Academy of Ancient Reflexology

Reflexology Certification Programs and Workshops

Feeling Anxious? You’re Not Alone

Are you, or anyone you know, experiencing anxiety? Turns out you are not alone.

A statistically high number of Americans admit feeling afraid or very afraid, according to a study conducted by Chapman University in late 2017. The top fears reported, along with the percentage of Americans feeling afraid or very afraid, are:

* Corruption of government officials (74%)

* Trumpcare (55%)

* Pollution of oceans, rivers & lakes (53%)

* Pollution of drinking water (50%)

* Not having enough money for the future (50%)

* High medical bills (48%)

* That the US will be involved in another world war (48%)

* Global warming & climate change (48%)

* North Korea using weapons (48%)

* Air pollution (45%)

Although I certainly can’t claim to be able to ward off any of the above fears, I am very confident in reflexology’s ability to reduce emotional experiences of stress and the subsequent effects that can occur from prolonged anxiety and stress. I know that from my own experience of 35 years of offering reflexology and from the historical fact that reflexology was first practiced in Russia in the psychiatric hospitals to help people suffering from anxiety.

I keep my movements slow; linger on points; offer lots of stillness. Focus on reflexes to the central nervous system, the vagus nerve to relax the entire digestive system, the endocrine system to support hormone secretions that promote sleep, rest and relaxation, and the diaphragm muscle to encourage slow, deep breathing.

Try it! What have you or your clients got to lose?

Maybe chronic health-destroying fear and anxiety?

 

Reflexology and Lymphedema

Could reflexology help someone who has lived with insufficient venous return for over 20 years?

2017 Academy grad and advanced registered nurse practitioner (ARNP), Roberta Cirocco, decided to test whether a combination of hand and foot reflexology could positively affect a 68-year-old woman with diagnosed lymphedema who has been living with venous insufficiency for 20 years. You can read the results here.

image courtesy of medicinenet.com

 

The Effects of Hand Reflexology on Chronic Hand Pain

Having gone through a couple of months myself with a chronic pain in my hands, I can sympathize with the subject of this study. As an artist having to use her hands in so many ways all day just to keep her business alive, well… it couldn’t have been easy.

Read how recent Academy grad, Annalisa Derryberry tackled this troublesome issue.

Pins And Needles

We’ve all experienced it. The numb sensation of an arm or leg ‘going to sleep’. Not fun when it happens while receiving a reflexology session. Afterall, reflexology is supposed to increase circulation, right? Not cut it off!

This event occurs when pressure is exerted on nerves and squeezes the insulating sheath around the nerves. This ‘shorts out’ the nerves and blocks neural transmission. When the pressure is released, the nerves suddenly all begin firing at one. This jumble of uncoordinated signals is a mixture of pain and touch, hot and cold all mixed together, which is why it feels weird and sometimes hurts.

Interestingly, people sometimes report their arms ‘going to sleep’ while receiving reflexology and are perplexed by that since reflexology increases circulation of blood, lymph and neural communication. This can occur if the person has bent their arms to lay across their body, and in doing so, has cut off the communication of the median nerve.

Simple fix: straighten out the arms and lay them alongside the body.

World Reflexology Week Is Coming!

In honor of World Reflexology Week, the Academy of Ancient Reflexology has partnered with Atlas Physical Therapy to host a free community event focused on healthy aging, this year’s theme of the annual week-long event.

Don’t Miss It!

Students and grads of the Academy’s Therapeutic Hand & Foot Reflexology Professional Certification will be on hand to answer your questions on reflexology and give mini complimentary hand reflexology sessions.

Atlas Physical Therapy will share self-care techniques for healthy aging that you can integrate into your life immediately.

Experience Reflexology For Yourself!

We will be showing the informative audio-visual presentation, The Artistic Science of Reflexology, have reading materials for you to take home, a raffle for full free reflexology sessions, and of course, some light refreshments.

