Mapping the Muscular System - Reflexology

okay everyone so let's get to mapping the muscular system on the feet first and foremost we're going to do our guidelines we have our shoulder line guideline where the toes meet the ball of the foot our diaphragm guide line which the diaphragm is going to be one of the muscular reflexes that we map then we have our proximal heads of the fifth metatarsals draw those all the way across for our waistline guideline and then our pelvic guideline at the posterior Edge of the cuboid Notch posterior or proximal either one and those are our muscular system guidelines so what I'd like to do first on this view we don't see the angle in this view so we're going to do the ankle uh and the hip reflexes and all of those muscles on this sheet but we're going to start with just the front of the body so really important to note that the plantar surface of the feet the soles of the feet represent the front of the body so we are going to map the front body reflexes On The Soles and then we're going to move to the other surfaces to really get into that three-dimensional image but we're going to be looking at the ventral or frontal reflexes first so what I would like to do first is I'd like to start with the spine so just to refresh we have the cervical spine reflexes which start at the proximal Phalanx medial surface of the big toe then we go into the thoracic spine reflexes and then the lumbar spine reflexes and then the sacral spine reflexes so that's a little bit of a review from the skeletal system but the muscular system is going to be the same so we have the muscles for the cervical spine now what's important is the muscles along the spinal column are going to be more medial or towards the midline versus the muscles that are more lateral towards the um lateral towards the body are going to be more lateral instead of more medial so if you think of like the scalenes the scalenes which attach to the cervical spine but then spread all the way out you could map them almost like this okay do we see how I did that um so pretty much just thinking of the muscles and then mapping according to their anatomical function then we would have like the SCM muscle would be more lateral and you can just see how unfortunately the muscles which are literally a mesh net of fibrous tissue we can't map individual muscle reflexes we can only guesstimate their location and the nerve innervation based on how they occur in the body but just know that in the head neck reflexes for horizontal Zone one you will be touching the muscles associated with the head and neck also important to note that each one of the toes represents kind of a microcosm of that headspace so you would have the medial surfaces lateral surfaces medial surfaces lateral surfaces of all of the muscles as well so you could go down the line like that if you wanted to but it's not like I'm going to produce a map that Maps each individual muscle group you just need to know that the pads of the toes represent the the actual skull cranium and then the necks of the toes represent that neck area so if somebody's coming in with muscular neck distress or if somebody's maybe having some Temple pain then you could go into the big toes and hit just like if the big toe was the face those temples on the lateral sides same thing with the jaw the jaw would be in through here just a little bit more lateral but you can see how unfortunately like they stack so you just need to take your best guess and map accordingly but what we can do is for horizontal zone two we can again refresh of our skeletal system Master Class draw that shoulder joint now what's fun about the pecs is the pecs start at the sternum and then they go all the way to the shoulder joint and this is also you know kind of a problem because on most Maps mine included they uh will often list the chest lung area they'll map the lungs they'll map the heart they'll map the shoulder but they won't map the pecs and we just need to know that the pectoralis major muscle goes all the way across the chest space whereas PEC minor starts again at that clavicle area and then attaches to the sternum oh man should have brushed up on that Anatomy but you can look at any Anatomy book and look at the origin and insertion of every muscle including the minor muscles and imagine where they would be on the various surfaces of the feet now when we get into the diaphragm guideline we could also talk about the diaphragm being on the diaphragm guideline yeah very important somebody has restricted breathing we can work that reflex there which represents that that specific muscle group and then thoracic spine all of those mid back areas we can also Trace that all the way down now what's interesting about the core the core reflexes in addition to those spinal reflexes we also have along the midline the rectus abdominis so if we wanted to draw that give ourselves a little eight pack yeah so rectus abdominis but then we also have transverse abdominis and the lateral obliques and the medial obliques which starts to look pretty much like a squiggled mess which is exactly how the muscles appear it takes that anatomical Vision to really slice and dice and separate that Anatomy that to cut into Parts in order to really dissect that and then the plantar surface of the heels although that's more nervous system territory that could be grouped into muscles of the leg as well but we're really going to get into the leg space on our other surfaces so let's switch to those okay same thing if we wanted to draw our guidelines shoulder line diaphragm proximal head waistline and unfortunately we can't really see it on this view but pelvic guideline all the way up okay same thing here shoulder line diaphragm line guesstimating the waistline and then pelvic line same thing with our last image shoulder line diaphragm line proximal had a fifth metatarsal waistline and then because the foot is flexed we're going to curve up our pelvic line okay so on the dorsal aspect we can use that same idea one thing I wanted to point out is if we wanted to think of the dorsal aspect as the back body this would be occiput which we just featured in a foot reading video at the time of me filming this so the occipote would be that inner phalangeal joint on the dorsal surface where the proximal Phalanx of the big toe and the