Welcome to our guest blog with experts from the world of personal development, health and wellness…
Here we are joined by Emma de Pfeiffer-Key who shares her ‘3 Pointers’ or reflex points that can support your wellbeing through the holistic therapy of Reflexology.
Emma is one of POINT3’s Associates, but also the owner of dPK Holistic Therapy based in SW London, a qualified reflexologist of seven years, corporate hand and head masseuse and works with charities and start-ups supporting with their marketing needs – the ultimate portfolio career.
Let your feet do the talking
– the benefits of Reflexology to support your wellbeing
Reflexology is a holistic (treats the whole body) complementary (used to complement other treatments) therapy that can be done anywhere, as all you need are feet or hands. Feet are more susceptible as our hands are desensitised.
Like the concept of ‘chi’ in acupuncture, the paradigm of reflexology breaks each foot (or hand) into five zones (10 in total), with different areas representing the body’s systems and organs. Applying pressure with thumbs and fingers to these areas, creates a positive change in the corresponding zone of the body, relieving tensions, anxiety, congestions, and encourages relaxation, improves mood, and aids sleep.
Think of your body as being made up of hose pipes of energy (nerves) and when there is a kink in the hose pipe, this stops the energy flowing around your body, making you feel unbalanced. By putting pressure on one end of the hose pipe, it can help to unkink it; become balanced with a sense of relaxation and good wellbeing.
‘Reflexology induces a state of deep relaxation and since it has been estimated that about 75% of disease is stress related [this supports the body against disease. It also] …stimulates nerve supply and the flow of nerve energy.” – Reflexology A Practical Approach, Vicki Pitman with Kay MacKenzie.
Humans hold emotions in our muscles. If we are stressed, our muscles tense up. If calm, they relax. Anything we can do to help relax our muscles will have wonderful benefits to our physical and mental health. Relaxed muscles help support good blood circulation. When we are tense, this can affect our nervous system which constricts blood vessels, reducing blood flow to the soft tissues.
Our sympathetic nervous system is activated when we perceive danger, and this takes our body into the fight or flight response state. Unfortunately, we sometimes get locked in this state, and end up stuck in a stress cycle. The cycle is only completed when our bodies learn that we are safe from the threat. If you have a particularly stressful job, then this threat doesn’t go away, so we must find other methods to work through the cycle.
Here are three reflex points that can help you to feel more relaxed and balanced, helping you to destress.
Adrenal Glands & Hypothalamus
Our adrenal glands are located at the top of our kidneys and adrenaline is produced when our sympathetic system kicks in, an automatic response triggered by the Amygdala in the brain. This is great in short bursts, but if we get stuck, we deplete our resources, get a low state of wellbeing and stress can turn into anxiety, and in some cases, depression.
By pressing on the reflexes of the Adrenal Glands and Hypothalamus, this can help to reduce levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, within our bodies, and stimulate the release of oxytocin (happy hormone) which is produced in the hypothalamus and released by posterior pituitary into the bloodstream. The combination of these helps to improve our emotional wellbeing throughout our body.
TMJ / Temporomandibular Joint
This joins your jaw to your skull and many of us hold a lot of tension in this area, be that through clenching of our jaw, or grinding them in our sleep often.
The TMJ joint is one of the fastest growing joints during childhood. You may hear a baby or child grind their teeth when asleep as a way of soothing pain from teething. In adults, this is a sign of worry or anxiety. Holding this reflex can help to alleviate some of the pressure within this area. If there is a build-up of ‘crystals’ under the skin, then you will feel either crunching or popping in this area. By working it, you can break down the uric acid and calcium crystals so that they go back into the blood stream, and then can be expelled with other toxins.
Solar Plexus
The centre of our nervous system, the nerve plexus right in the pit of the stomach and part of the sympathetic nervous system. It is our core energy point and centre of emotions, as well as being the central chakra. It is also tied to the adrenal glands and lungs.
Putting pressure on this point helps to provide a sense of calm. This is extremely powerful to do on children when they are in an emotional state and unable to process these emotions, but also works just as effectively on adults, helping one to feel centred.
Other benefits of Reflexology
Reflexology is not only extremely relaxing but also has many other benefits. By stimulating key reflexes, linked to the 7,000 nerves in our feet, you can benefit from some of the following:
- Encourages the body to heal disorders
- Relieves the effects of stress, tensions, anxiety
- Improves the immune system
- Assists post-operative recovery by decreasing pain and increasing healing
- Aids sleep
- Encourages better circulation
- Improves bowel movement
- Eliminates waste products from the body
- Relieves pain
- Helps blood flow
- Clears the body of toxins
- Improves nerve stimulation
- Promotes general relaxation
- Creates stronger bonds with children
To learn more about how these reflex points are found on your hand to provide moments of calm during a busy and stressful day at work, check out our new ‘Healing Hands Movement & Mindfulness’ experience. More details on request.