Piera: Hello, my name is Piera Panozzo. I am a board certified reflexologist practicing in Fairfield County, Connecticut. I am here today with some clients and colleagues and want to share with you my passion for reflexology.
Jeannie is a prospective client of mine. She has several questions about reflexology, and I hope to be able to answer her concerns and also answer her questions today.
Jeannie: I’m curious about reflexology because in addition to my health and wellness practice, I also am an artist. And my art form is one in which I’m standing at a table all day, and my feet are on a concrete floor. I’m a felter so I work with wool, hot soapy water and while I’m in the process of making these things I don’t feel any pain. But afterwards - the next day - after all of this physical work I feel that I’ve been on my feet and it feels more like a long workout that I’ve gone through. So I’ve had reflexology practice done on me in the past, not a lot of it, but I’m curious as to what would be the benefits of this long term. If I were to have weekly reflexology sessions, what would that be doing to support my practice as an artist and keep me healthy? So Piera if you could tell me a little bit more about what reflexology is and really how does it work?
Piera: Certainly, certainly. Standing on your feet all day can be very physically demanding, and reflexology is a very relaxing therapy. It’s a therapy that is non-invasive - I only use my hands when I do reflexology - and the therapy is applied to the feet, hands and ears. The reason being that the feet, hands and ears have nerve endings and maps of the entire body, and it is by working those nerve endings and stimulating those reflex points that we bring about relaxation to the entire body.
Reflexology works on three levels: on the physical, mental and spiritual level.
The physical aspect pertains to applying pressure - alternating pressure - to the reflex points located in the feet, hands and ears which correspond to the whole body. It is by applying pressure that we release toxins and improve the energy flow and circulation to the rest of the body.
On the mental level the act of touch is in itself a very effective therapy.
On the spiritual level it is the intention set by both the practitioner and the client invoking a healing energy force.
Jeannie: Piera you’ve given me lots of great reasons and information about why I want to now bring reflexology into my practice of living. I’m wondering if beyond the things we’ve talked about today and the information that you’ve shared, are there other reasons why someone would want to come to you for reflexology?
Piera: 85% of doctors visits are for conditions related to stress, and being that reflexology has been a proven therapy for stress reduction, it goes without saying that reflexology could certainly help a variety of conditions including for instance infertility.
Infertility affects both men and women equally. Studies have shown that reflexology helps couples deal with the anxiety, the depression and the stress associated with the inability to conceive. Studies also show that couples who avail themselves of reflexology have had a greater in conceiving.
Now I will introduce Dr. Philip Merker who is a chiropractor and licensed acupuncturist. In his practice he also comes across similar issues that I do, so I thought it would be interesting having him here today.
Dr. Merker: I want to ask you another question. I believe I know the answer to this question. As a client of yours - and you’ve worked on me and we’ve achieved a lot - I want you to clarify what is the difference between reflexology and massage.
Piera: Yes, absolutely. They are two separate and distinct modalities. Reflexology is energy work. Alternating pressure is applied to the reflex points found in the feet, hands and ears which correspond to the rest of the body as I said earlier. The techniques utilized are thumb walking, finger walking and also rotation on the reflex. In fact reflexology is probably conceptually more related to acupuncture than to massage. In reflexology the energy point is stimulated with touch rather than with a needle.
This concludes the first of two programs. In the next program I will demonstrate some of the reflexology techniques.