uh proximal and distal Phalanx of the big toes meet and that line would be that occiput so the muscles of the occiput would be in through there but then same thing medial surface lateral surface all the way throughout the toes okay same thing then we go to our zone two we have our shoulder reflex but then here we get to play with traps and rhomboids so the traps are very interesting structure because they diamond out so we're going to swoop in and swoop down almost to that C7 C8 area depending on where that the lower half of the traps actually insert I forget the exact vertebra but we are going to draw that first because it's that sweeping diamond shape throughout the back but then the rhomboids do that same thing they kind of sweep all the way across and of course if we wanted to draw the erector spinae muscles as well we could do that and then unfortunately we can't draw on this surface without getting too much more convoluted but what I wanted to point out on the dorsal surface as well is that we have the dorsal tendons of the ankle a lot of people think this is just fallopian tube territory and vas deference territory and as well as lymphatic it is also muscular so when we think of psoas when we think of deep pelvic flexor when we think of the pelvic floor in general my go-to reflex are these tendons okay so whether they're super tight and popped whether they're deficient and weak and lacking uh whether the ankle is collapsed you know all those things really tell me a lot about the muscles of the core the bass core okay moving to our medial view we can just real quick kind of go over what we already went over cervical spine thoracic spine lumbar spine sacral spine definitely important to note that if people have uh ql issues it's going to be here so we're talking about the heart of the lower back and through here and that's very much where people get a lot of swelling a lot of impingement a lot of sensitivity with the reflexes same thing with the pelvic floor muscles and then look there's that uterus prostate reflex so very much the the muscles connected into that deep pelvic space and then also something to keep in mind is the idea that we have the sacral spine here yes but we also have all of those connective tissues that are in the sacral spine all throughout here yeah so if somebody is coming in and they have that deep sacral pain or that tension that just won't Shake check here because that will be part of that equation as well then we have the medial uh surface representing that more midline neck muscle tissue and then the muscles of the erector spinae kind of going across the thoracic yeah same thing we could do our nice swooping trapezius or rhomboid end muscles of the core and back body as well so just kind of transverse medial lateral All That Jazz okay but what I really want to bring your attention to is this lateral malleolus so we have in previous videos talked about the hip reflex that Crescent shape behind that posterior surface of the lateral malleolus well here's how we find the glutes so the glutes are going to be this lateral heel space and what I have found is that glute Minimus is more anterior glute medius is more uh midline and then glute Maximus is more posterior okay so we have Minimus and then medius and then we'll do Maximus okay so those are the three surfaces of the glutes very important when people have uh a various sciatic issue is it coming from the muscles and not the bones that's always a question that I like to ask of the feet to tell me is this idea of you know something happening muscularly versus skeletally versus nervous system wise versus dietary versus lymphatic it's all very specific so ignoring my phone in the background and we are going to go to that proximal head of the fifth metatarsal and now we're going to explore the cuboid notch okay so the cuboid Notch has three surfaces it is triangle shaped unlike its name is named after the cuboid bone which it is right here but the cuboid not just triangle shaped and we have three muscular sections that are super important because they tell us a lot about the state of the leg so the proximal head of the fifth metatarsal represents the knee the direct knee joint which is what we talked about in the skeletal system master class but then we have our ascending branch of the cuboid Notch which represents the quads so the quadricep muscles then we have our descending branch which represents the hamstrings we're just going to say ham h a m okay then we have the bottom surface of that triangle which represents the calves okay so quads are ascending hems or D stranding and then across the bottom we have the calf muscle structure that cuboid Notch palpation skill is so important for my Runners and for anybody who's dealing with sciatica we really need to Target that in terms of where to stretch where to focus our attention even where to focus our body work if you are dual practicing in terms of uh both massage therapy and reflexology very important to know this triangle shaped Notch as part of your kind of Materia Medica of reflexes to focus on so really important just to know those things and now we are going to go to the other reflex areas let's start with the hands and we'll basically just go through the exact same protocol that we did with the feet just on the different reflex surfaces so we have our shoulder line guideline then our diaphragm guideline then proximal head of the fifth metacarpal waistline guideline and in between that first and second row of carpal bones we have our pelvic line okay so those are our guidelines and now we get to play with muscles so muscles on the front body really give us an idea of that same plantar surface of the foot we have the more medial actually let's do spinal first just to make sure that we outline that really importantly cervical spine thoracic spine uh lumbar spine sacral spine and what is confusing about the hands is that they are rotated out into anatomical position unfortunately this is the standard so we are reversing medial and lateral if we were looking at the feet and the hands together the way that they should appear reflex wise the hand should be like this with the thumbs toward the midline because the toes are toward the midline and that would give us a more accurate reflexology map but standard is anatomical position so we want to