This book is for everyone interested in reflexology, coming to the aid of our students as well as to the benefit of therapists who practice this wonderful method. It is good to know about the benefits this therapy brings, and we wish to reinforce with ideas that can be applied, improving the quality of our services. As therapists, we have faced many varied situations, which made us aim to include more information and knowledge, these being accumulated in a volume.
Reflexology is increasingly well accepted, growing gradually, which provides us with a database that we are delighted to present to you. The benefits of practicing this therapy will be presented in detail throughout.
Reflexology is a component of complementary therapies, being a simple, efficient, natural method that is applied by massage at the level of the hands and feet, in order to obtain and improve our health status. The skills and practices of a therapist need to be in continuous formation, an aspect that can only be achieved through a high standard of study and considerable practice. This material will be easy to assimilate for all those who are seeking information on non-invasive therapies, for therapists, and for those who are starting a new career in reflexology.
Our goal is to spread and make this technique known to as many people and therapists as possible who are interested in complementary therapies, and our hope is to make the material as accessible to everyone as possible.
If you can integrate this therapy into your practice, patients will be very satisfied. And if you will offer, alongside reflexology, a complex of therapies, such as other types of massage, osteopathy, acupuncture, vacuum or herbal products, you will undoubtedly succeed in maximizing the beneficial results obtained, and your patients will appreciate all the effort you have put in.
This book is not a course, but only supporting material for therapists, aimed at improving the treatments offered, where we present a case study gathered from 2001, the year when we started to activate in complementary therapies, an aspect that forms the basis of our experience.
The technique we have is to work with both hands on both feet, the maneuvers being performed simultaneously - with small exceptions for points that are not represented symmetrically in both feet, an aspect that will be presented in chapter 5. We have always believed that a good technique must have a solid support, of information and knowledge.
Reflexology is not an exact science, it has slightly different maps of the points that reflect in the feet and because each of us has a separate health status, this aspect makes the results after treatment varied from one person to another. But it can be said that after recent research, reflexology helps a lot and makes a significant contribution to improving health status.
A better understanding can lead to a deeper strategy and continuous adaptation to promote and understand how, how much and when each patient should be treated. Without adequate knowledge, it is much harder to achieve good results, but by learning and using the teachings given in courses, we will have the ability to improve the quality of our knowledge, to take care of our patients as best as possible.
After several years of study, searches, and practice, some observations can be made, where a variety of reflexology treatments can be suggested, elucidating the methods that show the appropriate sequence, so that each one can easily and skilfully judge depending on their skill.
We were guided by the materials from our courses, scientific studies obtained and shared by several specialists, with advice that needs to be followed, all of these led us to present and transpose them, to facilitate a better understanding.
We must mention that this book does not replace medical treatments, and for patients with health problems, they must only address a qualified medical professional.