Why should I consider reflexology?
Medical science continues to demonstrate that stress is the biggest driver of pain, illness, and disease in our bodies. People turn to reflexology for relief from all kinds of symptoms. These include everything from back pain to digestive issues to infertility to depression the roots of which are all exacerbated by stress and tension. By relieving tension in the bodys reflex areas on your feet and hands, the healing wisdom inside your body can begin working to bring you back to wholeness.
What exactly is reflexology?
Reflexology is like hitting a reset button inside your body. Technically, reflexology is a particular method of using the thumb and fingers to stimulate reflex areas in your hands and feet that correspond to all of the glands, organs, and systems of the body. As a reflexologist works the reflex areas on your feet or hands, the patterns of tension held in your body are interrupted, allowing your bodys own healing wisdom to emerge.
How is reflexology different from massage?
While the experience of receiving reflexology is much like receiving a foot or hand massage, it isnt the same thing. Whereas massage focuses on the muscular structure of the body, reflexology concentrates on the reflex areas. Fortunately, these reflex areas are on top of, within, or between the muscles in the feet and hands. This is what allows the session to feel very similar to a massage. Some people stay awake and alert, asking questions or chatting with the reflexologist. Other people stay awake but prefer to close their eyes and gently relax. And some people go deep inside and totally relax to the point of falling asleep or choosing a lucid dream experience.
What are the long-term benefits of reflexology?
Reflexology interrupts the physical patterns of tension we create by using our bodies in the same way, day in and day out. In the mornings, we get out of bed on the same side, and our routine begins. Everything from putting on clothes to deciding what to eat, to sitting in a chair, to exercising or not exercising it all becomes a patterned routine that we hold physically. Physical pain and tension can come from our daily routines and can be ways that we deal with emotional or mental stress. When we interrupt our physical stress patterns with reflexology, we create space for a deeper awareness about what is really going on inside of us.
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Jenna Long is a certified Reflexologist, Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, Yoga Instructor, Transcutaneous Acupuncturist, and Reiki Practitioner. She holds degrees in both Sport and Exercise Studies and Leadership. Jenna has studied with Dr. C. Norman Sheely, the Father of Holistic Medicine in the United States, and Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes, a world-renowned Jungian analyst and post-trauma specialist. Jenna maintains a private practice in Columbus, Ohio, working with individual clients and small groups through reflexology, holistic health consulting, health coaching, and guided meditation. Find more information about working with Jenna at www.longjenna.com.
