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Your health and wellbeing through the eyes of a Reflexologist

By Deborah Watts
from Reflexation Natural Therapies

In combination with exercise and a healthy diet, regular Reflexology treatments may be a natural path to restoring and maintaining optimum health and wellbeing.

Reflexology is great for all ages and if your body is out of equilibrium, then reflexology is good for you. You don’t have to be sick to receive the benefits of reflexology. It is a great way to help maintain your body’s health and wellbeing.

Reflexology is based on the principle that reflex areas in the feet and hands correspond with all parts of the body, including organs and glands. By stimulating or relaxing these reflexes, a response is initiated via the nervous system. It is a gentle non-intrusive touch therapy applied to specific areas of the feet and hands.

Reflexology will stimulate the body to activate its own healing abilities. The intention of a reflexologist is to bring about harmony and balance and a state of wellbeing to the person, to improve what was out of balance or homeostasis.

The human body is highly intelligent and has a remarkable built-in self-correcting system. The goal of reflexology is to re-educate, re-pattern and re-condition nerves so that the body can heal itself by using that self-correcting system.

Some of the benefits of reflexology:

  • Affects and enhances all body systems
  • May relieve pain
  • May reduce stress, relaxing the body and mind and balancing the nervous system
  • May improve circulation
  • May boost the lymphatic and immune systems
  • May increase the body’s natural healing processes
  • Works well with all natural therapies

It is important to remember that a reflexologist does not diagnose or prescribe health conditions.

I’d like to share some interesting foot facts in the hope of you gaining a little more respect for your feet. We use our feet every day, yet we pay very little attention to them or pamper them until something goes wrong and you start to experience pain.

The amount of wear and tear that our feet have undergone depends on factors such as lifestyle, age and choice of shoes. A 10-year-old car that has been used to commute 80km 5 times per week over busy roads full of potholes will suffer more wear and tear than a similar car used infrequently and mostly for highway driving.

Interesting Foot Facts:

  • Our foot takes 10,000 steps per day
  • In our lifetime, we walk approximately 185,000 km which is about 4 times around the world!
  • Every step you take jolts the body 3 times your body weight
  • Aging, tight fitting or incorrect shoes and weight gain contribute to the wear and tear of our feet
  • There are approximately 7,000 nerve endings in each foot

If you take good care of your feet, they will give you a lifetime of pain-free service.

Your feet tell a story to a reflexologist. Common conditions including calluses, corns, cracks, bunions, hammertoe, blisters and indicators such as foot colour or temperature of your feet and your gait are part of that narrative. A reflexologist will then tailor a treatment plan to address any inflammation, congestion or circulatory problems connected with the above.

It is a misconception that reflexology is a foot massage. Massage works the muscles and associated tendons and ligaments of a particular area of the body. Reflexology specifically utilises ‘reflexes’ in the body’s extremities (feet and hands).

Do yourself a favour, contact an accredited reflexologist in your location and start your journey to improved health and wellbeing in combination with a healthy diet and exercise.

Don’t forget to ask about any special offers that may be available during Natural Medicine Week.

More about the author

Deborah Watts
Deborah Watts
– Reflexation Natural Therapies

Deborah is an accredited practitioner specialising in Reflexology, having established her clinic at Picnic Point, New South Wales in 2002.  Reflexation Natural Therapies has been in continual operation since its inception.

Deborah is an accredited professional member of the Australian Traditional Medicine Society (ATMS) and the International Council of Reflexologists (ICR).

She is also a member of the Canterbury Bankstown Chamber of Commerce (CBCC).

Deborah has a Diploma of Reflexology and has trained with internationally renowned reflexologists from Denmark, U.K., Sweden and Germany. She has also studied reflexology for cancer care therapy, which equips her and other reflexologists to perform volunteer work with patients at the late Professor Chris O’Brien’s Lifehouse Cancer Centre at RPA.

She holds a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment which enables her to teach her therapies in colleges and a variety of training environments. She conducts educational and instructional workshops on Foot Reflexology, Hand Reflexology and Indian Head Neck & Shoulder massage at a college as well as her Picnic Point clinic.  These courses have been designed by her.

She has undertaken advanced training in Maternity Reflexology, biomechanical assessments and advanced orthotic therapy.

In addition, Deborah conducts corporate information sessions on the benefits of natural therapies, including Reflexology and regularly attends speaking engagements with various community groups on a voluntary basis.

Her vision is to contribute to, and educate consumers in, the improvement of their health and wellbeing. Deborah also aims to educate people on taking responsibility for their own health.

Deborah’s multicultural client database comprises children and both men and women of various ages with her oldest client being 87 years of age.

Achievements and recognition of her business include:

  • Winning awards in the 2018, 2017 and 2015 Local Business Awards and three times finalist in Business of the Year in 2018, 2017 & 2015
  • “Highly Commended” Award as “Practitioner of the Year” in the ATMS + Nature & Health Industry Awards (Australia wide)
  • Finalist in Western Sydney Awards for Business Excellence (WSABE)
  • Being one of three finalists in the News Limited GoWest Champions of the West Awards in the category of Small Business
  • Seven times finalist in the Australian Small Business Champion Awards
  • Seven times finalist in both the Local Business Awards and category of Business Person of the Year

Additionally, Deborah’s professional learning with international therapists brings the latest techniques in reflexology to her local clients, with no added cost to them.