We hope you will join us. We are excited to share our experience of reflexology and answer your questions. I realize that many of you live too far away to join us, but if you know anyone in our area, you can help by sharing this blog. Thanks!

Atlas Physical Therapy in the World Golf Village Town Center

425 West Town Place, Suite 102, Saint Augustine, FL 32092

Saturday, September 23 10am to 1pm

Lucky Us – Two Brains!

More and more we are learning the importance of maintaining a healthy digestive environment in order to enjoy a healthy life. Science continues to discover increasing connections between healthy digestion and a sound mind, so much so that the gut is now being referred to as the “second brain”.

It turns out that many of the hormones that we think of as being manufactured in our brain – the one in our skulls – actually emanate from our guts.

For example, melatonin, the hormone that promotes restful sleep – little is actually produced in the pineal gland; most originates in the small intestine.

GABA, a calming neurotransmitter useful for anxiety and other mood disorders, is produced in the gut.

Serotonin, the biochemical that signals feelings of happiness, is produced both in the brain and in the gut from 5-hydroxy tryptophan (5-HTP), an amino acid linked directly to the gut bacteria Bifidobacterium infantis.

The most recent research even suggests connections between brain disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease and the health of the digestive system.

The term we hear a lot of these days to refer to the bacterial environment of our bodies is the human microbiome, which refers to the community of microbes that live in and on our bodies that we now recognize as playing a big role in human health.

Lab rats, which have been altered to have no gut bacteria – essentially a germ-free environment – show acute signs of anxiety, high-stress levels, chronic overall inflammation, and lowered BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) levels. People with low levels of BDNF, a brain-growth hormone, have an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

The above symptoms can easily be reversed by consuming an anti-inflammatory diet and introducing healthy bacteria into the gut through a diet rich in two common probiotics: Lactobacillus helveticus and Bifidobacterium longum.

To that, I would add regular stress-reducing activities, such as reflexology, meditation, and spending time in nature. Nothing reduces stress and calms my entire body like these three.

When offering reflexology to my clients with digestive complaints, high-stress levels, and mood disorders, I like to focus my sessions on reflex points to the digestive organs (but, of course!), the vagus nerve, solar plexus, diaphragm, and CNS. That typically guarantees deep relaxation and a calm belly!

Does Reflexology Spread Cancer?

Many moons ago, when I attended massage school, the prevailing doctrine was that one should not massage someone with cancer. The belief was that, by increasing circulation, we might set off tumor cells to other parts of the body, and therefore “spread cancer”.

Fortunately, that teaching has been laid to rest, and people challenged with cancer can now receive the many benefits that massage and reflexology have to offer.

I love that I am able to provide comfort and symptom relief to people who are regularly poked and prodded while fighting cancer. It’s been a sizable part of my clinical practice over the years, and even more significantly, something I was able to offer my own father in his last days of battling lung cancer.

How cancer spreads

The spreading of cancer within the body is not a by-product of increased circulation.

Metastasis (the development of secondary malignant growths at a distance from a primary site of cancer) is a very complex process. In simple terms, metastasis develops from a convergence of:

  • Genetic mutations, both inherited and acquired, that cause uncontrolled cell proliferation
  • A lack of cell surface adhesiveness
  • Secretion of degradative enzymes
  • New capillary growth

Avoiding comfort-oriented bodywork will not stop malignant cells from slipping away from the original tumor. It will, however, deny people with cancer the many benefits we have to offer.

Contraindications

Reflexology poses fewer contraindications for working with cancer patients than does massage therapy. Reflexology contraindications for someone with cancer are the presence of fever, a severely reduced platelet count (<50,000 u/l) and recently radiated tissue. Beyond that, I rely on the person to inform me of whether or not they want to receive therapeutic touch that day, for how long and with what pressure.

The intent of my sessions is deep relaxation of the entire body and sometimes a focus on helping to manage troublesome side effects of chemotherapy treatment like nausea, lack of appetite, low energy, peripheral neuropathy symptoms and hand and foot syndrome.

