[ Guest Post ] Reflexology For A Healthy Lifestyle

Today I wanted to share a guest post on how reflexology can help with a healthy lifestyle. This alternative / complimentary therapy is often spoken very highly of, but I wonder how many of us have ever experienced it? Perhaps it’s time to give it a try! 

Please note that the below is the author’s opinion, and this post reflects the possible benefits rather than any confirmed or scientifically proven effects of reflexology.

How Can Reflexology Help You Live a Healthy Lifestyle?

The science of Reflexology is also called zone therapy. It involves using specific techniques of applying pressure with the hand, thumbs and fingers on the feet and hands of the patient. The basic principle of reflexology states that there are certain zones or points on the feet and hands of humans that correspond to various body parts. Any abnormality, condition, pain or disease in that specific organ is a result of disturbed ‘Qi’ or life force. Any condition can be healed by manipulating that particular pressure point to balance the disturbed Qi of that person and this improves the health of that organ.

Reflexology is different from massage therapy in the sense that massage therapy is a manipulation of the physical state and works from the outside to the inside of the body, whereas practitioners of reflexology claim that they affect the body from within, and this drives the changes in the physical body of the patient.

While the principle is not exactly understood even by most experienced practitioners, there is no doubt that Reflexology is a very potent form of alternative medicine. The following are a few points which elucidate how can reflexology help you live a healthy lifestyle.

Reflexology Helps to Alleviate Stress

Mental health is a very important aspect of our general well- being, but sadly, it is often among the most neglected aspects of health. It has been proven by several studies and is a well- known fact that mental stress is a precursor to several life- threatening and debilitating diseases like blood pressure, diabetes, cardio- vascular diseases etc.

A constant build up of stress also badly affects our family life, inter- personal relationships with others around us and has an adverse impact on our professional life due to issues like lack of concentration, reduced sleep, irritability and lack of productivity.

Reflexology is among the best ways to alleviate the problem of stress and ensure that you achieve a positive state of mind. It is well known that reflexology can open up the neural pathways which are responsible for the free flow of neural activity. When the free flow is affected, nervousness and stress sets in. With the passages opened, relaxation is brought into the body and this induces a state of mental calmness.

Reflexology Removes Toxins From the Body

With the state of the environment and our surroundings today, it is no surprise to know that we are ingesting a huge amount of toxins into our body on a regular basis, and this is much more than what our bodies are equipped to handle by themselves. The food we eat is treated with several times more pesticide than is acceptable. These same chemicals leech into the groundwater and become a part of our water table. The pollution caused by automobiles, power plants and factories enters into our body through our skin, the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat.

These toxins are extremely difficult to flush out since our excretory organs like our bladder, sweat glands etc. are already overworked. In such cases, reflexology offers a cure. Reflexology has been shown to have a positive impact on kidney efficiency, bladder function, sweat release and blood purification.

When the toxins are released from our body through these modes, we are protected from a host of diseases which have the capacity to cause immense problems to our health.

Reflexology Accelerates Healing

Our bodies are repositories of the vital life force called ‘Qi’. This energy is responsible for ensuring that our body is kept healthy and all the processes are performed without any hiccups. When our body is injured, the life force is disturbed and this causes the pain, discomfort and other negative aspects that accompany injuries.

Reflexology has the capacity to manipulate the life force and help the Qi achieve the state of balance that is necessary for seamless functioning and coordination of the various processes of the body. The realignment of Qi helps the body get rejuvenated and refreshed, which greatly helps the healing process to pick up pace and ensure that the body gets back to its original state as soon as possible.

It is also possible to recover from injuries in the comfort of your own home rather than traveling to and fro to a therapist when you are injured by getting a foot massager which operates on the principles of reflexology.

Reflexology Enhances the Immune System

The immune system is the defensive mechanism of the body which is tasked with the process of identifying the harmful substances or organisms which manage to gain entry into the body and fight them off to ensure that they do not hamper the body’s natural processes and cause diseases.

The immune system is majorly composed of various types of cells which are present in the blood. If the number of these cells reduces, the overall capacity of the immune system reduces and makes our bodies more susceptible to such attacks which cause infections.

Reflexology can help strengthen the immune system by affecting the overall production and health of these cells which can help the body mount a stronger defensive counter to such attacks and this ensures that your overall health is improved.

Reflexology Mitigates Pregnancy and Menstrual Problems

It is known that menstruation and pregnancy often take a toll on a woman’s ability to perform daily tasks. Especially in today’s world which endorses a fast- paced lifestyle, it becomes very difficult for women suffering from excess bleeding, menstrual cramps or those recovering from the process of childbirth or going through post- partum depression to take the time and rest required to recover.

In such cases, reflexology provides a powerful solution which helps get the reproductive cycle back on track. The reproductive system is governed by hormones which are highly volatile. Reflexology helps to improve the body’s resilience towards minor fluctuation in hormone levels and also enhances the capacity of the reproductive system to recover quickly from the periodic stress of menstruation.

It is known to have helped reduce women’s dependence on analgesics during their menses and also reduced the duration and intensity of labor pain, making it more bearable.

Author Bio:

Karen Price is a professional Massage Therapist and Blogger. Karen Co-Founded Relaxish.com with a goal to help people live a healthy and stress-free lifestyle.