8 Ways to Get a Good Night’s Sleep
I estimate that one third of your client partners have problems sleeping. Many of them have just given up on getting a good night’s sleep. This is not a good thing because there are many things that a person can do to sleep well…every night, not just once in awhile.
A person who gets enough sleep looks and acts healthier because there is more energy available to do the things to get through the day successfully. So, here are some suggestions that have proven to be successful. Try them. Share them.
- Receive a reflexology session every week. People who get reflexology regularly tell me they sleep better. This is important for practitioners, too. I receive a session weekly. It’s one of the most important things I do in life.
- Reiki sessions are wonderful for sleep. Do you teach Reiki? Attune your clients to be reiki practitioners so they can give themselves sessions every night when they go to bed. Sleep is sure to follow. A well intentioned Reiki therapy session is better than a sleeping pill.
- Have a regular sleep schedule so that you go to bed every night at the same time. Schedule your evenings so that you plan on sleeping 7-8 hours every night.
- An hour before going to bed, turn off loud music, scary TV shows, and consciously wind down.
- Do you have a lot of things to do tomorrow? Before you go to bed, make out a list of all the things you have to do tomorrow. Then, put that list in another room and forget about it until tomorrow.
- Make your bedroom a sanctuary for sleep. This means moving all the clutter and junk to another part of the house. That includes the TV and anything else that is a sleep distraction.
- Take a look at your bedding. When was the last time you bought pillows, sheets, blankets? Does your mattress sag in the middle? Are you sleeping in worn out sweat pants with holes? It’s time to focus on sleep-inducing comfort.
- Get a pen and journal notebook. Early in the evening, every evening, spend a few moments writing about one thing that you feel thankful for.
Thanks for reading this blog post. I will be offering more sleep tips throughout the coming year.
The book “A Healer’s Handbook is available as an ebook on Amazon an d Nook. The paper version is available on my website: thurmangreco.com. So far, the response to the book is very positive.
Thanks again.
Thurman Greco
A Healthy Heart
A healthy heart and circulatory system are necessary to feel and express emotions positively. When you work the circulatory system, you distribute love and healing. This improves your client’s sense of self worth and balances blood flow. When your client’s sense of self worth improves and when the emotions are expressed positively, life improves physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
When I begin to address my client partner’s heart health, the first place I go is to the fourth chakra. This means that I work the heart chakra on the reflex points on my client partner’s feet.
I also include an essential oil in the reflexology session when I work the heart and circulatory system. I may choose lavender. If my client partner needs grounding, I’ll reach for geranium. You may have other oils in your tool box which will attract you.
If my client is overweight or underweight or if the skin color is not too good, I’ll offer a list of healing foods that are important for heart/circulatory issues. If I think it’s a good idea, I’ll recommend a visit to a nutritionist.
Heart health issues often take years to show themselves in the body. Lifestyle habits contribute. Heart health issues involve the whole body – the physical, mental, spiritual, emotional layers. Spiritually, heart issues reflect long standing wounds, rejection, and self-criticism.
If I have time, I’ll include a guided meditation in the session. Guided meditations are always good for fourth chakra issues. My favorite fourth chakra guided meditation invites my client partner to go beyond the curtain to a past life because heart health baggage is often past life.
This can be a little challenging if your client partner doesn’t believe in past life issues. When that happens, go to the time right after birth. Some past life issues are still open for you and your client partner in infancy.
Thank you for reading this article.
Please share this post on your favorite social media outlet.
“A Healers Handbook” is now available as an ebook on Amazon and on Nook. The
Paper version is on the way!
In the near future I’ll share a guided heart healthy meditation with you and I’ll discuss lifestyle issues affecting heart health.
Thurman Greco
9 Things Reflexologists Don’t Do – and 5 Things we Do
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
Progress of the Book
The book is, at last, being edited! Real book progress is being made. I hope to get it to the publisher soon. I plan to go over it one last time about mid July.
Thanks to everyone for your patience.
Please share this exciting news (for me, anyway) with your favorite media network.
Thurman Greco
Woodstock, NY
A Reflexology Spa Treatment to Boost Spiritual Health
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.
A Reflexology Spa Treatment to Renew Your Client Partner
Our bodies are constantly discarding and regrowing new cells. Scientists tell us we create a new body every seven years. How this happens is pretty much shrouded in mystery but the endocrine system is the hub of this process.
Glands making up the endocrine system regulate this renewal as they control the growth and development of the body. One important thing our endocrine system does is boost the body’s ability to resist disease and fight infections.
A Renewal Spa Treatment is not a luxury. It’s a necessity for the client partner who wants to be as healthy and alert as possible.
Begin this session plan by selecting the essential oil you’ll use. My preferred essential oils for a spa session encouraging renewal are:
frankincense
Idaho balsam fir
lavender
lemon
myrrh
Roman chamomile
Once you select the oil, you’ll be guided to the music, the decor.
