Sole Response Reflexology and Reiki

Six Natural Ways to Prevent Illness

Written on June 25, 2009 at 10:08 am, by Sharon Simmons

New wonder drugs and mind-boggling surgical advances usually make the top of the news. No matter how great may be the achievements of the medical profession, if you are concerned with maintaining your own personal health then you will probably get more immediate protection by following some simple steps towards a more healthy way of life rather than waiting to be saved by a new technique. In case you are not sure where to start, let me give your some suggestions.

1. Exercise Regularly. In the past humans had to work at physically demanding tasks and this kept them in shape. Today, we are engaged in mental rather than physical labor, and this lack of physical activity is often the cause of obesity, diabetes and a host of other illnesses. Instead of sitting back on your easy chair, you should make it a point to exercise daily. If you are not the athletic type or you don’t want to invest in an exercise machine, the easiest way to get exercise is to take a walk each day. Thirty to forty minutes daily will definitely keep you in shape.

2. Heed the call of your body before eating. I know that most people have a routine when it comes to eating. At a certain time it is the hour for lunch and at another it is dinner time. But instead of eating according to the clock it is a better idea to eat only when you actually feel hungry. If you ignore the signals of your body and eat when you are not hungry (on a continual basis) then this may lead to digestive problems. So, be sensitive to your real needs and refrain from eating if you are not really hungry.

3. Observe a fast on a periodic basis. “What, are you telling me not to eat?” Look at it this way. You don’t work seven days a week and 52 weeks per year. You need rest periods from time to time in order to maintain your overall efficiency. The same is true for your digestive system. By fasting on a periodic basis you can give your digestive system a chance to rest, and also help eliminate toxins from your body. Try it and you will see how good it feels.

4. When You Get Tired, Go to Sleep! This seems like an obvious rule, but I know that I am not perfect in following it and millions of other people have the same weakness. Sometimes we stay up later to get some work done, but then lose that time the next day due to being drowsy or by getting up later. Some people take stimulants to keep awake and others just can’t turn off the TV or computer. Just like your food habits, your body is trying to tell you what to do and when to do it. Listen to your body when it comes to sleeping, and you will maintain your health.

5. Get Up as Early As Possible. You may have heard the expression “Early to bed, early to rise makes the man healthy, wealthy and wise.” I don’t know if early rising will make your rich or wise, but it is definitely one of the traits of people who live long. Our body is best suited to being active during the day and sleeping during the hours of darkness. If you reverse this pattern and sleep during the day and remain active deep into the night, then you will disturb your body’s natural equilibrium and this usually leads to illness.

6. Relieve Stress with Meditation and Yoga. Stress is the cause of many illnesses and our daily routine at work and even at home is often filled with stress causing incidents. We definitely need a way to get rid of the stress and also a way to deal with mental tension. Silent meditation, accompanied by simple yoga and deep relaxation is an ideal way to shut off the noise of the outside world and to find inner peace. You don’t have to tie yourself in pretzel or meditate for hours on end. Just some simple exercises will help you physically and mentally.

Practice any or all of these above-mentioned methods and you will be pleasantly surprised with the results. Hopefully you will never have to try out the wonder drugs or undergo the latest types of surgery!

Reiki and Self-Realisation

Written on June 22, 2009 at 8:24 am, by Marita

It is only by truly knowing ourselves that we can begin to grow and progress in our spiritual development and our life journey.

An individual who is on their spiritual journey will often read extensively, take part in self-realisation courses and be open to learning more about themselves, often described as their positive and the negative attributes. I like to look at it more as the evolved components and the non-evolved components, those aspects of ourselves that we are currently working on to learn our lessons in life. Part of our purpose on this earth as a third dimensional being is to learn these lessons.

Reiki is universal life force energy of light. Quantum physics is telling us that we are beings of light. When we start growing we are as small as subatomic particles and as the particles grow and come together they develop into matter and form, just like us. Light is the true source of all and everything. Our physical form is where the energy of light flows through us and in doing so helps us to create our universe.

