Reflexology: what if health came from your feet?

Reflexology: tone the body

According to Chinese medicine, our feet are the miniature representation of our body. “Each zone (toe, plant, top of the foot, etc.) corresponds to an organ, hence the name reflex zone”, specifies Isabelle, co-founder of the Maxam center in Paris. For example, our brain is located in the soles of the big toe, our sinuses on the soles of the other four.

Whether it is to prevent everyday ailments, improve the circulation of energy or simply relax, it is these reflex zones that must be worked on. Moreover, if you roll a tennis ball under your feet, you will immediately see the well-being that it provides. Reflexology pushes a little further, its goal being to tone the body, by draining toxins or by harmonizing the functions of the organs. For that, direction the practitioner.

Reflexology: how is a session going?

The reflexologist begins by “establishing contact” with the feet with a relaxing massage. Because the more relaxed you are, the more beneficial the session is. The patient should be comfortably installed, the spine straight, the lumbar spine flat. Shoulders, neck and hips are clear to avoid blockages and optimize the effects of the session. And the knees wedged under a bolster or a rolled up towel.

The massage begins with the diaphragm area, located horizontally between the solar plexus and the stomach, to calm breathing. Then, it is the moment of the energy balance. For Chinese medicine, if an area hurts, it indicates a dysfunction of the associated organ. The area is engorged with waste deposited on the nerve endings (the foot has more than seven thousand). During the following sessions, the practitioner will massage, squeeze, knead to “cleanse” it and restore the balance of the diseased organ. In general, the benefits are felt by the third or fourth appointment.

The session always ends with a gentle touch of the feet. Suddenly, we come out perfectly relaxed.

Reflexology: do yourself good!

If you can’t heal yourself on your own, you can pamper your feet at home! After a long day of walking or standing, start by freeing your trapped feet by taking off your shoes. They will thus take back their natural space. Then, take a good hot foot bath with coarse salt to relax them. Do you still feel some tension? Use a wooden self-massager, but no more than ten minutes. Then, massage your feet with a balm or a scented oil. After this little ritual, you will sleep like a baby and you will be ready to… get off on the right foot!

Reflexology: 3 self-massages

Allow 5 minutes per foot for each massage, and start with the right foot.

Against headaches
Right foot held by the left hand. With the right thumb, crawl up and down on the first three toes, one at a time, starting with the big one. Change hands and do the same for the other foot.

Anti stress
Hold the top of the right foot with the left hand, catch the toes between the thumb and forefinger, curving them towards you. With the right thumb, massage the line of the diaphragm, from the inner edge to the outer edge of the foot. Change hands and do the same on the left foot.

Relieves constipation
Right foot held by the left hand. With the right thumb, massage the area going from the ascending colon (descending colon for the left foot) to the bladder, from the inner edge to the outer edge of the foot, proceeding in “stages”. Then change hands and do the same with the left thumb, from the outer edge to the inner edge of the foot, this time. Finally, change your foot and start again.