Academy of Ancient Reflexology

Reflexology Certification Programs and Workshops

Archives for February 2019

Turn Tissue Into Butter!

When I teach reflexology to massage therapists, I am invariably asked how to combine it with massage and what the benefits are. With 36 years of experience offering reflexology and 30 with therapeutic massage, it’s not hard for me to come up with personal examples from my own years of practice!

What might be more convincing though is to hear directly from someone in my reflexology certification who added to her massage sessions the same musculoskeletal reflexology protocols I teach in the Reflexology: Massage Therapy’s Secret Weapon workshop. Her exuberant communication is a testimony to the powerful contribution reflexology offers people with musculoskeletal pain and discomfort.

“I LOVE what we are learning. I absolutely LOVE it. I have used the relaxation techniques and the musculoskeletal protocol on about 20 people since last week, and the results are just completely inarguable! The majority of my clients are regulars, so I am very familiar with their tissue in various stages and during various parts of a massage, and when I applied reflexology first, WOW, the rest of the tissue became butter, cotton candy, just as inviting and easy to work with as ever.” 

The idea to create the one-day ‘Secret Weapon’ class came to me as I was slowly coming to consciousness one morning after watching a bombardment of news reports and social media posts the day before regarding the widespread opioid problem we have in the United States. We are now reaping the horrible toll these prescription-writing policies have had on people’s lives, our communities and the country’s economy. (Did you know it only takes 10 days of opioid use to result in possible long-term abuse!) [i]

The medical profession has been forced into substituting non-opioid solutions for addictive, symptom-masking drugs as the first-response attack on chronic pain. [ii]

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is US!

Now is the time to step up and position yourself as a muscular pain management specialist. You can make 2019 the year you STAND OUT IN THE CROWD of thousands of massage therapists in this country! [iii]

Reflexology has been shown over and over to significantly “up the game” for massage therapists who know how to accurately combine its targeted therapeutic effects with massage. It’s the advantage that delivers better results than massage alone can, while reducing the wear and tear on your own body. 

As my student said, reflexology turns tissue into butter. The relaxation response is in full swing, fresh blood has pushed out noxious chemicals and pain receptors have quieted down. Therapeutic massage then becomes much more effective.

I invite and encourage you to take advantage of what you will learn in just one day that can boost your business and significantly help those in your community with chronic musculoskeletal pain.

 

[i]Institute of Medicine “Relieving Pain in America: A Blueprint for Transforming Prevention, Care, Education, and Research.

[ii]Institute of Medicine “Relieving Pain in America: A Blueprint for Transforming Prevention, Care, Education, and Research.

[iii]IBIS World Industry Report OD6028 Massage Services, November 2015

Stress, Depression, Sleep And Your Skin

Stress wears on you – you’d have to be living under a rock not to know that. But, are you aware of how chronic stress, depression and lack of sleep affect your skin?

ŸIntense or chronic stress increases the production of cortisol, which decreases the skin’s ability to repair itself.

ŸStress causes you to tense your facial muscles, often without realizing it. Those repeated frowns and grimaces ultimately will leave their mark in the form of permanent lines.

Here are a couple of easy counteractive measures:

– Reduce stress and anxiety by exercising.

– Include gentle instructions to consciously breath when giving reflexology sessions.  That will drive more oxygen to the skin cells for healing. If you notice clients with taut facial muscles, give some attention to the reflexes of the jaw and temple.

Depression is associated with a decrease in growth-hormone synthesis, which inhibits the ability of the skin to repair itself at night.

Here are a couple of counteractive measures:

– Seek out professional help to resolve the causes of your depression; keep a referral list in your office to share with clients wishing to work through their mental health issues.

– Regular exercise – proven to help defeat depression.

– Reflexology is a wonderful antidote to depression. It allows people to feel themselves in a whole, relaxed state; the way one should feel; the way we were born to be.

Lack of sleep. Without enough deep sleep, the skin can’t properly undo daily damage. Sleep deprivation puts the body into stress mode, causing more cortisol to be produced. And that takes us right back to the top of this article!

Here are a few preventive measures:

– Get more sleep – turn off all electronic devices at least ½ hour before going to bed. Do not read with a Kindle.

– Improve your sleep hygiene. Remove all electronics from your bedroom; sleep in a very dark room; drop the room temperature to 68 or 69 degrees.

– Sleep on your back – a “smooshed” face looks creased.

– Try a short hot tub soak – 10 minutes – before heading to bed. Add some relaxing essential oils to the bath water, or spritz them on your pillowcase.

– Work on your own reflexes before going to sleep. Focus on the central nervous system, diaphragm and solar plexus reflexes to promote sleep, reduce stress and combat depression. Add in the lymphatic and liver reflexes to help with skin health.

The above is useful information to share with clients. Please feel free to print out and distribute or re-write in your own words. Clients really appreciate educational tips.

The Gift

People often tell me that I have an amazing gift.

I’m always a little baffled when I hear that. Not to sound self-deprecating, but what does that mean? What do these well-intentioned folk mean by ‘gift’? A special talent? Something that was bestowed upon me by some greater power? Something I was born with?

Or is it something that I cultivated?

I wasn’t born a reflexologist, and neither was I born an inspiring teacher.

I cultivated skills to be able to do what I do.  And, these skills were acquired later in my life.

I didn’t have a clue in my earlier years what I ‘wanted to be when I grew up’. I just kind of followed my nose and did whatever interested me. That road eventually led me to formalized trainings in subjects such as herbology, nutrition, meditation, aromatherapy, personal growth, massage therapy and yes, reflexology.

The one thing I did know at a very early age was that I wasn’t cut out to be a school teacher (boring), bank teller (hate math) or nurse (fainted at the sight of blood). And those were the only job opportunities placed in front of me! That was it!

I knew that I didn’t want a job that just paid me. I wanted to derive meaning from my work and I wanted to look forward to getting up every morning to do that work. I wanted to contribute something of value.

Does this sound like you? Do you yearn for more than just work? Do you want what you do to matter? And to be rewarded monetarily for your time and skill?

Well, you can have that. No matter how young or old you are, how healthy or unhealthy, how confident or not so confident. If you hold a sincere desire to heal yourself and through that process to touch the lives of as many other people as possible to help them improve the quality of their lives, then you can fashion a life for yourself that matters.

I know you can – because I did!

My real passion is to inspire others on their chosen path of self-inquiry. And yes, I realize that path may not be a career as a practicing reflexologist.

Participation in the Therapeutic Hand & Foot Reflexology Professional Certification may turn you in another direction. That’s fine with me. And that’s because the mission of the Academy of Ancient Reflexology is to create an environment in which people learn how they can improve first the quality of their own lives – and then others – through the vehicles of reflexology, aromatherapy, service and self-awareness – or – perhaps not.

The 2019 Therapeutic Hand & Foot Reflexology Professional Certification starts April 4 in Gainesville, Florida. Join me for a comprehensive course like nothing you have experienced before.