Reflexology For The Spirit

spirituality of one's health

Ten Good Tips!

Can I offer you Ten Good Tips that will improve your life significantly and still be easy to adapt to your lifestyle?

I hope so!  Well, they may not all be super easy to become a part of your life but don’t hit the  escape button yet.  Please just read these Ten Good Tips and see how many of them you already do and how many of them will be easy for you and how many will be a challenge.

I honestly believe this list is going to be easier than you think.  Just, give it a try.

Please.

Drink a cup of tea each day and then drink seven more cups of water throughout your day.

Walk 10,000 steps a day.  Actually, this may be a lot easier than you think.  Many people already walk 10,000 steps daily.  If that doesn’t work for you, try to walk for thirty minutes every day.

Can you quit smoking?  Have you already quit smoking?

Every day, sit down and put your feet up.  Get quiet for five minutes.  That’s all.

Reach out to a friend every day.  Just to say “hi” if nothing else.

Enjoy a piece of chocolate every day.

Sleep well.

Eliminate prefabricated foods from your diet.  You know what I mean.  The instant macaroni and cheese that I lovingly call “yellow death” and the canned chili with ingredient words no one can pronounce.   And, don’t forget the peanut butter with an ingredient list that takes up half the label.

Switch over to olive oil based salad dressings to control cholesterol.

Skip sugary soft drinks and bubbly sodas that have sugar substitutes instead of sugar.  Either way, your body won’t miss them.

Add blueberries to your diet to enhance your memory.  I buy frozen wild blueberries in bulk to cut their cost.  Wild ones actually have more nutrients which are found in the skins because wild blueberries are smaller than the farmed ones.  I put them over plain yogurt.  Love it!

I’ve added a couple extra items to the list so you’ll have a choice.

Thank you for reading this article!

Please refer this blog post to your preferred social media network.

Thurman Greco

The Second Edition of “A Healer’s Handbook” should be available within about two weeks!  Thanks to every for your support of this book!  Thurman

Sleep, Glorious Sleep

For a person struggling to sleep, it sometimes feels as if a good night’s sleep will never happen.  Well, I don’t believe that.  I’ve had too many client partners   journey down the path to good sleep habits.

  1.  Regular reflexology sessions really help.  Begin with three reflexology sessions a week.  After the first week, cut back to two sessions a week.  Try to get two sessions a week for two months.  Then, cut back to one session a week and continue with this weekly schedule until better sleep habits begin to be a part of your life.  Then, you can cut back to a session every other week for awhile.  Regular reflexology sessions definitely encourage sleep, glorious sleep.
  2.  Self Reiki offers a better night’s sleep.  Whenever you wake up in the night and think you’ll never be able to go back to sleep, spend a few minutes offering yourself a Reiki session.
  3. Write a sleep meditation for yourself which you can use when you are awake at night.  Recite this meditation to yourself when you can’t sleep.  Edit it over time until you feel you have it just right.  In this meditation, you want to tell your muscles to relax so you can sleep.  Tell your body that you are surrounded by a relaxing light that will encourage and support your sleep for the remainder of the night.
  4.  If you feel hungry when you wake up in the middle of the night, fix a small snack for yourself.  You don’t want to have an entire meal, or even a large snack, but a small serving of yogurt or a cup of a relaxing tea can coax you back to sleep.
  5. Try not to let yourself be overcome by  worry.  Sometimes urgent worry can keep you from returning to sleep when you wake in the middle of the night.  Realize that the worry will seem smaller in the light of day.
  6. Do not let your thoughts control your night and your ability to sleep.  After all, they are just thoughts.  Let them slip away into the night.
  7. If you feel you cannot return to sleep, get out of bed and read for a few minutes.  Then, maybe you will feel more like sleep when you return to bed.
  8. Gentle yoga before bed helps.
  9. Finally, give yourself permission to rest and to sleep.

Thank you for reading this blog post.

Please share this article with your favorite social media network.

Thurman Greco

Trouble Sleeping?

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.

 

Continuing Education: Self-Care for You, Reflexologist – 5

Do you attend continuing education classes, workshops, sessions throughout the year?  If not, you’re missing out on the most important part of self-care.

Continuing education classes not only teach us new ideas, techniques, attitudes, postures…they stimulate our minds.

