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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Thurman Greco
5 Ways to Be Connected
The human immune system is a fast responder. It knows immediately when/if we are having emotional or spiritual problems. And, of course, this response affects our health.
If wellness is important to you…and I think it is because you’re a reflexologist, then one of the best things you can do is pamper your immune system. This works for your client partners also. No one is exempt on this.
This we know: there is a direct correlation between negative emotions, disease, and accelerated aging. Appreciation, sympathy, understanding are important to all of us.
Inner peace is important to being well – being grounded.
One thing in life which promotes inner peace and groundedness is an appreciation for nature and seeing the connection that all living beings share.
There are several ways to promote this connectedness:
WALK IN THE PARK. Actually, a “walk in the park” is the generic term for any activity which gets you positively involved with nature That can include biking, hiking, museum going, or anything else which makes you aware of how connected we all are.
GET A PET. This is a biggie if you can do it. Not everyone lives where pets are allowed. But, if you can…a dog or cat is awesome. Pets offer something which humans seem to be unable to offer: unconditional love.
A pet will:
improve your immune system function,
give you a more positive outlook on life,
lower your blood pressure
love you unconditionally.
What more can you ask for?
KEEP A JOURNAL. For some this can be a challenge. But, this journal is not for anyone but yourself. So, don’t worry about the spelling, punctuation, paragraphs, etc.
The purpose of your journal is to make a note of special moments which sustain you when you’re feeling low. Such moments include:
a cat’s purr
a baby’s smile
a smell of a flower
a compliment
a smile from a stranger
When you record them, you may notice that these special moments occur more often than you thought.
BREATHE. This is a biggie. Breathe in while while mentally repeating a positive phrase such as “I bring positive energy into my life.” Hold your breath for a moment and then exhale as you repeat “I radiate positive energy.” Consciously breathing for a couple of minutes each day can have a profound impact on your life.
Many people go through their whole lives not even thinking about how they breathe or what their breath does for them. Honor your breath.
INCORPORATE SURPRISE. Try to do something unexpected every day. Compliment a total stranger on a haircut or a jacket or something. It doesn’t matter what, really. Just say something complimentary to someone who is totally not expecting anything.
Leave a small token for someone who is not expecting anything…and keep it a secret if you can.
Offer to walk someone’s dog.
Say “Thank you.”
GET INVOLVED. This can mean walking a dog at the local pound or hosting a food drive for your local food pantry. There are many, many groups out there where people are working to make life better for us all. Volunteering is an extremely positive way to go through life.
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
Michele Garner donated the artwork for this post.
Sleep…Blessed Sleep
People seek out reflexologists when they have sleep issues. And, visiting a reflexologist regularly to encourage quality sleep is a good thing to do. Very few people receiving regular Reflexology for the Spirit sessions have problems sleeping.
Regular sessions encourage homeostasis. It’s impossible to achieve homeostasis and have sleep issues at the same time.
Your body systems know immediately if you are sleeping properly. This is the rule:
The better you sleep, the better your immune system functions.
Your immune system needs to be calm and relaxed to function properly. This won’t happen if you’re not sleeping properly. Your immune system needs your body to receive not only enough sleep but the quality must be good as well.
Your body repairs itself as you sleep. Your immune system maintains itself. In order for this to happen, stress levels must be turned down. This happens during sleep.
Except when it doesn’t. There are sleep situations where the stress levels are not diminished. Examples include insomnia and sleep apnea.
Sleep apnea is a serious sleep disorder. One symptom of sleep apnea is snoring. Snoring can, in some instances, be dangerous because if it is untreated, it can activate the immune system.
Insomnia is also a threat to a healthy immune system. Insomnia has several different causes. Insomnia is created when people burn the candle at both ends. Anxiety and/or depression also cause mood disorders in addition to insomnia.
Good quality sleep:
promotes a healthy immune system.
encourages overall good health.
helps slow down aging.
