Foot reflexology: The window into your health

Reflexology offers many benefits in addition to promoting relaxation and assisting detoxification.

by Fatina Hijab — 

As winter approaches, it is necessary to pay closer attention to our feet. Colder weather not only contracts the concrete blocks and electrical wires throughout our cities, but the muscles in our bodies contract as well. Cold weather means having cold feet, craving rich fatty foods and working out less. Without a doubt, this leads to poor circulation, which can cause imbalance in our organs, disturbing the healing process.

We can easily reverse this process and combat its results through foot reflexology, an art and science that works on the entire body. The art of reflexology uses varied hand techniques to manipulate the 60-plus reflex points in the feet which correspond to every cell in the body — from head to toes, bones to skin, and cells to organs. In other words, reflexology covers the 11 systems of the human body. Moreover, the study of reflexology is well-rooted in the sciences of physiology and neurophysiology.

Reflexology offers many benefits in addition to promoting relaxation and assisting detoxification. For example, it helps improve blood circulation. Healthy circulation means a healthy body, simply because the blood regulates the body temperature and thus maintains homeostasis. According to Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary, homeostasis is the tendency to maintain normal internal stability in an organism through coordinated responses of the organ systems that automatically compensate for environmental changes. In other words, one cannot have a healthy heart, healthy brain, healthy kidneys and so on, without healthy blood circulation.

Healthy blood circulation also is necessary to maintain a healthy vascular system, consisting of numerous “tubes and hoses” of different sizes, widths and lengths that spread out all over the body. This allows blood flow within the arteries, veins and capillaries to do its job by carrying the nutrients, hormones and oxygen to every cell.

As blood flow increases and the organs become nourished and balanced, so do their functions. The body innately knows when to balance and normalize the health of every organ. Such intelligence also provides the body with its own manufactured chemicals and hormones, ready to be dispensed into the blood stream in the right amounts at the exact time needed.

Reflexology plays a very important role in our daily life. Because the human body is dynamic, reflexology works hand-in-hand with the natural healing process. However, it is important to remember that reflexology can never replace the medical community or modern medicine; reflexology can only support it and enhance it.

Fatina Hijab practices Chinese reflexology in Scottsdale. She is a certified and registered reflexologist, both in the U.S. and in China. 480-242-2373, www.trueharmonywellness.com or rightunderyourfeet@yahoo.com.

Reprinted from AzNetNews, Volume 25, Number 1, February/March 2006.