For me, working with people fighting for their lives is a privilege. What has been your experience working with people with cancer?

I Love My Hands!

At a recent event, a woman showed up who was recovering from a serious hand injury. Her hand was basically unusable. I watched her struggle with the most basic of movements and realized how much I take my hands for granted.

The human hand is an amazing feat of nature. The arrangement of the hand’s bones, muscle, nerves, and fascia is a marvel of engineering in itself. One-quarter of our body’s bones, 123 named ligaments, 34 muscles, 48 nerves and 30 arteries interact cooperatively below our awareness to perform all that we command.

Many anthropologists consider the development of the thumb to be the most decisive moment of our evolution into a being like no other in creation. According to fossil records, a rapid increase in brain size and the development of early language followed the arrival of the thumb.

Humans are not the only species with opposable thumbs though. Chimpanzees and monkeys can also oppose the thumb to the index finger. What makes the human hand unique is the ability of the fourth and fifth fingers to rotate across the palm to meet the thumb, as in the image at the top of this post. This ability adds unparalleled grip, grasp and torque capability.

About one-third of the brain’s sensory and motor cortexes are devoted to the operation of the hands. That is an enormous investment of neural resources for such a small area of the body. That means that hand reflexology directly accesses a large part of the central nervous system through the rich supply of nerves in the hands.

Our hands’ ability to execute movements ranging from strength to sensitivity has allowed us to develop skills that no other species enjoys. The hands are what we use to “grab hold of life” or put a stop to unwanted experiences. We defend, love, pinch, play, work, tickle and heal with our beloved hands.

Unfortunately, the trade off for that high level of dexterity is vulnerability. Somatic practitioners are particularly prone to hand injuries due to repetitive actions, and poor body mechanics and ergonomics.

It doesn’t have to be that way though.

In the Reflexology for the Hands workshop, participants learn a variety of ways to gently influence the physiology of the body through that abundant supply of nerves in the hands, as well as a proven repertoire of self-care techniques to ensure they can serve for years to come.

Please join for an upcoming Reflexology for the Hands workshop. Your hands will thank you.

The Air That I Breathe

Oxygen is my best friend! With adequate oxygen, I feel better, look better, and think better.

And I love the book, ‘Science of Breath’, because it reminds me of the blessed gift of breath that integrates the different levels of my existence into a functional whole.

Let’s look at the breath then, starting with the ways in which oxygen interacts with the various levels of our being!

Physical

Oxygen is our primary food, not carbs, protein or fat. We can live without solid food for months, without water for weeks; but without oxygen, life, as we know it would end in minutes.

Ninety percent of our metabolic energy comes from oxygen, only 10% from food and water. And, without oxygen, the nutrients we consume are useless, because they cannot be converted into a readily usable form. Oxygen is the match that lights the fire in our digestive oven.

Oxygen is also recognized as a neutralizer of biological and environmental toxins. Pathogens are not able to survive in a highly oxygenated organism. Some doctors believe that hypoxia (insufficient oxygen present in tissue) is the cause of all degenerative disease.

Emotional

Breathing has a very strong and obvious relationship with emotion. Think of the sigh you emit when sad or grieving; how your breath trembles when you’re enraged; or the shortness or termination of breath you experience because of fear or anxiety. Emotion definitely affects our breathing. And conversely, it is possible to affect our physical/emotional health through breath. What do we tell ourselves and others when upset? ‘Take a deep breath’. The breath is the link between the body and mind.

In traditional Chinese medicine, the respiratory system is known as the seat of sentiment; the lungs the organ of grief.

Energetic

If the mind wants to affect the body, it does so by altering the flow of energy, and the function that has the most fundamental affect on the flow of energy is respiration. Breath is the vehicle for energy. The energizing effects of breath sustain and support all the metabolic processes of the entire body. We are created by and dependent upon the process of breath

Cosmic Breath

Science tells us that the distance between galaxies and heavenly bodies is expanding; that the universe is swelling. After a certain point it is expected that the universe will begin to contract, to pull back again to the point from which it exploded.