My favorite oil is lavender. However, some people don’t like lavender so it helps to move on to something else if your client partner resists.
So, when you book the appointment you need to find out if your client dislikes lavender. If so, you have other oils to choose from. But, settle this when you book the appointment so you’ll know how to coordinate the decor…music…
After you choose the oil, it’s time to choose the music. When my client partner is open to lavender, lemon, or Roman chamomile, I choose one of two CD’s I’ve had for years:
“Shamanic Dream” by Anugama
or
“Spiritual, Spiritual” by B Tribe.
If you don’t have either of these CD’s, you probably have something in your collection which will work. Whatever you choose, select music which is powerful and healing. You’re working with your client partner’s endocrine system here…a very spiritual part of his/her being.
Decor for this Spa Treatment may not take much work. You may not have to do much beyond taking away some clutter and adding a ceremonial throw for the table or chair.
Have your selection playing when you your client partner enters your healing space.
Offer your client partner a luscious water feature to begin this Spa Treatment. I suggest either a foot bath or simply washing the feet with wet terry cloth cloths that have been warmed in the microwave for a few moments.
If you go for a foot bath, think about a generous bucket or plastic water container filled with about four inches of warm water with a few colorful stones in the bottom. Let your client partner sit with the feet soaking in this essential oil scented water for 2-3 minutes before drying the feet. Then have him/her get on your healing table or reflexology chair.
When your client partner is comfortably situated face up on the table or in your reflexology chair, wrap the feet in warmed towels.
Begin by anointing your client partner with your selected oil. Put a few drops of essential oil in your client partner’s hands. Have him/her rub the palms together and hold them over the face and take a deep breath. Then, have your client partner rub the hands over his/her face,, head, and halo.
When you offer reflexology to the feet, add a bit of carrier oil to the essential oil and use this blend throughout the reflexology session. If you are using lavender or lemon, you may be able to find a commercial lotion which you like.
Move to your client partner’s head and bring in Reiki and offer three Reiki holds to the head.
Now, move down to your client partner’s feet.
Selecting the first foot, offer five minutes of delicious warm ups. Then offer five more minutes of general reflexology to your client partner’s foot.
Now, you have your client partner’s first foot prepared and ready to receive the Renewal Session on this foot. In this part of the session, you’ll stimulate the glandular parts of the body as you work the reflex areas listed below. You’ll encourage your client partner to heal, and rebuild.
Work the following reflexes for twenty minutes on the first foot in the following order:
1. Work the solar plexus to relax the body even more.
2. Work the pituitary gland because this is the gland which regulates everything.
3. Work the thyroid and parathyroid to balance the body’s metabolic rate.
4. Work the liver to enhance the immune system and remove wastes.
5. Work the adrenal gland to offer energy to the body.
6. Work the reproductive glands (ovaries/testicles) to balance this system.
Finally, work the solar plexus again to finish the rejuvenation path.
When you have worked these glands for twenty minutes on the first foot, spend five more minutes offering general reflexology. Then, finish up the first foot with five more minutes of warm downs.
Now, move to the second foot and repeat the process. This means you’ll offer five minutes of warm ups, five minutes of general reflexology and then you’ll spend the next twenty minutes working the body’s glands in the following pattern:
solar plexus
pituitary gland
thyroid and parathyroid
liver
adrenal gland
reproductive glands
solar plexus
Finally, offer five minutes of general reflexology and then five minutes of warm downs.
When this is completed, offer your client ten minutes of Reiki therapy on the feet.
It is now time to seal the Reiki therapy part of the Spa Session.
Let your client rest for a moment while you get a bottle of water for him/her.
Spend a couple of minutes with your client while s/he drinks the water and returns to “now”.
Thank you for reading this blog/book.
Please share this article with your preferred social media network. You may also want to share this article with your fellow professional reflexologists.
It is my sincere hope that you are able to use this article in your healing practice.
Don’t forget to join the email list.
Thurman Greco
Artwork provided by Jennette Nearhood.
Time-Out for Sharing then Moving on to the Chakras.
For the past few weeks, I’ve been sharing with you. I’ve offered information in each post for you, in turn, to share with your client partners. I’m following the advice of my teacher and mentor Marge D’Urso who emphasized the many things we can all do in conjunction with reflexology to encourage homeostasis.
Not all of this information applies to all of your client partners.
Some people come to our tables in order to feel better. Others want us to help them take greater charge of their own health. Yet others simply want to hop on the table, receive their reflexology session, and go away blissed out. And, there’s nothing wrong with that.
One special group wants to add other things to their lives which will help them
feel better
look better
avoid chronic disease
live longer
enjoy better health.
By sharing this information slowly, in small increments, you can, along with your reflexology sessions, give your client partners an opportunity to completely change their lives for the better in a non threatening way.
These gradual changes when mixed with reflexology offer dramatic improvements over time. The idea is to be sharing opportunities for good health without complicating lifestyles any more than they already are. You’ll be leading your client partners to a a more healthy lifestyle. They can completely change their lives 1 step at a time.
