How to find a qualified Reflexology practitioner wherever you go.

If you are reading this, I know you are serious about Reflexology. You know the difference between the foot rub and a real Reflexology session. Very often I am asked how to find a real Reflexologist in other parts of the country for your friends and family. Here is my advice:

1. First you ask around, as word-of-mouth is the best referral. Then you do your homework.

2. Check if the practitioner has a full listing here www.arcb.net - American Reflexology Certification Board,  an independent certification agency with strict adherence to the standards of the Reflexology profession.

3. Check for Continuing Education Units - CEUs, Experience and Membership in Professional Associations. The ARCB requires 12 CEUs every two years and it lists certificants in good standing on its site www.arcb.net

4. Another good resource for serious local reflexologists are national and state association. You will find the listing by State here www.reflexology-usa.org. Association members are concerned with the professionalism and advancement of reflexology, as well as protection of public health and safety.

5. You may see a current  professional liability insurance certificate in the office of a serious practitioner.

 If you are looking for a reflexologist in New Hampshire, North Dakota, Tennessee or Washington, then a person should have a current State License. Our Connecticut State does not have Reflexology State Licensure laws on the books.

Reflexology is a unique therapy that should be administered by a Certified Reflexologist, such person has completed unique Reflexology-specific training (typically 200-300 hours in the USA). According to the standards of most state and national reflexology associations along with the national certification board, this training must include classroom instruction on techniques for the feet, hands and ears, application of different protocols for particular body systems or particular pathologies. as well as learning anatomy, physiology, professional standards and ethics.

It also requires a completion of a minimum 100 documented practical sessions and it teaches how to keep session notes. The National Institutes of Health, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) defines reflexology as a separate therapy. True reflexology is performed only on the reflex maps of the body located on the feet, hands and outer ears and it is different than massage or acupressure techniques. Also be aware that there’s a recent trend offering online training in reflexology.

Learning to locate reflexes on different individuals and modulation of pressure, etc., cannot be taught online.

From time to time I hear the horror stories of feeling unwell from the so called “Reflexology” performed by an untrained person. Foot rubs at the strip malls/nail salons are not qualified to be called Reflexology, even if they advertised as such.

Expect the fee for your real Reflexology healing session to be higher than the price for a salon foot rub.  It may be between $60 and $150 per session, depending on area of the country and the length of the session. This difference reflects education, experience and proper certification of a qualified Reflexology practitioner.  So, my advice is: do not risk your health and waste your money on false ads and claims.

Be more concerned about your health than your wallet in such case! 

In my 17 plus years of actively practicing professional Reflexology, I have performed over 20,000 sessions. This number does not include countless sessions on friends and family outside of work.  So be bold, ask about the number of client sessions in the practitioner experience - not necessarily the number of years of work. This will insure you’re working with a truly experienced reflexologist.

If all these steps are too much for you, I am happy to do them for you. You know, where to find me. :)

When you learn, teach

Many of you know we were away for two weeks in Tucson Arizona at The Creative Health Solutions Clinic run by anti-aging health coach and Jing Master, Truth Calkins. Renowned health and wellness expert on the West Coast due to his successful practice while working at Erewhon Natural Foods Market, where he ran the Tonic Bar.

Truth's approach to health is rooted in four principles:

• Healthy Diet
• Supplements + Herbs
• Exercises
• Electromagnetic Medicine

After this amazing first-hand experience, I am now a believer in his approach, which is comprehensive, common sense but more cutting edge, than anything I was aware of. Truth (it is his real name) will be revealing his teachings online by the end of this year. You'll be the first to know and I have his permission to share with you what I learned and experienced so far. I'm in the process of writing a series of blog posts around the critical components of the four  principles.

Meanwhile here are my personal stats after two weeks on Truth's protocol:

• lost 10.5 lb
• completely off coffee - goodbye my "BulletProof" Buttered One
• completely off salt and sugar - means no dark chocolate or fresh fruit/berries for me for now, no himalayan salt ether
• rosacea from my cheeks and chin - disappeared for good
•  deep sleep without regular Melatonin or occasional Glycine - new norm
• off my daily thyroid meds - was long desire of mine - so far, so good. I do not recommend you to do the same here. I am not your doctor,  just sharing my story.