Through our breath we experience our unity with the cosmos; breathing in, breathing out; the expansion and contraction of inhalation and exhalation.

I love that image and awareness of being part of the entire universe. How could anyone ever feel alone?

Ways of Breathing

There are three recognizable ways of breathing:

  1. Diaphragmatic – The diaphragm contracts, drops, allowing the lungs to expand downward and out to ribs. This creates the maximum amount of space in the lungs to take in air. Diaphragmatic breathing is the most efficient way to breath. Babies breathe this way naturally.
  2. Chest/thoracic – Our breath is more frequent and uses the interosseus muscles between the ribs to move air in and out of our lungs. The lower portion of the lungs is seldom reached. We often breathe this way when highly emotional.
  3. Paradoxical – This is the least efficient way, long-term, to breathe. When experiencing sudden shock or surprise, we breathe in and out very fast, engaging only the upper portion of our lungs. Try it for awhile. Not only will you not fee comfortable breathing that way, you may notice emotions arise.

Tracking Clients

As reflexologists, we have the ideal situation in which to monitor our clients’ state of wellbeing by observing their breath. WHAT IS GOING ON IN THE TOTALITY OF A PERSON CAN BE OBSERVED IN THE BREATHING.

As you sit at your clients’ feet or alongside their body working the hands, take a look at their breathing as you begin the session

  • Is the breathing rhythmical? Continuous, or does she hold at times? Is it smooth or jerky?
  • Does the person appear to be cutting herself or himself off from breathing easily? Might she be feeling emotions?

Track you clients from beginning to end of the session. Share your observations to bring awareness to the client. Our unjudgemental observations are sometimes the greatest gifts we give our clients.

And, if you’re interested in the book I mentioned:

‘Science of Breath’ is written by three men, representing three very different disciplines: Swami Rama, a yoga master examining the breath from a spiritual perspective; Rudolph Ballentine, a psychiatrist whose interest was emotional/mental; and Alan Hymes, a cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon recognized as a pioneer in breath research.

Happy breathing, friends!

Living With or Healing From Headaches

With media reports as prevalent as they are for headaches, you’d think there must be an increase in people affected. That turns out not to be true. In the United States at least, the statistics have held pretty steady over the last decade.

The most recent statistics, released in 2016, show that 22.1% of females and 10.1% of males report living with pain, with approximately 12 million people visiting doctors annually for relief from headaches. At least one-quarter of that group suffers from severe chronic tension or migraine headaches.

So, why the increase in reported headaches then?

It turns out there are two reasons:

  1. Advanced diagnostic machines;
  2. A more informed and assertive patient population.

Those two factors have led to a doubling of tests being performed in the last 10 years.

Advanced testing procedures are not without drawbacks though. They are expensive, can lead to additional and often unnecessary procedures.

And it turns out maybe not the best course of action.

New research has shown that lifestyle changes often have the biggest impact on reducing the incidence of headaches, and particularly those associated with sleep. According to one study, for example, 50% of people reporting chronic migraine headaches also disclosed poor sleep habits. A change in sleep habits made a significant difference for these subjects.

Scientists now believe that it makes sense to approach headaches first from a self-care strategy, leaving a medical consultation as a follow-up in the event that lifestyle changes aren’t the solution. I agree with that line of thinking; most – not all – but most headaches result from habitual practices that sabotage our well-being. And that is why I created the Say Goodbye to Headaches class.

The challenge to living headache-free is two-fold: first to identify the behaviors that contribute to head pain, and secondly, find agreeable substitutes for those behaviors.

In the Say Goodbye to Headaches class, attendees learn how to help clients to identify their headache triggers from a list of nearly 70. They learn how to coach clients in creating lifestyle changes they are willing to make and how to offer a hands-on reflexology session designed specifically for that client.

I hope you will join us at an upcoming workshop. With 12 million sufferers in the country, I figure you must know a few you can help!

Migraines and Insomnia

Lifestyle Change for Headaches