology is excellent in pain relief as it is a therapy that relaxes, is enjoyable and involves touch. The result of treatment is that endorphins are released and spread in the body which helps in alleviating pain, which is a huge benefit, especially to those in constant pain.
Remove Toxins
Our bodies are full of toxins due to diet and lifestyle, but also due to high acidity in the bloodstream that may result in calcium deposits in the nerve endings of the body; many of these nerve endings are in the feet. Therapeutic reflexology assists in the breakdown of these crystals and in the process helps with the removal of toxins from the body.
Improve Quality of Life
Therapeutic reflexology helps with the improvement of the quality of life, even for terminally ill patients. It may not be able to heal the illness, but it will definitely improve quality of life by helping to induce relaxation, reducing stress, improving circulation, reducing pain and improving energy levels.
Infertility
Therapeutic reflexology is known as a valuable treatment for infertility and I have personally experienced a couple of patients receiving treatment and falling pregnant soon thereafter, even in instances where women were not able to ovulate naturally. The benefit of therapeutic reflexology is in the fact that it restores balance and induces deep relaxation resulting in the body being in an optimal state striving to restore balance and the result is usually that infertility problems are overcome.
Real Benefits
Therapeutic reflexology is known for improving overall wellbeing and some of the major benefits patients experience when getting reflexology treatments, include the following:
- Improved digestion – it is a wonderful way of reducing constipation;
- Improved sleep patterns – after therapeutic reflexology treatments patients usually sleep very well;
- Improved energy levels – regular treatment usually leads to overall improved energy levels; and
- Improved emotional wellbeing – when receiving regular therapeutic reflexology sessions, it usually leads to people feeling “lighter” and as if the weight of the world has lifted from their shoulders.
It should be noted that each person reacts differently to therapeutic reflexology and the benefit will only be truly experienced if you receive the treatment yourself.
Try it for yourself, you are worth it
Therapeutic reflexology has many benefits for your health and holistic wellbeing, both physically and emotionally. You should try it for yourself and once you have experienced the benefits for yourself, you will be in a position to more clearly understand how valuable therapeutic reflexology is.
You should try it for yourself, you are worth it!
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Christo A. Scheepers: Therapeutic Reflexologist
Dip.T.R.(Cum Laude)[IARAMT]
AHPCSA: A11945
Pr. No.: 1080000737453
Tel. 072-800 7243