It is also through this light that we create our heart’s desires. When we become aware of this inner light we are free to experience all. We have no boundaries or limitations. We are living in the present moment. If we are living in fear, which stems from our ego, then we are limiting our growth and learning potential. By feeling and experiencing the light protection and guidance that Reiki offers us, we are able to give and receive each and every day of our life. We learn to have no fear. Only love and light.

Our thoughts and our words are very powerful things. It’s important to be aware of the ego-based thoughts such as “I am going to” or “I want that “. These thoughts can lead to suffering and attachment because when these thoughts do not eventuate, we become disappointed, because we have set up an expectation that something is going to happen and when it doesn’t, we feel that we have wasted our efforts. By changing the thought process to now think of what we have rather than what we want or need and what we will do rather than what we should do, we are using affirming language.

When we use Reiki universal life force energy all our needs are provided for. We no longer waste time in the doing or having the expectation.

Be open to Reiki universal life force energy and be truly grateful for that awareness, as light energy is infinite and full of abundance and prosperity for all who choose to accept it.

Good Health !!!

Copyright 2009. Marita Reynolds

Reflexology – Science or Science Fiction?

Written on June 16, 2009 at 4:46 pm, by Marita

By Florence Cohen

Most commonly, reflexology is carried out on the feet and the hands, so let us begin by defining what foot and hand reflexology is in the simplest of terms. Imagine someone would draw your entire body on your feet and on your hands where everything drawn on the right foot and the right hand corresponded exactly to the right side of your body and everything drawn on the left foot and left hand corresponded exactly to the left side of your body. When you’d look at the soles of the feet or the palms of the hands, you would be able to see the area of the heart, that of the lungs, the spine, the kidneys, the bladder and so on. These mirror areas of the body are called reflex areas – or reflexes – and reflexology is the science of the reflexes. Reflexology rebalances body chemistry by accessing the actual organs and various parts of the body through the mirror areas in the feet and hands. How? Using the 7000 nerve endings in each foot, using the blood flow, using the lymph flow, and possibly the acupunctural meridians as well. In the hands of a well-trained reflexologist – and this is an important point – reflexology will stimulate and optimize nerve flow, blood flow, and lymph flow to the area of the body being treated in the feet or the hands, thus minimizing pain as well as muscle tension and facilitating the body’s natural healing and detoxifying processes in that particular area. This is done by deep pressure thumb and finger techniques which reproduce the effect of walking barefoot in nature on different uneven surfaces such as stones, sand, grass, branches and so on. Too good to be true? Sounds more like science-fiction than science?

Then allow me to present the science to you. In the 1930′s, Eunice Ingham, an American physical therapist, developed Western Reflexology as we know it today. She is the one who mapped out all the reflex areas of the hands and feet. She did it by trial and error on thousands of patients working closely with a physician, Dr. Riley, and without any modern equipment. She knew what the complaints of her patients were and she looked for the corresponding areas in the foot which appeared to be “congested” and sore. This is how, over the years, she mapped out the reflex areas of the feet. Also, she realized that when she treated those areas with deep pressure, the complaints of her patients improved or disappeared. Today, methodologically valid studies prove that she was right. In 1999, thanks to Doppler sonography for instance, Austrian researchers proved that reflexology on the kidney reflex increased blood flow inside the kidney. When reflexology was applied to reflexes other than that of the kidney, the measured blood flow inside the kidney was not altered. Only when the specific area on the foot corresponding to one of the kidneys was stimulated by deep reflexology techniques did the amount of blood flow inside the corresponding kidney become greater. This means that more oxygen and more nutrients were immediately brought to the kidney to improve its function by the simple means of doing reflexology on the kidney reflex. For those interested, here below is the reference to the study.

“Changes of renal blood flow during organ-associated foot reflexology measured by color Doppler sonography” by Sudmeier I., Bodner G., Egger I., Mur E., Ulmer H., Herold M., Forsch Komplementarmed. 1999 Jun; 6(3): 129-34

One of the most valid and truly interesting studies on the effects of reflexology was carried out by the Oregon Research Institute and published in 2005 in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. The study demonstrated that cobblestone-mat walking significantly improved the health of older physically-inactive adults (between 60 and 92 years of age) over 16 weeks. This was measured by various physical performance tests, balance tests, and blood pressure changes. Here below is the reference to the study.