Continuing education classes offer emotional and spiritual stimulation.

Continuing education classes offer networking opportunities of a quality not found anywhere else.

Every continuing education experience is reflected in better work on your client partners.

In addition, continuing education classes usually offer a chance to receive and give body work while you’re learning.

You return to your table renewed and rejuvenated.

Continuing education classes offer you a chance to expand your service skills.  I am  a reflexologist.  This is the work I offer  my client partners daily.

I am also known for being a companion animal   massage therapist,  a Reiki master teacher.  I have been attuned to nine different forms of Reiki.  Finally,  I read tarot cards.

I learned all of these skills on continuing education hours.

To be honest, I’ve studied things that I don’t practice but not one minute of the continuing education hours were a bust.

I am a much better practitioner, blogger, writer, teacher  because of  my fellow professionals who shared their knowledge with me through continuing education classes:  Jonathan Rudinger, Penelope Smith, Dawn Hayman, Mary Ruth Van Landingham, Shoshana Hathaway,  Tom Rigler, Rev. Dan Chesbro, Kerrith McKechnie, Marge D’Urso, Alberto Villoldo.

So, my message is this:  enrich your life, expand your practice, get continuing education hours!

Thanks for reading this blog post.

Please share this article on your preferred social media site.

Thurman Greco

Self-Care for You, Reflexologist

When you look at your calendar for the coming week…where are YOU on the schedule?  If you are not on the schedule, you are not doing the basic self-care things things to protect your career.  Self-care is the difference between a two-year career as a healer and a twenty-year career as a healer.

You are the healer.  You join the professional organizations.  You pay your taxes.  You make sure your office is “just right”.  You take  continuing education classes.  In short, you do the things necessary to protect your business.

But, what about you:   your body, your spirit, your emotional strength, your thoughts?  Where are they lined up here with the bills and the available appointments, and the marketing activities?

For many healers, body workers this is the most difficult thing to do on the entire list.  As reflexologists, we’re accustomed to give, give, give.  And, we enjoy giving.  Obviously we enjoy giving or we would never have taken even the first class.

The bottom line here is that you commit to your own private, inner, personal wellness when you receive a weekly session.  You also set an example for your client partners.

Things you can do!:

Begin by filling your spiritual tank.  Schedule a session for yourself each week.  Every week.  Do something.  Get a massage.  Get a Reiki session.  Schedule a session with a shamanic healer.  Try out that new chiropractor who just moved into your neighborhood.

Do something!  The important thing is to get on someone else’s table at least once a week.

Personally, I receive an hour-long  Reiki therapy session every week…no matter what.  I also receive a reflexology session every week.  The work I do the rest of the week is much better for this hour which I invest in myself.

Thank you for reading this blog.

Please refer this article to your preferred social media network.  Share this article with a fellow healer.

Thurman Greco

 

 

Forgiveness

In 1513 Juan Ponce de Leon went exploring for the fountain of youth in what is now Florida.  He found it and it exists.  A branch of it is probably at a fitness center in your community.  I found one in my community.  It’s called the Fitness Connection and is on Albany Avenue in Kingston, New York.

There is a branch of the Fountain of Youth within reach of you.  Can you name one?  Do you use one?  Regularly?

Being tuned into the Fountain of Youth is important.  Don’t ever mistake this.  But, it’s also important to be healed.  The quality of your life will be much better when you can forgive those who injured you in some way.  Forgiveness opens the door to healing.

Without forgiveness, we go through our daily life carrying  anger, blame, fear, guilt, hurt, regret, resentment, revenge, sadness.

Getting rid of  negative baggage can change your life for the better.

Begin to release this negative baggage by listing the people in your life who you need to forgive.  Include yourself in this list if you blame your self for things as well. (Don’t we all?)

Now, spend some time each day  forgiving those who need forgiveness.  You are forgiving people for yourself…nothing more.  You know that when you offer forgiveness, miracles can occur.

Don’t worry about the person anymore.  You are releasing this person’s energy into the universe.  You are releasing this person’s karmic connection to yourself.  You are cutting the cords which have been binding you together.

Healing you never expected will  take place.

How does forgiveness  happen?  How can you make this work for you?

