Self Care for You, Reflexologist – 3
Reflexologists, body workers, healers, whatever the title…we all have days when the clients seem to be lined up outside the door in an unending line.
OR, one client comes in for an appointment and it turns out to be a challenging day.
So, whether it’s one client or ten..days can be challenging.
What is a reflexologist to do?
One thing I do, no matter what, is take a power break.
A power break manifests itself in many ways:
- A short meditation of two or three minutes can completely change the energy – not only in your space, but in you as well. This meditation can stretch beyond the three minutes if your schedule allows. Do you have even fifteen minutes? Go for it!
- Take a clean air break and step outside for a moment or two. Breathe deeply. Enjoy the day – whatever it is. It doesn’t really matter whether you step out into the most beautiful day of the year or walk out to greet a major storm. The important thing is that you have stepped out of your space into the world for a moment.
- Find a quiet corner, lay down on the floor and prop your feet up the wall. This posture, for two minutes can change your energy dramatically. It can rejuvenate you for the rest of your day.
- Walk around your area for a moment and just do nothing. Walk around aimlessly. This will allow you to empty your head in a way no other activity can.
- Can you nap for two minutes? I’ve learned to do this and it is very refreshing. The ideal nap is fifteen minutes or more but two minutes can go a long way if it’s all you’ve got.
- Give yourself a quick Reiki session. A few minutes of Reiki therapy will offer much rejuvenation.
- Cut the cords. This is easy, quick, and very effective. Whenever you meet with another person, no matter how briefly, you connect on spiritual and emotional levels. When you cut the cords, you sever this connection. This cutting of the cords is important at least at the end of each day. Cutting the cords after each appointment is a positive move. Think of these cords as different colored ribbons attached at each end to you and the other person. Cutting them will offer a release for you which can be freeing.
Whatever you do, choose an activity you can rely on for rejuvenation, relaxation, stress release. Make this power break part of your day, every day.
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Artwork provided by Jennette Nearhood.
Book Cover designed by Sangi.
Reflexology blessings to you!
Thurman Greco
Tara Sanders: Healing, Yoga, and Reflexology
healing, yoga, and reflexology
As reflexologists, we add new clients to our practice often. Healing, yoga, and reflexology are important here. Depending on your personality, or your practice, you may ask a few or many questions from them on the intake forms and in the initial interviews.
Trauma is one area of a person’s life which we rarely approach. It is just too hidden, too destructive.
This is wise. Trauma is a subject which our client partners need to bring up when the time is right for them to share. Because nothing is said doesn’t mean that it didn’t happen. It just means that the person isn’t comfortable discussing it.
Because, in reality, 1 woman in 4 has experienced domestic violence and/or sexual assault. Personally, I question the 1-in-4 statistic. No woman reports domestic violence or sexual assault if she can possibly avoid it. Reporting is simply too painful.
When I first spoke with Tara Sanders, a Woodstock based yoga instructor and program director in the nonprofit Exhale to Inhale I was suddenly very alert. I realized that we, as reflexologists, need to be more sensitive to the secrets and hidden traumas of our client partners.
Exhale to Inhale yoga works to empower survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault to heal through yoga. Exhale to Inhale yoga guides women through postures, breathing, meditation. Taught in trauma sensitive style, practitioners are enabled to ground themselves in
their bodies
their strength
their stillness.
As this happens, the women connect to themselves. They work toward empowerment and worthiness. This practice can be transformative for survivors of sexual abuse and domestic violence when they shed the cloak of victimhood.
Healers, reflexologists, and body workers have long known that when a person is traumatized, the event is stored in the muscles.
We also know that reflexology sessions are given a boost when combined with other modalities such as yoga, meditation, breathing, Reiki therapy, and massage.
Tara teaches the classes without music. She does not touch the students to correct a posture. Lights remain on throughout the class. These sessions offer survivors an opportunity to reclaim their lives through the healing and grounding of yoga.
Tara uses the yoga classes to help her students feel safe, strong, in the present moment. As she teaches, she is a conduit for healing and healthful programs in our community. Reflexology for the Spirit practitioners are also conduits for healing as we work the reflex points to encourage homeostasis.
Exhale to Inhale is a New York-based nonprofit offering free weekly yoga classes to survivors of domestic and sexual assault. After June 20, Exhale to Inhale yoga classes will be taught free of charge to women in area shelters in Upstate New York.
Not everyone has a Tara Sanders available in the community. However, it’s possible to suggest reflexology sessions offered in tandem with yoga, meditation, breathing classes. Whether or not you are aware of your client partner’s experience with trauma or domestic violence is not important. What is important is that you invite your client partner to experience this boost to your modality. Think of healing, yoga, and reflexology as a package.
Hopefully one day soon, there will be more Tara Sanders yoga teachers in communities everywhere.
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Jennette Nearhood provided the media.
Thurman Greco