“Improving physical function and blood pressure in older adults through cobblestone mat walking: a randomized trial” by FUZHONG LI; FISHER K. John ; HARMER Peter, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society ISSN 0002-8614, 2005, vol. 53, no8, pp. 1305-1312 [8 page(s) (article)] (27 ref.)

This study is extremely significant because it shows that the health of the elderly people who walked on the cobblestones three times per week unquestionably improved much more than that of the elderly people who did the normal walking on a flat surface (the control group). In other words, the pressure caused by the cobblestones made all the difference. One should look at reflexology as the re-enactment of natural barefoot walking on different uneven surfaces. If you think about it, this the way nature intended for us to live – walking, not sitting all day like we do. What the study implies is that there is a natural rebalancing system of our body functions (our health) integrated in our feet which is being stimulated by deep pressure. And in the original plan, this pressure would have come from walking barefoot in nature. With modernization and daily sitting, this system is not being used anymore. That’s where reflexology comes in. As a matter of fact, every city in Asia has a cobblestone health park.

Researchers in some universities are now looking at what happens inside the brain when you stimulate certain reflexes. The first results are very encouraging and in the coming 20 years I am certain that many of the benefits of reflexology will be fully explained by scientific measurements and observations.

Be aware that there are two types of reflexology. The first is the type of reflexology that is often given in spas: this is more like an improved foot massage than anything else and cannot be considered clinically relevant. The second is the type of reflexology the above studies talk about: it activates the body’s natural healing and detoxifying processes and reduces pain as well as stress levels. With this type of reflexology, which some reflexologists like myself prefer to call medical (or clinical) reflexology, many medical conditions and their associated symptoms – especially pain – will improve in a matter of a few sessions.

Florence Cohen is a certified Medical Reflexologist from the International Institute of Reflexology who specializes in back pain. You will find more information about reflexology in general, its benefits for all medical conditions, and the exact science behind it on her informative website http://www.reflexology4backpain.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Florence_Cohen
http://EzineArticles.com/?Reflexology—Science-Or-Science-Fiction?&id=2035896

Meditation- Relax, breathe and get to know your inner self

Written on June 11, 2009 at 3:24 pm, by Marita

How often in this day and age are we told about the importance of relaxation and that meditation is a great skill to develop? How many of us actually take action to develop the skills required for meditation?

We have grown up in a culture that has actually encouraged us to always be active in body and mind. We tend to constantly keep our minds working in overdrive and thinking all the time, using our energy resources continuously without allowing ourselves to re energise by having some “no thought” time. To clear our head as it were.

Recall back to how many times a simple thought has entered your mind, which has led you to another thought and then another thought etc, until your mind has created a scenario that hasn’t even happened yet. Sometimes this scenario may have a happy ending, other times we may have unnecessarily upset ourselves. Our ego and mind love to play with our thoughts to see what they can create. Nine times out of ten it is our imagination that is running wild creating unrealistic situations and “what if” or “if only” scenarios. These take us out of the present moment.

So how do we manage this egoic mind? Start by developing the skill of meditation. Meditation is a learned process of calming the mind and not becoming attached to the dramas and thought streams it wants to create.
It is a process of concentrating on the breath and being the observer of our thoughts, rather than becoming attached to those thoughts and allowing them to anger or upset us.

It is common for people to say “they haven’t got the time to spend meditating” or “why would I waste time sitting and not doing anything, when I achieve so much more by staying active?”

I find this very puzzling. Is it any wonder that people are suffering ill health, anxiety and stress related disorders in the western countries? simply because they feel that they need to be constantly doing or thinking about something. Not taking some time to simply sit, relax, breathe and unwind has been proven to have detrimental effects on our health.

