Reflexology how to self-practice

The 3 most effective ways to self practice reflexology

Reflexology has a unique characteristic: it is easily self-practiced.

Let’s talk about reflexology, though this time to discover how to massage oneself.

Let’s see 3 self-massage techniques that allow us to connect to our feet, to relax and to let go of stress and fatigue in just a few minutes.

Our feet are our roots and they take us everywhere we go all day every day. Still, we don’t often pay attention to this part of our body, and sometimes we constrict them into tight shoes or onto high heels for long hours, but it is very important to take care of them.

Before we start, it is important to keep in mind some of the basic principles of any massage technique: make sure your hands are clean and your nails are cut accurately.

Also, remember that feet are very delicate and strong pressure is not always the best choice.

Try and listen to yourself and to your feet and look for the pressure that makes you feel comfortable and at ease.

And now, we are ready.

Intuitive massage:

the Intuitive Massage, just how the name suggests, is the massage that goes “where the heart goes”, i.e. with a bit of cream or oil, just massage your feet in an intuitive manner. Sit comfortably on a chair or an armchair, take your foot into both your hands with the sole up and stroke its whole surface with movements than can be both gentle or strong. Try to involve every part of the foot and try to “listen” to those parts that are needing more attention, trying to understand where the most sensitive or painful points are, and also where corns or thickened skin are.

Once we feel satisfied by this massage and we feel the foot is alive and circulation is flowing we may move onto the other foot trying to repeat, more or less, the same movements and for, more or less, the same amount of time.

Anti-fatigue massage.

This kind of self-massage is very quick and extremely effective, to do in the morning before slipping on shoes  or in the evening before going to bed.

In the same position as the previous one, foot in hands sole up, move the foot in circles, and the ankle too, in both directions.

Move each toe in circles too, fold the toes forward and backwards and then wring the foot as if it were a wet cloth.

Once this is done, imagine vertical  lines starting from the base of the toes along the sole of the foot, and press your thumb gently and slide it slowly along them several times in the direction of the heel. In the same way, imagine five horizontal lines across the foot and slide along them several times with your thumb.

End the massage rubbing the inner and outer sides of the foot with the palm of your hand.

Detoxifying massage:

This kind of self-massage is slightly more complex than the others, and requires a basic knowledge of acupressure points. But do not worry! Step by step, they will be illustrated.

First of all, it is good to remember that the right foot is connected to the right side of the body and the left one is connected to the left side.

Let’s start with warming up the sole of the foot making some circular movements on the whole surface; then with the foot between our hands let us make some “windshield wiper” movements on the entire sole, first to one side then to the other.

Continue to do that towards the heel both in the inside and towards the other lines. This massage will help us eliminate lots of toxins, as this is the area connected to the kidneys, the ureter and the bladder. With a good massage on the arch of the foot, according to reflexology, the whole digestive system will be stimulated. This is still all on the sole of the foot, not on the sides. Here one can stimulate the large intestine. The area to self-massage is, for the stimulation of these areas, always the sole of the foot.

For those who want to use reflexology to help organs and glands, the study of the collocation of acupressure points is required. The most important ones are:

• Liver, situated on the right side of the torso and the abdomen. The correspondent area on the foot is the right side of the right foot.
• Spleen. On the left side of your ribs, below the heart. Therefore it is treated on the external side of the left foot.
• Head. In the toes, along with all the organs of the senses. Lower back, sacrum, bladder and genitals are all around the heel.
• Kidneys are in the centre of the sole of the foot.  Massaging these points is very useful to recover from low energy and to help symptoms such as  vertigo, headache and insomnia.
• The toes correspond to head and neck. So to massage them means to help and recover from any symptom related to these areas of the body.

Have a wonderful massage!