People sleeping well also look better. Several things can be done to promote healthy sleep habits:
Establish a bedtime and stick to it. Go to bed at the same time every night.
Create a peaceful sleep environment without
noise
light
television
computer
phones.
Make sure your bed has a
restful mattress
soft sheets
cozy blankets
comfortable pillows.
Establish a sleep ritual which prepares your body, your brain, and your immune system for a good night’s sleep. Adopt sleep-encouraging techniques such as meditation or self Reiki therapy.
If you have a partner, taking a few reflexology lessons can be a real boost to healthy sleep for you both. You can then offer a reflexology exchange in the evenings before you sleep.
Self Reiki is a wonderful sleeping potion. Easy to learn and use, it encourages sleep.
Use essential oils to encourage sleep. Put a few drops of a favorite oil on a tissue and place it inside your pillowcase or in a pocket.
And, finally, don’t become obsessive about sleep. Sleep will come. You can learn to sleep.
Lotus Heart Healing with Tom Rigler
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Thurman Greco
Renee Ruwe offered the photo used into today’s post.
In a Perfect World…
We would all be disease free
Our brains would stay sharp
We would all experience good energy levels
Physical fitness would be very common
Everyone would feel young.
But, we don’t live in a perfect world. The question is this: How can we be disease-free physically fit, have sharp brains, experience less stress, feel young?
One way is to honor our immune system. It is our immune system which keeps us healthy, disease free, physically fit, mentally sharp.
People visit reflexologists regularly as they strive to prevent as much disease as possible. And, they are correct to do this. As reflexologists, we work to facilitate homeostasis – bring balance.
Focusing on the immune system is important, not only for the diseases we think about: colds, flu, etc., but for many other diseases we consider to be lifestyle or aging diseases:
MS
thyroid disease
colitis
rheumatoid arthritis
diabetes.
When the immune system is out of balance, it can become overactive. An overactive immune system participates in the aging process as it encourages autoimmune diseases.
As a Reflexology for the Spirit practitioner, you are important to the health maintenance of your client partners. Your client partners will be healthier when their immune systems function at peak levels. An immune system functions at its peak when it successfully fights off viruses, bacteria, parasites.
Encourage your clients to contribute to a healthy immune system. As a reflexologist, you offer sessions and you also work to ground your client partners so they can do everything they need to do to keep themselves healthy:
breathe properly and therapeutically
eat a diet which is healthy for the individual
sleep sufficiently
exercise
smell the flowers
This is really what Marge d’Urso meant when she emphasized that reflexologists work with the whole client partner as we offer homeostasis.
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
Other blogs by Thurman Greco:
photograph by Jennette Nearhood
The Fountain of Youth
On April 12, 1513, Ponce de Leon landed on what is now Florida. He is believed by many nowadays to have been seeking the Fountain of Youth.
Whether he was seeking a magic potion or not is irrelevant because he never reported discovering such a Fountain of Youth. And, today, it’s pretty well agreed by all leaders in the health field that a Fountain of Youth does indeed exist. However, we don’t drink it.
The Fountain of Youth is called Exercise.
Are you interested in being healthy?
Do you want your body to last a long time?
Do you want to have an active daily life?
Exercise daily!
Begin your journey to wellness and longevity and homeostasis by choosing an activity you’ll enjoy doing.
Walking is a good first choice. It costs very little to walk. Walk a few minutes each day. Begin by walking about 10 minutes the first day and then increase both the speed and the length of each walk until you get to a brisk 30-minute session each day.
When you walk you experience a mild detox and you heal on some level.
Organizing a walking group is a good way for you as a Reflexology for the Spirit practitioner to motivate client partners, neighbors, friends, to become healthier. Walking is a social event as you see the same people on your walk every day. It’s fun to see how everyone’s doing on your walking route.
There are literally hundreds of exercising options: gym, cycling, running, swimming. It really doesn’t matter what you choose – the fountain of youth can be found in pretty much any activity that you’ll like well enough to do at least 3 times every week. What matters is that you move. Whatever your age, the state of your health, moving helps.