Sit for a few minutes  in a quiet place and offer forgiveness to each person individually:

“I offer forgiveness to …………………………..  I forgive you for …………………………………..

Now, I  am free and you are free, too.  I release you to your divine plan of life.  Everything between us is cleared up, now and forever.”

When you have forgiven everyone you can remember, go into your past lives and offer forgiveness to those  who need it:

“I offer forgiveness to everyone in my past life who has damaged me in some way.  I forgive everyone for whatever he/she did.  Now, I am free and you are free, too.  I release you now.  Everything between us is cleared up, now and forever.”

These forgiveness meditations may take more than a day.  Actually, they may take several weeks or even months.  Don’t worry about this.  Take whatever time is necessary.  Forgive a  person or few persons each day when you have a few moments.

As you do this, notice how you feel when this happens.  Notice how much better you feel with each meditation.  Notice how much better you look.  Notice how much younger you act.  Notice how much excess weight you are losing.

You may not observe any changes immediately.  However, you will begin to see yourself, your environment, and your world improved, healed, more beautiful.

As you forgive people and release them to their divine plans…

You will feel better.

Your vocabulary will change.

Your thoughts will be positive.

You will feel free.

You will feel light.

Replace the negativity with love.

Bring love alive in your life.

Eat, sleep, and breathe love.

ENJOY!

Thank you for reading this article.  Please share this blog post with your favorite social media network.

Spread the word about “A Healer’s Handbook”!  Thank you to everyone who has purchased this book.  Thank you to everyone who will purchase this book in the future.

Thank you to Michele Garner for contributing her heart art at the top of this blog.

Thank you to Sangi van den Nouweland for contributing the cover art on “A Healer’s Handbook.”

The information about the Fountain of Youth came from the Fountain of Youth Archeological Park in Saint Augustine, Florida.

Thurman Greco

 

TT

Sleep for a Healthy Lifestyle

Bully 6

As a reflexology practitioner, it’s important that you stay as healthy as possible.    When you  take care of your body, you  inspire your client partners to take care of theirs.

Many conditions  lurk unnoticed for years to develop in the body before they are recognized for what they are:  diseases that, in the early stages, are seen as fatigue, headaches, insomnia.

But, whatever these conditions are called, they are actually ongoing health issues that no one has solved.  Often, we just ignore these problems.

“I just need to learn to live with this……” is a remark I hear often.  The problem is common, persistent, chronic.

Now is the  time to see these issues for what they are and take steps to deal with them before they become full blown, serious,  illnesses.  Look at yourself:

Do you look healthy?

Do you feel healthy?

Do you have enough energy for all the things you want to do each day?

Do you sleep well?

Do you have digestive issues?

Do you feel toxic?

Make 2017 the year you turn your life around.

Begin  by learning to get enough sleep.

The first step in a healthy sleep is having a healthy sleeping environment.

Do you or your sleep partner snore?  This can rob you of hours and hours of sleep, necessary to good health.  People don’t realize it but snoring can be a symptom of sleep apnea, a serious medical condition which contributes to Alzheimer’s.  So, today, begin to address the snoring.

Snoring is not always  expensive to treat.  So, make your first step to a healthy year, a trip to a physician to address any and all snoring and sleep issues.

The second thing to do is declutter  the sleep space.  Move the home office into another room.  Move the TV out.  The bedroom is for sleeping and sex.  Everything else goes in another part of your home or apartment.

About an hour before you are ready to go to bed, begin to calm yourself down.   Prepare your body to sleep.

Taking sleeping pills is not the answer.

Instead, don’t watch television or play video games immediately before sleep.  Attend fewer evening meetings.

Is your bed comfortable?  Do you have enough blankets?  How about the pillows?

What is your most comfortable sleep position?  Do you sleep better on your stomach or are you a sleeper who prefers to be face up?  Do your bed, bedding, and pillows encourage a healthy sleep every night?

Finally, schedule sufficient hours to sleep.  You need at least eight hours of sleep in order to get the optimum energy and rejuvenation out of your body the next day.

One thing you can do to improve your sleep situation is to receive a reflexology session weekly.  People universally claim that regular reflexology encourages better sleep.  So, while you are offering reflexology sessions to your client partners to encourage their improved sleep, schedule  reflexology sessions for yourself.  At least, that way, you’ll know exactly how wonderful a reflexology encouraged sleep really feels.

