Foot Reading Book - Elements of a Symptom

hello everyone this is Sam over at the foot was for reflexology Institute with another book reading video from my new book foot reading a reflexology primer on foot assessment last time I just read the introduction so I wanted to go a little bit deeper and read about the elements and specifically elements of a symptom so let's get into it venturing deeper into the jungles of foot reading requires a firmer understanding of assessment vocabulary we've created a map of the landscape by using the zones and their meanings but we need to add the words that describe in detail what the types of terrain we might find during the session if we were to give an account of our findings to another we need to use a series of commonly understood terms that resonate easily and convey the basic concepts of what we have seen for this purpose we use the four major Western elements earth air fire and water elements are used similarly in other assessment systems aroo veda and traditional chinese medicine are two popular examples although different in their theories taking a hint from each of their systems I began to associate the four elements of earth air fire and water with the symptoms I could find when reading feet I also started slipping in elemental language when conveying my findings to clients this was a tremendous success and I've compiled my thoughts on this method in this chapter the goal of this material is learning how to describe what you find during a foot reading assessment in a clear and simple language that can be universally understood while staying accurate to the physical and mental emotional symptom being described we will be discussing each element in relation to Constitution and associated symptoms Constitution refers to one's default physical and mental emotional make up associated symptoms would be conditions like dryness Callison pain and swelling my approach uses an elements qualities in relation to a person's personality physical makeup and the nature of various symptoms you will find during an assessment we call these visual and textural signs markers which relates to a strong elemental presence across the foots tissues describing the marker in elemental terms is an easy way to relay the body's message to the client but also allows you to better understand the relationship between the various systems and symptoms of the body for an example the center of heat in the body is horizontal zone 3 the center of combustion digestion and metabolism there's a certain level of heat and tension you would expect to find here as the body chemically and manually breaks down and filters nutrients if you see puffiness and paleness in the tissues of this zone then feedback can be given as to this center holding excess water puffiness and paleness this is how we would use elemental language to convey and assess the markers in the feet in the next chapter we will put all of the mapping and symptomology together within a solid statement but for now we're going to build the language we will use would you like a little bit more ok let's talk about Earth so Earth density width and growth the character of Earth as an element in nature brings to mind nutrient-rich soils staggering mountains and magnificently ordered structures like crystals that seemed to be frozen in time to better understand this element we can look to some of its natural traits that allow us to define how we would see someone with heavy earth qualities within their physical and internal makeup as a rule the major physical association with the element of Earth is width this refers to the wideness or breadth of the tissues and of the foot itself with is the sign of having a vast amount of physical resources like rich soil at a person's disposal wit can be thought of as being a physical trait that marks endurance and perseverance along with width there is a high level of density in the bones of the foot you will notice that the bones themselves are rigid and have grown together like a grove of trees none able to budge as their roots and branches ligaments have also become hard and intertwined this combination of density stiffness and width gives us the image of a mountainous foot that is indeed strong and stable almost taking on a square or blackish shape earthen feet are easy to spot because of their predictable corners highlighted by the shape of their prominent bones the individual with an earth Constitution will have both physical and internal qualities known to natural earth steadfastness heaviness and a supportive disposition steadfastness can be positively viewed as dependability reliability and consistency but can easily unbalance into straight into into into traits of stubbornness rigidity and getting stuck in a rut heaviness is an overarching quality of both the person and the tissues of the earth Constitution with phrases like heavyset and big-boned being used to describe their constitution note that I am NOT referring to actual fat content or being plump in shape which would be associated with the water elements but a true denseness within the stature itself support is the trait valued by those who have an earthy Constitution person in their life earth has both the stamina to get the job done over the long haul and the true desire to help where they can from there we go into common earth symptomology by zone I'll put out more videos of me reading from my book foot reading a reflexology primer on but assessment but I hope that what's your beak for the meantime if you would like to purchase the book you can look below or stay tuned I'm actually doing a webinar tonight on elements of a symptom where we'll talk all about the elemental markers in terms of Constitution or you can check for the replay link in this video if you missed it in the meantime may the feet be with you talk to you soon you