It’ll be even better if you can do your favorite activity in short bursts throughout the day if you are sedentary.
Yoga is a good choice because you compete only against yourself. It keeps you well stretched. Many people “grow” an inch or 2 when they take up yoga.
Whatever activity you choose, when you move, you get the blood circulating. The brain and nervous system become more active. It’s harder for muscles to go into atrophy. The immune system gets a boost.
Regular exercise helps you feel better about yourself, increases your energy level.
Some forms of exercise, if they are “right” for you, can be very grounding. This is important for a Reflexology for the Spirit practitioner. Encourage not only yourself, but your client partners to find that activity which is physically challenging as well as spiritually uplifting – this is the fountain of youth!
Guideline: Move – partake of the fountain of youth!
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
7 Ways to be Light, Vibrant, Joyful
.Surround yourself with things, people who make you feel light, vibrant, and joyful.
This can be a variety of things. For some, this can be
colors,
music,
books,
plants.
But, whatever it is, surround yourself with things that make you feel great, good, vibrant, joyful.
You may find yourself painting your walls or bringing more flowers home or showcasing a shelf of your books. The important thing is that you are releasing endorphins when you seek joy, renewal.
As a reflexologist, let the good, vibrant, joyful attributes be visible in your practice and your healing space. This effort will reflect itself in what your client partners take away from your sessions.
Spend a little time becoming aware of these endorphin moment(s). Once you know what makes you happy, you can put more focus on that outcome. When you are focused on a joyful outcome, you can be happy for longer periods.
Laughing comes easier.
Gratitude comes easier.
You’ll also be able to focus on the things in your life that you enjoy. Your happiness will multiply then, because what you focus on grows. You will encourage homeostasis.
As you share your happiness, others will begin to enjoy these moments as well. So you’ll create a ripple effect for your friends, neighbors, family, client partners. This can have far-reaching consequences of the positive kind.
Happiness is a rare commodity these days. Find it. Share it. Spread it around.
One of the pluses of being light, vibrant, and joyful is that these attitudes don’t take a lot of $$$. Happiness comes with gratitude and a smile. It can begin with a small plant or a book by your favorite chair.
Enjoy sunrises and sunsets and delicious smells like grass and fresh leaves.
If you feel that being light, vibrant, and joyful is difficult, it’s time to do something for someone else. The happiest people I know are those who have learned to share a most precious commodity: a smile and a little time.
Tap into your creativity. This will allow you to relax, have more fun, and explore life’s wonders.
Thank you for reading this blog/book. This is a series of articles focusing on ways to enhance wellness for yourself, the reflexologist, and your client partners.
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
Listen!
What is your body telling you? Listen!
When you listen, all four parts of your self will tell you what you need to hear: Your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual selves will speak to you.
Are you tired?
Do you suffer from a sleep deficit?
Are you unable to sleep because you are burning the candle at both ends?
Are you deeply troubled?
Are you studying for an exam?
Are you trying to get a promotion at work?
When do you need to rest?
Do you need to play?
How long has it been since you just had fun?
What is your work situation?
We all have cycles. What are yours?
When are you at your best?
Keep a regular, predictable schedule every day of the year. Listen! Your internal clock will develop a schedule of eating, sleeping, and exercising at the same time each day. Respect the regularity of this schedule.
Schedule some relaxation time each day. Give your brain a break. Let it review the day’s experiences. Allow your brain to turn events into memories. This will encourage the learning process. Allow your brain to refresh itself.
Listen! Every part of your body stores emotions, memories, thoughts, based on what the body part does for you. For example, your ears will store these emotions, memories, thoughts, that relate to hearing. Become more aware of events that contribute to issues or diseases in the particular parts of your body.
Find time to move your body at intervals throughout the day. This means taking the stairs whenever possible. Walk when you talk on the phone. Park farther away from your destination and walk to your destination.
