Reflexology For The Spirit

spirituality of one's health

Good Health is Not That Hard to Achieve. Really.

March 2, 2024 at 11:50 pm Comments disabled

You and I are constantly bombarded with conflicting information about our health.  What’s good.  What’s bad.  We’re complex beings.  Good health involves our bodies physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.  You may not agree with all the information on these pages.  But, for me, these words resonate with the truth.

For me, good health comes down to 7daily habits:

Not Smoking is Essential.

I put this habit first because it has a tendency to make people angry when they hear about not smoking or read about not smoking.  So, I’m just getting it out there in front.  That way, you can get over your anger reaction when we move on to the other essential habits which are easier to deal with and much more positive.

But, before we move on I do have one suggestion:  Reduce your habit to five cigarettes a day.  When you get down to five a day, zero is an easy goal.

Have you tried the gum from the pharmacy?

Is there a smokers support group in your area?

Hypnotherapy?  Biofeedback?

Whatever?.  Do whatever you have to do to give up the smoking.

Maintain a Healthy Weight.

Losing or gaining weight to reach your ideal weight gets harder with every passing year, so the younger you are when you work on your weight, the easier it is.  Weight Watchers or Overeaters Anonymous may be a good option for you. Biofeedback can help.

An interested  nutritionist can guide you to your goal and include specific foods  contributing to your continued good health at the same time.  You’ll get twice the bang for your buck with nutritional guidance.  For example, if you  need to gain or lose weight, and you have heart health issues,  a nutritionist can work on the weight situation along with your heart disease.  I don’t know about you, but I love I love to accomplish two things at a time.

Eat Many Fruits and Vegetables.

Wellness gurus teach five servings of fruits and vegetables are a minimum number for a well-nourished person to eat daily.  This five-serving recommendation is easy for me to share.  It can be fun.  I like the idea of thinking about which five fruits and vegetables will be on my plate today.  Planning for each day’s selection gives them focus and importance.  Planning gives me a chance to experiment a bit.  You can do this, too.  It’s easier than you think.  Choose one new vegetable or fruit each week at your grocery.  Take it home and learn about it:

What is it called?

Where is home for this food?

What are some popular ways to cook it?

How should it be stored?

What is the best way to combine it with other foods?

How should it be eaten?

If you discover one new fruit or vegetable weekly, your dietary skills will be vastly different in a year.

Exercise Regularly

The field is open here.  Your exercise can be drudgery or fun.  Spend as little or as much money as you want.  Choose one or two activities to participate in regularly.  The point is to stay active throughout your life.  Combine exercise with other daily habits.  I wear a fitness watch which beeps when I don’t move enough.  It also rewards me with a beep when I’ve exceeded my daily goal.  I have a job requiring that I stay off my seat and on my feet.  I’m making money while exercising a fun bonus!

Avoid Stressors

Stress is a biggie.  It plays a part in many health problems.  Meditation walks, laughter, sharing, singing, nature bathing, journaling, drawing can help you reduce stress.  Make room in your schedule for stress reduction activities.

Note:  There are several articles on this subject in earlier posts in this blog.  I periodically discuss stress.   If you look around on the blog, you’ll find  much information.

Include Healing Bodywork in Your Life.

If you’ve never gotten a massage, received Reiki therapy, or other bodywork, schedule a session.  Just to learn about it.  As time passes, schedule another session with a different healer.  Schedule a reflexology session (or other bodywork) to celebrate an event:  birthday, anniversary, a good day at work, the Spring Equinox, etc.

.In short, schedule healing bodywork sessions whenever you want.  If you end up on a cruise, hang out in the spa instead of the bar.

Over time, you’ll get inspired and book regular sessions.  Your body will thank you for the attention!  Everything always seems to go better with reflexology!

Support Yourself.

Do something nice for yourself each day.  Spend time meditating.  Think positive thoughts about yourself.  These supportive thoughts are a treat you give yourself.  You deserve it!