If you are one of those people, please acknowledge that aspect of yourself. It’s never too late to learn meditation. There are a variety of meditation techniques available. You just need to find one that suits you and spend some time practising.
Think of it as part of your daily health plan. Even 10-20 minutes per day is all you need to get started. Give yourself time to practice and persevere. You will definitely feel better for having incorporated some meditation into your daily routine.

For further information on Meditation please visit the Links page at  http://www.soleresponse.com/links.html

 Meditations/Relaxation music CDs available click here

Good health !!

Marita Reynolds. © Copyright 2009

The Benefits of hand reflexology

Written on June 7, 2009 at 5:12 pm, by Marita

Hand reflexology can be an alternative or an aid to foot reflexology. Hands are easily accessible and can be worked anytime, anywhere. It is also excellent for the client to learn the reflex routine appropriate to them and use this to assist them between visits for relaxation or areas of the body that they feel are congested.

• It’s cost effective as the duration of time to complete the hands is quicker (allow 30 minutes in total)
• Easy to access, nothing to remove except your jewellery.
• Still completes the whole body system for improved circulation and general well being
• Client can work their own hands (very good for headache, neck or back pain)
• If your feet cannot be worked for any particular reason (eg you may not like having your feet touched) you can receive the same benefits through stimulating the reflexes on the hands.

Hand reflexology can also be very beneficial for people working constantly with their hands for example in the IT field. With this type of work it would be advantageous to have hand reflexology sessions to help avoid conditions such as RSI, as reflexology would help to improve circulation to the arms and wrists. Regular hand exercises would also be very beneficial to people in this line of work. The reflexologist will use a combination of relaxing stretches and reflexology techniques. 

Workplace sessions can be organised where a reflexologist can go in for a morning and work each employee. This has often resulted in positive feedback indicating a more relaxed workplace and has been known to enhance work performance and productivity.

 Good health !!

Marita Reynolds. © Copyright 2009 

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Written on June 6, 2009 at 10:31 am, by Marita

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Stress in young people- take action now

Written on June 3, 2009 at 10:06 am, by Marita

 Everyone has some level of stress in their lives, some more than others. We are all looking for cost effective ways to help reduce stress. Therefore I thought it interesting to put in a note about our younger generation and I am talking about primary school level, who have their own stress issues. Yes even at this age…  Don’t wait until they’re older (high school and VCE year) to think about ways of helping them reduce stress. Encourage them now to take some time out and sit quietly, to develop good habits about recognising when they are stressed and what to do for themselves when they are in this situation.

Some schools participate in yoga programs especially designed for children. However, if you don’t have this facility available to your kids, then there are many yoga schools now that do include after school programs for children, and if there is a yoga school near you that doesn’t then be proactive and get some friends with children that would be interested and go and request if one could be organised. If they receive expressions of interest they may provide a class especially for your group.

You never know, it might just be catching. The message here is don’t wait for stress in your children to become a major issue. Work on it now so that the child has tools and skills to help them through the rest of their lives. They will thank you for it eventually.

Good health!!!

Marita Reynolds. Copyright 2009.

Reflexology-Health Benefits from an Ancient Therapy

Written on May 31, 2009 at 10:42 am, by Marita

Reflexology is a form of massage conducted primarily on the feet and hands. Reflexology dates back as far as 2330BC to ancient Egypt where Egyptian hieroglyphics have been discovered showing physicians working on the people’s feet and hands. Reflexology is still practiced today.

Modern reflexology dates back to 1917 when a medical doctor, Dr William Fitzgerald developed Zone Therapy, where the body is sectioned into ten zones with each zone representing particular organs or body systems. Dr Fitzgerald made the discovery when he worked on patient’s hands and feet, and found that it helped to relieve pain in the related organ of the body. Today a growing number of people are able to feel the benefits of reflexology and see their own health improve.

Reflexology is a non-invasive, wholistic therapy that complements all forms of medicine and alternative therapies. We can view the body as a finely tuned instrument and if everything is functioning properly the body remains in a healthy well-balanced state. However, if certain organs or body systems are not functioning properly the body will feel unbalanced and disease may occur.

