Beyond Medicine | Reflexology | Zone Therapy Documentary

we rely so much on our feet don't we and help us to stand and help keep a balance and every day they cover a lot of kilometers to get us from one place to another no wonder they get tired and maybe that's why foot rub feels so good but there may be another reason one that gives the feet another important responsibility as a stimulus for the body's own power to heal itself this foot is the foundation for a therapy called reflexology ancient practitioners divided the body into 10 vertical zones which run from the tips of the toes to the top of the head and enter the fingers they believe that all parts of the body within any one zone are linked and that applying pressure to one part of the body self relieve pain or discomfort in other parts within the same zone by working on the zones of the feet that correlate with the zones of the body we stimulate energy through energy channels and neural responses reflexologist believed that an autonomic reflexes 'dom works with the nervous system and that stimulating that reflex system can clear blockages and return the body mind and emotions to a healthy state by applying pressure to a particular reflex point in the foot or in the hand the reflexologist can stimulate the energy in another part of the body within that zone reflexology is usually practiced by trained non medical professionals who work in clinics or in private practice your first appointment will likely involve an initial consultation where your reflexologist will want to know the details of your medical history as well as your lifestyle background in the first consultation I want to find out a bit of their medical history if they've had any accident if they've had any operation I don't want to be manipulating something that I I shouldn't I need to be careful if they're on medication I have to also restrict the pressure and also restrict the time by doing that we promote circulation elimination and relaxing treatment usually begins with relaxation techniques to soothe the body and loosen the joints then the therapist will work the whole foot before focusing on specific problem areas while pressure on the hand or foot is not intended to be painful if you do experience pain in any area the reflexologist will see it as a sign of block energy and work on that area to free the blockage in the zone if there's a blockage would take a look at if it's was a dam and we had blockage in the dam that's going to flow or stop the flow of proper circulation and basically with reflexology we're working on circulation elimination and relaxation and to keep an organ healthy that it needs those things so if there are types of blockages in there it can feed her up through the zone and cause problems in other areas treatment usually takes from 30 to 60 minutes depending on your symptoms some people come away with a feeling of total relaxation others feel revitalized it depends on the individual reflexology is great for kids to keep the session short but even babies will benefit from a little gentle stroking of their feet after all who wouldn't if you're in the early stages of your pregnancy you should let your reflexologist know but she can modify your treatment to better suit your needs however if you are pregnant it's not recommended that you try to do the treatment yourself [Music]