Thanks for reading this blog post!  New articles have been posted regularly for 10 years.  For me, this blog was created to be a conduit for your own healing.  Please share it with friends and family.  Forward it to your preferred social media network.

For more information, check out my books on www.thurmangreco.com.  Purchase them at this website in both ebook and paperbook form. So far, “A Healer’s Handbook” has gone out to readers in over 30 countries.

Contact me at thurmangreco@gmail.com.

If you enjoy the blog, you’ll enjoy my weekly shows on YOUTUBE.  This program has been running with a few timeouts now and then for over 15 years.  My program is an informative and entertaining unrehearsed hour with no rehearsals.  You can find it on Woodstock’s own TV Channel 23 or on YOUTUBE.

My guests are people whose lives have brought them to Woodstock for a day, a week, an hour, a decade, or more.

 

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Longevity and the Fountain of Youth

December 29, 2018 at 3:37 pm Comments disabled

In 1513, Ponce de Leon discovered the fountain of youth in what is now St. Augustine, Florida.  Fortunately for us all, the fountain of youth still exists and there is a branch of it in your neighborhood.  It is the sidewalk where you can walk daily as you exercise.  It can also be found at your nearest fitness class.

The truth is that the best thing you can do to assure that you live a long and healthy life is move, move, move.  Exercise is where it’s at!

A good exercise class or activity is one that you enjoy, can practice at least three times a week, and is one which strikes the right balance between enthusiasm and safety.  You are doing yourself no favors if you experience sports injuries.  The fountain of youth is one where you move, move, and move.

Everybody has excuses to not be physically fit through regular exercise.

Teens are distracted from exercise by schoolwork and the powerful pull of a social life.

Young adults in their 20’s seem to be physically fit more by accident than anything else.  After all, young people are busy with careers and social activities.

Careers and family relationships are the major pulls of adults in their 30’s  and 40’s.  People exercising in this age group are often motivated by vanity.  For some, health and longevity concerns become important as  muscle strength declines.  Issues surface such as slower reaction time,  shortening ligaments,  loss of elasticity.  People in their 30’s and 40’s need to use warm ups, stretching more often.

If a person in the 50-to-60 age category continues to ignore the fountain of youth, daily life becomes more difficult  when the time comes to get out of a chair, lift and carry objects.  The quality of life improves when people rely on  regular exercise  routines.  Regular exercise improves the life of a retiree!  Go Fountain of Youth!

Exercise which supports physical fitness makes the difference between independent living and an assisted living facility for a person in the   70-to-80 age group.

The good news is that we are never too old to  enjoy the benefits of the fountain of youth.  Exercise is always there for us – no matter what our age!  It ‘s never too late to discover the fountain of youth for yourself.

Whatever your age category, get off the sofa and move for just 30 minutes a day.

Thanks for reading this article.   Please share it with your preferred social media network!

Thurman Greco

Woodstock, New York

Trouble Sleeping?

June 23, 2017 at 7:34 pm Comments disabled

More and more people seem to be suffering from lack of sleep.  Stress is   overtaking our lives, it seems.  About a third of the people I encounter are battling insomnia.  But, stress isn’t the only cause of insomnia.  Low levels of estrogen and thyroid can rob you of your sleep.  Adrenal imbalances prevent sleep.  Nutritional deficiencies contribute to insomnia.  And on and on and on…

With this article, I offer  the first in a series of posts dedicated to suggestions you can use to assure you a better night’s sleep.  You may have some client partners  to share this information with also.

Some suggestions may be things you already know about.  That’s okay, it’s always nice to review and update information you may have forgotten  you know.

Other  suggestions will be new.  That’s good, too.  It’s always nice to add new skills to your tool box.

But, whether they’re tried and true, or brand new, give them a try.