Slowly
Easily
Comfortably
Not all client partners will adopt every suggestion offered. Some won’t choose any suggestions. Some will try everything suggested for a time. Then, they’ll drop the health step after a few weeks. There’s something here for everyone. We are all different. Our attitudes, ages, and lifestyles are all different.
What’s important is that you are gently, without pushing, sharing suggestions for a healthier lifestyle.
When your client partners are ready, they’ll have this knowledge to use in the way which works best for them.
I’m taking a break with this series of posts to offer you, the reflexologist, some more hands-on posts. Then, I’ll return to these wellness posts for awhile longer…until I feel you have something to offer most client partners over a period of a year or more. You want to be sharing something which a person may accept and live with for awhile before taking on another health giving change. It’s important to let an adopted change settle in so they become lifetime habits.
Beginning next week, I’ll offer posts about Chakras and the feet. We have reflex points for Chakras in our feet. I hope you find these articles interesting. I hope you can use this information in your work!
Thanks for reading this blog/book.
Please refer this post to your preferred social media network.
Don’t forget to join the email list.
Thurman Greco
“Should I Accept Clients Who Smoke?”
What a question!
“Of course. Yes.”
“But, what if they smell of tobacco? I find it very offensive. And, besides, I don’t want my healing space reeking of smoke.”
Well, I stick to my guns here. Cigarette smoking is an addiction. It is a disease. You accept the client and offer assistance, support, guidance as s/he struggles to give up smoking.
Encourage the person to cut down on the number of cigarettes smoked in a day. If you can get him/her to cut back to 5 or fewer cigarettes a day, the final push will be very easy.
When people think of diseases smokers contract, they always come up with the same usual suspects:
lung cancer
throat cancer
COPD
Emphysema.
In reality, the diseases caused are many more and the health damage done is much greater.
Smoking and exposure to second hand smoke is really hard on the immune system. Smoking ages the body faster. This results in
wrinkled skin
clogged arteries
emphysema
cancer
impotence.
The most important reason for not smoking is what it does to the immune system. Smoking wrecks the immune system causing it to become overactive. And, the effects are often easily seen.
It’s not necessary to see a person smoking to know you’re looking at a smoker. It’s also not necessary to smell a smoker either.
The effects of smoking can be seen in the skin, hair, nails, eyes, posture.
The effects of smoking can be heard in the classic smoker’s cough.
You cannot help your client partner stop smoking. What you can do is help with the cravings and other discomfort while they go through the 5-6 week withdrawal process. Reflexology for the Spirit, Reiki therapy, and encouragement can go a long way to support during this time.
Help your client partner become dramatically healthier. Nicotine patches are available. CVS sells a smoking cessation program which helps.
After the 6-week period, you can help your client partner do a cleanse and you can offer support choosing a physical fitness program.
Thanks for reading this blog.
Please refer this article to your preferred social media network.
Don’t forget to join the email list.
Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
Calm…and Nurtured
To be as healthy as possible, your immune system must be calm and nurtured.
Your immune system is a warrior – fighting off dangerous and threatening diseases. Help your immune system protect you by making your life, the environment you live in feel safe.
Begin with the space you spend the most time in…your home.
Make sure your home/apartment/wherever you live is allergen free. That means the air you breathe is clean, the water you drink and bathe with is clean, and you have as little mold, mildew, and insect presence as possible.
Environmental pollutants and toxins irritate your immune system which means they are bad for your health. Exposure to unknown chemicals can negatively affect your entire life. The 3 most threatening toxins:
molds,
insects such as cockroaches,
dust mites.
Begin to calm and soothe your immune system by doing a walk-through of your home. Make a list of any and all things needing attention:
water stains,
trapped moisture
evidence of pesticides and rodents
mold.
Clean all carpets, rugs, upholstery, curtains, bedding to include blankets, throws, bedspreads.
Have your water tested.
Mask unwanted noise if you live on a noisy street.
After you have gotten rid of the toxins and pollutants, it’s time to make your home environment a peaceful oasis. This won’t take a lot of $$$. It will take attention instead.
Create places where sunlight can stream in during the day and where the area is dark at night. Fill your place with smells and aromas which will feed your soul:
fresh flowers,
home-baked bread
scented candles
a favorite essential oil
wind chimes
music you love..
Use colors in your surroundings which offer peace, calm, soothing feelings. The idea is to create a space which makes you feel happy the moment you enter it.
Create a meditation corner. It doesn’t have to be large – You only need enough room to sit or recline comfortably without being bothered. If you can have a space where you can put up your legs for a few minutes each day, you will be refreshed and nourished – something we all need.
Thank you for reading this blog/book.
Please refer this article to your preferred social media network.
Don’t forget to join the email list
Jennette Nearhood provided the photograph for this post.
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.
Thank you for reading this blog/book.
please refer this article to your preferred social media network.
don’t forget to join the email list.
Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
Michele Garner donated the artwork for this post.