make sure that we're using those terms so the lateral surface is the spine with that lateral surface of the muscles being our erector spinae group then we have if we have medial aspect of neck then the entire length of the fingers besides that pad are going to represent our neck reflexes because although it's a little bit warped because the fingers are longer on the hands than the toes just because of what they're needed to do function wise you know we do have the same amount of digits it's just the hands are shaped a little bit differently then we have our shoulder and then we have the pecs which would go from that spine all the way across perfect but then we also have if we wanted to draw let's draw a different color just to be clear diaphragm line so that muscle of the diaphragm got a little bit out of control there okay then we have our rectus abdominis oh give a little AB action there and then transverse and medial lateral perfect okay so that would be our front body now let's look at the back body which is just ever so slightly more entertaining and then we'll talk about the hip reflex as well shoulder line diaphragm line proximal head of the fifth metacarpal and pelvic line okay so just because I'm not sure how I'm going to do with space let's talk about that hip reflex so the hip reflex is going to be um in that Notch space right below uh right on the on and around the bone so that's going to be our joint but then the glutes are going to be very very much in that same space if we wanted to think of the dorsal aspect of the hand we're in horizontals on one two three and four this would be that same uh ql area but also the equivalent of the dorsal ankle and through here so all of those deep pelvic flexors and then within that same group we would have the glutes okay and this is a little bit weird because again the thumbs are turned inward on this one as opposed to outward to mirror anatomical position and then we have on that same section really convoluted because the hands just can't be simple we have the proximal head of the fifth metacarpal and then our triangle which what would be the equivalent of the cuboid Notch there is no cuboid notch in the hand because we don't have a cuboid bone in the hand but we have that same space so when we're looking at oh I got myself a little bit uh finger down finger down uh we have this cuboid Notch area equivalent in the hand space and that area this entire area in line with the fifth digit what would be more medial in anatomical position this whole area represents hip leg complex for the hands then we have kind of move in in Reverse Direction back on up do we have our traps which bear with me would again go all the way across same thing with rhomboids if we wanted to draw them because rhomboids kind of Stack with the trapezius and then if we wanted to draw the spinal reflexes again they would be on that more medial surface but they would go all the way down with our medial and lateral neck and then same thing are we seeing how the similarities are with the neck muscles with the fingers and the toes as well as the muscles of the other areas as well the similarities between the two okay so now let's go to the face the face okay we have our shoulder line guideline at the eyebrows give her a unibrow then we have the zygomatic bone the Jawbone which gives us our diaphragm guideline make her look like a raccoon then we're going to extend the smile so that lip line is going to be our waistline guideline and then the crease of the chin we're going to follow that all the way around for the jaw which we can't really see perfectly because it's 3D so we're doing our best with a 2d picture however one thing that I also want to make sure that you all understand is that they're for the forehead there is an impression on the forehead that delineates we don't have phalanges to delineate uh the neck versus the head so it's going to be the section that's closest to the guideline and that gives us our neck so if we wanted to think of spine as Central we have cervical thoracic lumbar sacral coccyx okay so we have our medial neck reflexes and then we have our lateral neck reflexes and then my favorite because the shoulder reflexes are literally right here at the temple at the edge of horizontal zone two that makes the entire eye space muscular okay so when somebody is experiencing ocular pain or tension that really tells us a lot about what's happening within their chest complex space then we have again continuing all the way down all those muscles going along either side of the spine if we wanted to trace over the diaphragm reflex for the diaphragmatic muscle but then also if we wanted to with the let's do the hips real quick hip knee leg just like with the hands it's a little bit crowded but it's that most lateral lower part and then the meat of that Master muscle would be all the tissue around hip knee leg and since the jaw represents that entire sciatic area you could think about the entire jaw it's self-representing the meat of that lower body okay then we have our core muscles which we could go transverse running out of ink running out of pink ink okay to create what would be a Picasso disaster on this face but giving us an idea that all of the muscles are mappable if you just pick up an anatomy book and start to use your Zone Theory okay same thing with the ears Let's Zone it so horizontal Zone one with the shoulder line guideline horizontal zone two with the diaphragm guideline horizontal zone three and four and five spine and then let's just go ahead and map our shoulder and then our hip okay excellent and then we'll fill in our spinal muscles erector spinae diaphragm all around for that hip knee leg it normally won't go as far as the antitragus but definitely um close to more to that lateral aspect then we have all of our lateral neck muscles and then we have our pecs which the rhomboids traps would be on the back of the ears just hard to get a photo of the back of the ears then we could have our core muscles going all the way across and rectus abdominis okay and you could map any muscle you wanted you just need to get a little bit creative again looking at your Anatomy book looking at the reflexes seeing if it makes sense trying it out trial and error is really important and going forth and just map map and know your reflexes great job