Make it a habit to offer self-reiki therapy to encourage sleep.  Teach reiki therapy to your client partners so they can give themselves sessions as they go to bed at night.

One of the secrets to a healthy body is sufficient sleep on a continued basis.  Share this secret with your client partners!

Thanks for reading this article!

Share this post with your favorite social media network.

Get your copy of “A Healer’s Handbook” today!

Thanks!

Thurman Greco

 

9 Things Reflexologists Don’t Do – and 5 Things we Do

Brain Physical system

 

Cure – Reflexologists do not cure.  Instead, we promote healing, which can be a very

different thing, depending on the issue.

Patient – Reflexologists do  not have patients.  Physicians have patients.  We have client partners.  Some reflexologists have  clients.  But, whatever we have, we don’t have patients.

Recommend – We do not recommend.  Instead, we work feet.  We concentrate our energies on facilitating healing.

Advise – Reflexologists do not advise.  We support our client partners in their healing path.  Our work brings about homeostasis and synchronicity.

Examine – We do not examine.  We read feet or hands or ears.  .We notice where our findings are located.  We work the feet, hands, ears,  to bring about healing, homeostasis, and synchronicity.

Prescribe – We do not prescribe.  That’s for physicians and other medical professionals.  We rely on our hands and hearts to tell us what we find, to encourage healing, to facilitate homeostasis, to see synchronicity.

Dispense – We have nothing to dispense beyond the sessions we offer.

Diagnose – We do not diagnose.  Physicians assist us in our healing efforts when they offer a diagnosis.  This is important because it’s much easier to overcome a health issue if it has a name.

Administer – We do not administer anything.  Instead, we read feet, offer sessions.   Our noninvasive sessions have been offered to client partners for ages and ages.

Reflexology for the Spirit practitioners use our hands, brains, and hearts.

We do not need to over schedule our days to be successful.  Twenty-five appointments a week is a full time practice for a Reflexology for the Spirit practitioner.

We are not wedded to advertising.  Some of us don’t even have business cards.  Referrals work well for us.

Because Reflexology for the Spirit works well with other modalities, many of us also practice yoga, massage, Reiki therapy, flower remedies.  That means we are always growing, learning.

We honor our heritage.  Reflexology for the Spirit practitioners take our traditions back many, many years:

Our history takes us far back in time  with beginnings shrouded in mystery.  What we do know is that early references to reflexology can be found in China, India, Japan, Egypt, Greece, North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, the Mediterranean, South American and North America.

Historians tell us that Egyptians practiced both hand and food reflexology as early as 2500 BC.  If you ever travel to Egypt, please visit the burial ground at Saqqara.  The Physician’s Tomb there has a famous wall painting showing two people receiving reflexology.

If you ever find yourself in Japan, be sure to visit the Medicine Teacher Temple in Nara.  There you’ll find a stone carving depicting the soles of Buddha’s feet in a carving dating to 790 AD.

In India, there are paintings of Vishnu, the Hindu god’s feet with symbols corresponding to several reflexology points.

Ayurveda is an ancient Indian form of medicine  becoming popular in our country.  Reflexology is incorporated in Ayurvedic medicine.

Reflexology has been recorded in ancient Chinese writings describing pressure being applied to fingers and thumbs.

From this glorious history and recent twentieth century trailblazers, we now have thousands of people practicing various kinds of reflexology throughout the world.

Reflexologists the world over work in tandem with physicians as our field moves toward integrative medicine in the twenty-first century.  Integrative medicine works to heal the total person:  the physical, mental, emotional, spiritual.

Reflexology has endured the test of time and is modern as tomorrow in the 21st !century.

Thank you for reading this blog.  It has been a long time since I’ve posted an article.  I have been working full time/overtime on the new book!  It’s happening!

Thurman Greco

Woodstock, New York

 

Arthritis in the Feet

 

Page0001THE ISSUE – Arthritis in the feet definitely addresses  problems we experience as we move forward in life.  Arthritis also focuses on a personality living with judgmental attitudes.  Control is  an issue.

