Eunice Ingham, known as the mother of Reflexology, said that even 15 minutes of Reflexology can be beneficial, and I whole-heartedly agree with this. As a therapist I have seen all types of clients visibly relax within minutes of me starting to work on their feet. I should add here that taster treatments should under no circumstances be used instead of a complete holistic treatment.
I co-ordinated a project for women with mental health problems in Swansea for two and a half years and during that time I spent many hours visiting the mental health services encouraging health workers to refer their clients onto the project. I very quickly learnt that just giving talks on Reflexology did not have much effect. I got very few referrals. However when I began giving 5 minute introductory talks, and then asking the health workers to try a taster treatment everything changed. All of a sudden I was getting referrals from social workers, CPN’s, Psychiatrists and support workers.
The difference was that once they had tried it themselves they could by extension imagine how it might benefit their clients. If 15 minutes could make them feel that relaxed then how much more benefit would a full treatment provide? And this leads me to the secret of what I think the most profound benefit of Reflexology is….
It’s ability to aid relaxation and its effect on stress! In over 10 years as a therapist I have worked with hundreds of clients with all kinds of complaints. The vast majority have reported massive improvement in their symptoms and overall health and wellbeing. And this is wonderful, but to me it is just the icing on the cake.
The thing which is so amazing about Reflexology is that even if all an individual gets from a Reflexology treatment is an hour of relaxation, then it is still more than most people experience in their daily lives, and for some people it can be the trigger for meaningful change! To have an hour of pure and intense relaxation and “me” time is a massive thing, and to award yourself that by visiting a Reflexologist sends out a big message about how much you value yourself! So why not try it?