While away, I read quite a few new books per Truth's recommendations. Check them out on my website here in the first two rows: My Favorite Books.

Stay tuned!

Sharing My Latest Certification With You

As you've probably heard before, "the most powerful weapon of mass destruction is the fork," as Christian Northrup so cleverly once said. Nutritional counseling remains an important part of my holistic healing practice. Therefore, I'm constantly studying with the most prominent teachers in the field. My latest accomplishment is the completion of the Digestive Intensive course, which you can see below. And yes, it required intense studying and I passed the exam to get the certificate.

Learn more at holisticnutritionlab.com

International Council of Reflexologists - ICR Conference 2015

As many of you know, I went to England last September for a fabulous gathering of reflexologists from all over the globe. If you have time, watch the video here to see the faces of so many modern reflexologists.

In 1999, I went to my first ICR in Hawaii where I met my reflexology Master, Father Josef Eugster and later learned the incredibly effective Father Josef Method of Reflexology. The pictures below illustrate the history of our 15-year relationship. Father Josef continues to inspire me and thousands of reflexologists around the world. He was again a keynote speaker as this conference, as he was in Hawaii all those years ago.

Reflexology Explained

In my first article on this fascinating subject (November 6, 2007 - The Advocate, Greenwich Times I shared with readers the documented benefits of this popular modality - Reflexology.  Originally trained as a scientist, for the past ten years I have been practicing and teaching my beloved profession - Reflexology.

I was always interested how it actually works. There are several theories and over 50 books written on the subject of Reflexology. In this article I would like to talk about some of these theories.

First of all, let us define the word reflex. A reflex is involuntary response to stimulus, more accurately it is the reflex action of an organ, gland or muscle reached by energy current initiated by a stimulus. Reflexes are specific, predictable and purposeful.

Russian Dr. Vladimir Bekhterev first introduced the word Reflexology to the medical community in 1907. This ancient art can be traced back to Egypt, China and India. There is a lot of detailed information that can be found on the subject in “Reflexology: Art, Science & History” written by a colleague and friend, Christine Issel, world-renowned Reflexology advocate. Dr. William FitzGerald, a Connecticut physician, a head of the Nose and Throat Department of St. Francis Hospital In Hartford, CT, 1909, did significant input into modern application of Reflexology. He mapped out various areas on hands, feet and over joints, which upon pressure would provide the pain relief at distant points. In 1917 he wrote in his book “This science I have named zone therapy”

“Reflexology is a wholistic energy based discipline within complimentary medicine, which works through energies of the nervous, chemical, electrical and magnetic systems of the body by application of pressure to reflexes found on the feet, hands and ears” – description was offered by Christine Issel at the International Council of Reflexologists’ conference in Australia last year.

 Medical studies dating back to the18th century conclusively proved a neurological relationship between internal organs though neurological pathways on the skin to the brain. In 1932 Sir Charles Sherrington and Edgar Adrian won the Nobel Prize for their work on the physiology of the nervous system. Adrian also discovered that electrical intensity of the nerve impulse depends on the size of the nerve. Our feet are particularly abundant with nerve endings. Studies have shown that chemicals in the form of hormones and endorphins are released to the blood when pressure is applied to specific points on the body. Traditional Chinese Medicine originated 5,000 years ago is based on belief that our body is complex energy system that uses energy channels, called meridians to move Body Fluids, Blood, and Qi. The feet and hands have starting and ending points of these meridians.

The final concept I would like to introduce is the bio-holographic theory, a new branch of biology that studies the correlation in biological properties between the parts and the whole, for example every cell contains the DNA blueprint of the entire body. Similarly we can apply that feet, hands and ears are microcosms of the whole body.

Discussing the mechanism of action in any touch therapy dictates the recognition of the effect on all aspects of human beings – body, mind, soul and spirit. The healing process in this regard is still a mystery, no matter how much we have already learned and proved through scientific experiments and findings.

Reflexology is a wholistic healing technology, valuable part of emerging dynamic Energy Medicine field.

I invite you to experience it yourself.