PHYSICAL CAUSES – There are many, many different types of arthritis.  Common risk factors include:

old age

overweight

ill-fitting shoes

traumatic injury

If your client partner wants to deal with this affliction  and to know his/her specific causes, s/he needs to see a rheumatologist for a diagnosis.  This is important.  A diagnosis always gives the client partner more power over the health issue.  Until a person has a name for the disease, it is more difficult to overcome the problems.

You also need a diagnosis because there are many different kinds of arthritis and you will treat the issue differently based on which type  your client partner suffers with.

SPIRITUAL ASPECTS – Where the arthritis attacks the foot reveals much about the involved Chakras.  For example, the first chakra would be affected with arthritis in the heel.

If it is in the right foot – your client partner is dealing with past issues.  The left foot focuses on the present.

HEALING – The reflexology your regular sessions offer cannot be overestimated.  Combine them with Reiki therapy and encourage your client partner to add a few extra reflexology  spa sessions.

A person suffering with arthritis needs nurturing so that releasing  the past becomes easier.  Forgiving is essential with arthritis, especially arthritis in the feet.

Nurturing offered by your reflexology sessions allows your client partner to appreciate the positive things which life offers.   Nurturing reflexology sessions will also help your client partner worry less about perceived limitations.  This will definitely lighten the load.

In addition to your reflexology and Reiki sessions, you may want to include an occasional guided meditation  focusing on changing direction in life with ease.

Thank you for reading this blog/book.

Please refer this article to your preferred social media networks.

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Thurman Greco

Thank you Sangi for the beautiful art work.

 

A Reflexology Spa Treatment to Boost Spiritual Health

Angel 1

 

Occasionally your client partners need a bit of special attention.  Life events create a need for a spiritual affirmation.  A Reflexology Spa Treatment for the Spirit can be just what is needed.   This session honors the part of the body  beyond the bones and muscles.

Begin this session plan by selecting the essential oil you’ll use.  My preferred essential oils for a Spiritual Spa Session include:

bergamot

clary sage

frankincense

galbanum

juniper

lavender

Roman chamomile

Once the oil has been selected, you’ll be guided to choose the music.  the decor.  When you book this Spiritual appointment, discuss and choose the oil.

Whatever oil and music you choose, make your selections  both  powerful and healing.  Have the music  playing when your client partner enters your healing space.

For this spiritual session make your client partner comfortable on your healing table and then wash his/her  feet using warm, wet towels.  Once your client partner’s feet are washed, wrap them in warm dry towels.

Anoint your client partner with the selected essential oil.  Apply several drops of the chosen oil to both your client partner’s hands.  Encourage your client partner to rub his/her  palms together and then wipe them over the face, head, halo, aura.

Move to your client partner’s head and bring in Reiki.  Offer three Reiki holds to the head.

Now, move to your client partner’s feet.  Anoint your client partner’s feet with a lotion to which you’ve added a small amount of the selected essential oil.

Now, offer five minutes of delicious warm ups to your client partner’s first foot.  While you do this, leave the other foot wrapped in the warm towel.

Follow this with twenty  minutes of specific reflexology offered to reflex points chosen to encourage spiritual therapy.  Work the reflex points in the following order:

1.   solar plexus

2.   pituitary gland

3.  pineal gland

4. thymus

5.  adrenal glands

6. ovary/ testicle

7.  heart

8.  spine

9.   intestines

10.  Chakras

11.  Now, finish this part of the session by returning to the solar plexus and liver.

Offer five minutes of warm downs as you complete the work on the first foot.

Now, cover the first foot with the warm towel and move to the other foot where you will offer five minutes of warm ups,  and twenty minutes of spiritual focus on the second food.

Now, offer five minutes of gentle warm downs on the second  foot as you complete the reflexology part of this session.

It is now time to offer three Reiki therapy holds to both feet and then close the Reiki part of the session.

This has been a deep session.  Your client partner needs a few moments to return to “now”.  Gently cover both feet with warm towels, leave him/her alone for a moment as you prepare a glass of water and offer it to your client partner.

Quietly visit with your client partner as you end the session.  This  may take a few extra moments for your client partner prepares  to return to “now”.

Thank you for practicing reflexology and thank you for offering this spa session to your client partners.

Please share this post on your preferred social media network.

Thurman Greco

Art work created by Jennette Nearhood.