Reflexology: Basic Knead

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• Reflexology
• How It Works
• Baby Massage

Massage

“Massage is the perfect elixir for good health. Experts estimate that 80-90% of disease is stress-related, and massage combats this stress by helping us relax.”

Massage is the perfect elixir for good health. Experts estimate that 80-90% of disease is stress-related, and massage combats this stress by helping us relax.

In addition, it provides an integration of body and mind. By producing a meditative state or heightened awareness of living in the present moment, massage can provide emotional and spiritual balance, bringing with it true relaxation and peace.

The more massage… the better.

Having a massage does more than just relax your body and mind - there are specific physiological and psychological changes which occur, even more so when massage is utilized as a preventative, frequent therapy and not simply mere luxury.

The incredible benefits of massage are doubly powerful if taken in regular “doses.” Dr. Maria Hernandez-Reif, from the Touch Research Institute (TRI) at the University of Miami, is known for her massage research, along with colleague Tiffany Field. Together, they and other researchers have done outstanding work proving the value of massage. While their studies have shown we can benefit from massage even in small doses (15 minutes of chair massage or a half-hour table session), Hernandez-Reif says they know from their research that receiving bodywork 2-3 times a week is highly beneficial. And if we lived in a fantasy world, Hernandez-Reif has the answer. “I feel a daily massage is optimal.”

The Benefits of Massage

• Massage offers a drug-free, non-invasive and humanistic approach based on the body’s natural ability to heal itself.
• Increases circulation, allowing the body to pump more oxygen and nutrients into tissues and vital organs.
• Stimulates the flow of lymph, the body's natural defense system, against toxic invaders. For example, in breast cancer patients, massage has been shown to increase the cells that fight cancer.
• Increased circulation of blood and lymph systems improves the condition of the body’s largest organ - the skin.
• Relaxes and softens injured and overused muscles
• Reduces spasms and cramping
• Increases joint flexibility.
• Reduces recovery time, helps prepare for strenuous workouts and eliminates subsequent pains of the athlete at any level.
• Releases endorphins - the body’s natural painkiller - and is being used in chronic illness, injury and recovery from surgery to control and relieve pain.
• Reduces post-surgery adhesions and edema and can be used to reduce and realign scar tissue after healing has occurred.
• Improves range-of-motion and decreases discomfort for patients with low back pain.
• Relieves pain for migraine sufferers and decreases the need for medication.
• Provides exercise and stretching for atrophied muscles and reduces shortening of the muscles for those with restricted range of motion.
• Assists with shorter labor for expectant mothers, as well as less need for medication, less depression and anxiety, and shorter hospital stays.

Reflexology

Reflexology is a centuries old healing art of stimulating the feet that reduces stress & improves your physical well-being. On the foot, you’ll find a map of the entire body and a quick route to relaxation.

In each foot there are over 7,000 nerve endings—called reflexes—which correspond to every organ & system within your body. Simply pressing on those reflex points can elicit a response from the nervous system that helps to soothe and balance the entire body.

Benefits of Reflexology

• Reduce Stress
• Promote Healing
• Increase Circulation
• Boost Immune System
• Cleanse the Body of Toxins
• Revitalize & Balance Energy
• Nurture a Sense of Well-Being

Reflexology not only soothes & balances your entire body, but it’s an effective treatment for:

• Acne
• Anxiety
• Arthritis
• Back Pain
• Headaches
• PMS
• Sciatica
• Sexual Problems
• Sinuses
• Regulating Blood Pressure & more!

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How It Works

Reflexology essentially clears energy pathways that have been blocked. By relaxing the foot, the blood and nerve supply flows more freely, and everything on the body functions better.

As you feel your feet, a weakness or imbalance in some area of your body may be experienced as tenderness in the corresponding reflex area on the foot. Pay attention to areas of your feet which may be the most sensitive as these areas need it the most.

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Baby Massage

Touch is one of the most essential elements to a baby’s healthy physical and psychological development, and it’s an easy way to nurture the bond between parent and child. In a study conducted by Dr. Tiffany Field at the University of Miami’s Touch Research Institute, premature babies who were massaged for 15 minutes, three times a day for two weeks, gained 47% more weight and were discharged six days earlier from the hospital, than babies who were not massaged, saving the hospital $10,000 per infant. The babies who were massaged appeared more alert and active, and they showed more mature neurological development than babies who were not massaged. Full-term infants also benefit with increased alertness and social behavior, less crying and increased weight gain.

By combining touch, intimacy, play and care-giving, baby massage provides not only tremendous physical and psychological benefits for a baby, but it builds the foundation for a relationship of trust and love. What’s more, massage doesn’t have to end when babies become toddlers. It can be used as a tool for nurturing and maintaining a child’s health and well-being for many years.

Benefits of Baby Massage

• Infant parent attachment or “bonding”
• Relaxation for baby & parent
• Makes baby feel loved
• Promotes better sleep
• Facilitates body awareness
• Boosts immune system
• Sensory stimulation
• Improves skin condition
• Improves blood circulation
• Helps digestion
• Balances respiration
• Relief for teething pains
• Helps waste elimination
• Helps you learn about your baby (Their needs and desires)
• Helps build parents’ and baby’s self-esteem
• Pleasurable experience
• Stimulates production of oxytocin (Oxytocin is a hormone which can be produced by both male and female persons during massage. It is useful as a pain reliever and has a calming effect on the person.)

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The Need for Touch

As a society, we are touch deprived and this can lead to disease or emotional dysfunction. Just as babies need touch to thrive, adults need to touch and be touched in order to be healthy and well in body, mind and spirit.

Did you know that touch is the greatest sense in our body? The skin is the largest and oldest sensory organ of the body, our first method of communication, and our body’s most efficient protector.

The sense of touch is the earliest sense to develop in the human embryo. As a sensory system the skin is much the most important organ in the body. For a human being can spend his life without the senses of sight, hearing, smell and taste, but he cannot survive without the functions performed by the skin.

The surface area of the skin has an enormous number of sensory receptors receiving stimuli of heat, cold, touch, pressure, and pain. A piece of skin the size of a quarter contains more than 3 million cells, 100-340 sweat glands, 3 feet of blood vessels, and 50 nerve endings. In effect, the skin may be regarded as an exposed portion of the nervous system.