Reflexology can help to bring the body back into balance by helping to reduce stress, improve circulation and boost lymphatic function. There are thousands of nerve endings in the feet and these are interconnected to other body systems via the spinal cord and brain. A reflex is actually a reflection of an organ or body system located at a specific region on the foot or hand.

During a foot reflexology session the practitioner incorporates gentle stretching techniques to relax and loosen the foot and then works the entire body systems using their thumb and fingers, gently massaging over each reflex area to stimulate the point. By stimulating the reflex the aim is to improve energy circulation and blood flow to the organ or body system represented on the foot. This process also assists in providing the body with a gentle, yet effective detoxification. Sessions are usually one hour in duration. Following treatment, clients usually comment that their feet feel lighter and freer. With our hands and feet working overtime on a daily basis it makes sense to provide them with a little TLC.

The benefits of Reflexology are now becoming more widely known within the community. For people with diabetes, those who have had a stroke or those experiencing difficulties with menopausal symptoms or any circulatory issues, these people may find reflexology beneficial. It can assist in helping to improve a variety of conditions. Whereas one visit will provide the client with a general feeling of relaxation, it is recommended that the client allow at least 3-6 visits to fully assess the effects reflexology has on their condition.

It is very interesting to see ancient healing therapies like reflexology, acupuncture and massage still offering health benefits to us in the 21st century. It is as though we have rediscovered ancient wisdom that was lost somewhere along the way.

Copyright 2009. Marita Reynolds

Pregnancy- How reflexology can help.

Written on May 31, 2009 at 8:45 am, by Marita

Reflexology is a gentle, non-invasive, holistic therapy. Reflexology can help with many conditions especially pregnancy. During pregnancy women experience many physical, emotional and hormonal changes whilst the foetus is developing.  It’s an important time for the mother-to-be to pay particular attention to nurturing herself and her body in preparation for the birth.

Changes are occurring continually throughout the pregnancy and some women can experience nausea, backache, constipation, cramps, poor circulation, swollen ankles, fatigue, headaches, anxiety, and high or low blood pressure.

By having regular reflexology sessions during your pregnancy you may be able to alleviate these conditions. Reflexology is mainly known for it relaxing effects and can help to calm, balance and re-energize the body.

Reflexology works the whole body system to help improve circulation to all areas. This includes the nervous and lymphatic system (our defence system against harmful bacteria and viruses), which are working overtime during pregnancy and need as much help as they can get.

In reflexology we use a combination of techniques to help balance the Endocrine system, which is our hormonal control centre. The endocrine glands help our body to adapt to our environment. It’s where our hormones are produced. Hence working this system is very beneficial to all people, but particularly the pregnant woman who is experiencing many changes in this area.

Treatments are especially useful towards the end of the pregnancy to help prepare and relax the women for birth.

Postnatally, reflexology can assist with breast feeding, helping the flow of breast milk and helping with engorgement and mastitis problems. It is also beneficial for women suffering postnatal depression or fatigue, stress and anxiety problems.

Good health !!

Marita Reynolds. © Copyright 2009

Reiki- A hands-on healing therapy.

Written on May 28, 2009 at 3:50 pm, by Marita

Reiki is a hands-on healing process which is based on “universal energy”. This energy is present in all things. During a Reiki session the practitioner will place their hands on or over various parts of the receiver’s body to facilitate healing.

Reiki can assist with promoting physical, mental and general wellbeing.

Everyone can learn Reiki. It is taught in 3 levels. The first degree is Reiki 1. It is a two day course that covers the history of Reiki and studying the hands-on healing technique. This course is suitable for people who are interested in using it on themselves (e.g. headaches, back pain, to induce a calm feeling etc.) It is also great if people want to work on family, friends and pets.

If you suffer from a particular ailment, Reiki 1 is a great resource for people interested in what they can be doing to help themselves. People have described Reiki as very comforting and nurturing. It can be done at any time anywhere by placing your hands on the area you feel requires healing.

Good health !!!

Marita Reynolds. © Copyright 2009