  1.  Simplify your bedroom.  By that, I mean:  Move all your electronic devices out of your sleep space.   Computers, phones, TV’s, etc., emit signals as well as lights which can disturb a good night’s sleep.
  2. Hide your alarm clock  under your bed or in your closet.  The last thing you need on a sleepless night is to be continually reminded of how quickly or slowly time is passing.
  3. Regular Exercise  is important.  Try to get at least twenty minutes of exercise daily.  This habit will not only  help you sleep better,  but it  will help you feel better during the day, too.
  4. Avoid caffeine, alcohol, and tobacco in the evenings.   I know this sounds super boring, but this suggestion is both real and completely spot on.   As evening approaches, drop the coffee, and go for other foods and beverages which are relaxing.  One of my favorite bedtime snacks is a small container of plain Greek yogurt topped with whipped cream.   It’s nutritious, delicious, and it never keeps me awake.  If I wake up in the middle of the night, I eat this as a snack to help me go back to sleep.
  5. Then, there’s the old tried and true Usui Reiki Therapy.  When a client complains of insomnia, offer to teach him/her Reiki.  I find Reiki to be one of the best sleep aids out there.  When I use Reiki as as way of going to sleep, I never make it through a session.  I’m always asleep in less than 20 minutes.
  6. Develop winding down habits to help you prepare to be sleepy as you go to bed. This may mean a guided meditation, calming music, warm bath.
  7.   SKIP THE SLEEPING PILLS.   There are many herbal and nutritional preparations that may work for you.  Try them out until you find one you like best.  For your first selection, you may want to try melatonin, a product which should be taken about an hour before going to bed.  Melatonin is not a sleeping pill.  It will only work if you have  a low melatonin level.  
  8. Start paying attention to your sleep habits by learning when you go to bed in the evenings.  Your goal is to be able to allow yourself about eight or so hours to sleep each night.

Finally, I don’t know about you, but I hate the way I feel when I don’t get enough sleep.

Thanks for reading the first in this series of sleep promoting posts.  Insomnia is so prevalent these days.  It’s accompanied by depression and anxiety.

Please share this article with your favorite social media network.

Check in regularly to learn more things you can do to get a good night’s sleep.

Thanks!

Thurman Greco

PS:  I have more information about insomnia in my book.

 

Make Time for Yourself, Reflexologists!

February 17, 2017 at 3:34 pm Comments disabled

One of the really nice things about being a Reflexologist is that 25 sessions per week is considered to be a full time career.

Even with less than a full time client-partner load, it’s easy to lose sight of yourself and your personal needs as you  look after your client partners and their needs.

You can prevent this from happening if you pamper yourself regularly and make sure your own needs for time and space are met.

A reflexologist who  protects a bit of personal  time and space is a much better healer to his/her client partners.  Your life is just as important as those of your client-partners, family, friends.  Actually, an argument can be made that you are most important because all these people depend on you.

We all enter the healing arts wanting to be the best practitioner we can be.  Taking time for yourself is part of that mix.  Don’t  feel guilty about this.  You need rejuvenation and energizing as much as other practitioners, and at least as much as your client-partners.

Begin by claiming one of those 25 weekly sessions for yourself.  Make a weekly appointment  with another practitioner and receive a session.  This might be a good opportunity to get to know other practitioners by visiting a different professional   every week.

Throughout the week, there are other things you can do to maintain your rejuvenation and energy.

  1.  Script  a healing journal.
  2. Pamper yourself with relaxing baths.  Use candles, salts, essential oils.
  3. Read a book.
  4. Take a few moments  to enjoy a cool  fruit smoothie and a magazine.
  5. Exercise regularly.
  6. Pursue a hobby.
  7. Get yourself out in nature to enjoy the sounds, sights, textures, and smells without technology.

Finally, don’t take everything on your own shoulders all the time.

Thanks for reading this blog.

Please refer this article to your preferred social media network.

My book “A Healer’s Handbook” is now available through Amazon or my website http://www.thurmangreco.com.

Thanks, Thurman Greco