When we ignore our bodies, stress, tension, fear, frustration, depression, anxiety, and disease set in.
As a reflexologist, you will improve both your life and your career significantly if you honor your circadian clock. Take a break every couple of hours to check in with yourself and see how things are going.
When you begin to honor your clock, you will find yourself keeping a regular schedule. This regular schedule is a tonic for some. For others, it is a wonder drug.
Your body will love you for this because it loves predictability. Stress is related more to lack of a schedule than to finances, marital problems, children, or work.
When you listen to your needs and offer your body predictability, you invite homeostasis into your life.
If you are new to this blog, I wrote a series of posts in which I offered suggestions and guidelines about how to listen to your body and also how to communicate with different parts of your body to bring about healing and homeostasis. You can find them in contents section of this blog. They were in late 2014 and early 2015. Most of the posts were entitled “Spirituality of……”
Teach your client partners about their circadian clocks. You will then improve their lives and careers. How cool is that?
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I hope you found this guideline helpful. Please leave your comments below and check out the other posts.
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
Art provided by Jennette Nearhood
4 Things You Can Do To Breathe Properly
While it’s true that we don’t come into embodiment with a book of instructions, I wish we did at least show up knowing how to breathe.
Many of us breathe much too shallowly which keeps the body tight. Relaxation is difficult and body functions have a tendency to be stagnant. This makes all the little mundane things we do everyday much harder.
In the ideal situation, a person breathes slowly, deeply, consciously.
When you breathe slowly,
your mind relaxes,
your body purifies,
your energy level increases,
you maintain a sense of well-being.
When you breathe properly, you exercise your intuitive skills. Many people mistakenly believe they are not intuitive when, in fact, they are. The problem is they are breathing so shallowly that their body is too uptight to know when the intuitive sense is working.
If you feel you aren’t breathing properly, take yoga classes. Find a yoga teacher who will admit that s/he can teach proper breathing techniques.
OR
Take some breathing classes from a breath instructor if you can. That’ll only make you a better reflexology practitioner or client-partner.
OR
Singing classes may be an option for you as well.
OR
Set aside 2-3 minutes a day in which you simply breathe mindfully. To do this, begin by sitting comfortable in a quiet, safe place.
Focus on your breathing. It may help to close your eyes here for a couple of minutes.
Find a place on your body where you can actually feel yourself breathing. That may be your nose, your abdomen or your diaphragm.
Now – just pay attention to your own breathing and nothing else. Notice the quality of each breath, how your body moves, how it feels to breathe.
As you do this, you should begin to feel some burdens lifting and some stress melting.
Try doing this exercise daily for several weeks. This may be something you find yourself doing daily over a long period of time. Or, this may be something that eventually becomes a meditative exercise for you.
In the meantime, try to spend a few minutes each day consciously breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth. As you do this, be aware of your abdominal muscles contracting as you inhale. As you exhale through your mouth, feel your abdomen softening, expanding.
Some behaviors indicate poor breathing habits:
yawning a lot during the day
taking a lot of deep breaths,
holding your breath mid-conversation,
poor posture
When this happens, you may not be getting enough carbon dioxide in your blood or not enough oxygen to your brain.
Notice your own breathing each day and observe how your client-partners breathe. Encourage better breathing habits for both you and your client-partners.
Guideline: Breathe slowly, deeply, consciously.
Thank you for reading this blog/book. I hope you will enjoy this next series of posts which make up the wellness part of the textbook.
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
One Thing Everyone Needs
WHEN YOU COMMIT TO making health a priority, it becomes a part of your everyday life. This commitment is one thing everyone needs. You become conscious of how your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual systems work together and how they change daily. You listen to the messages your body sends.
WHEN YOU REALIZE THAT something is not right, you work to bring about balance. Homeostasis offers an opportunity to honor the body as a complex system. Homeostasis occurs when this system is in balance. This is the one thing everyone needs.
WHEN YOU FOCUS ON your overall health as the pieces fit together and make sense.
The food you eat goes
with the sleep you get goes
with the exercise you get goes
with the information you receive from your body goes
with the supplements you take goes
with the importance of homeostasis.
The balance we all seek is what I define as health. This can be a challenge. One thing is sure:
for my money we can’t have good health without homeostasis.
Health is different for everyone. As we go through life, we have to figure out what works for each of us. In the 21st century, there is no one “right” answer to a health question. There are, instead, several good answers for each question. We empower ourselves to make the right personal decision based on:
our own health goals,
personal health circumstances,
the advice of professional healthcare professionals.
The important thing is to take control of the body and the future of our health.
Taking control means being well informed about our options. We have to know the difference between what options are “good” and what options are “not so good”. The power to choose a path based on practical information is strong. The informed choices we make guide us down the path to health.
Curing disease starts with preventing it.
Empowerment brings responsibility. We won’t know which options are right for us until we know ourselves and our bodies intimately. Good decision making involves knowing:
our physiology,
genetics,
unique health conditions,
and what we consider to be important.
The next series of articles will explore the answer to the question “What is Health?”
Some of the information shared in these posts will work for you and your client partners. Some of it will not. After all, everyone:
is different.
has choices to make.
Hopefully you’ll find things that will work for both you and your client-partners. At the end of this section of the book, both you and your client partners should be empowered by the information shared. This is the one thing everyone needs.
Thank you for joining me in this journey as we explore homeostasis and health.
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
Artwork provided by Jennette Nearhood
Why do they come to our tables? Homeostasis!
Why do they come to our tables? People visit a reflexologist searching for wellness and healing. Many have never thought about being in in control of their bodies and their health. Of course not, in today’s world everyone has so little time. No one has time to learn and absorb concepts about healing…especially when information overload is a way of life for us all.
They know their body is trying to tell them something on some level but they’re not sure what. For some the message comes in the form of a symptom:
painful feet,
clogged sinuses,
high blood pressure.
For others, it’s a much more subtle voice:
a spiritual message sent on a subtle wave length.
But, whatever the message, they make an appointment.
Reflexology for the Spirit offers homeostasis. When a person embraces this concept, life changes. Healing becomes a priority. Wellness is a journey. The person begins to heal on all levels.
The reflexology table is the hub of a wheel of growth. Marge D’Urso taught us a reflexologist needs to know much more than just where the points are.
THIS NEXT SERIES OF POSTS WILL ASSIST YOU, THE REFLEXOLOGIST, in your journey as you guide and assist your client partners on the path to wellness and healing: homeostasis.
THIS NEXT SERIES OF POSTS WILL ASSIST YOU, THE CLIENT PARTNER, on your path to wellness and healing: homeostasis.
This path is a process, not a pill.
Give homeostasis an opportunity to occur. When this happens, the process can be felt on several levels.
General relaxation throughout the body occurs when a person receives Reflexology for the Spirit regularly. This feeling is so rare in some that it takes several sessions before the client-partner even understands what the feeling is.
Over time, as different healing habits become a lifestyle, the body begins to heal itself. This concept can be new for a person embracing homeostasis….especially when a person begins sessions thinking there is no control over health at all.
Information gained in the coming posts and shared with your client partners will offer opportunities both you and your client partners to:
improve cardiovascular health,
lower your risk of diabetes,
prevent osteoporosis
and learn about many other health benefits.
The feet themselves will begin to improve.
Finally, an improved sense of emotional well being takes place. The result is an increased awareness of one’s body and how it feels when healing occurs.
You, the reflexologist, have an opportunity to profoundly influence health, longevity, and well-being as you inspire and guide your client partners.
Thanks for reading this blog/book.
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I hope you found this helpful. Please leave your comments below and check out the other posts.
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
Jennette Nearhood provided the artwork.
