What To Expect from A Reflexology Session? – When considering any new form of treatment, a lot of false ideas or expectations might come to mind. And, while every reflexologist and treatment remain different from person to person, belief to belief, the general concept and experience remain the same no matter what. In general, there are a few things to look for before, during, and after your treatment. Here is what you can expect from a reflexology treatment:
Questions
A ‘good’ reflexologist will ask a fair number of questions to hear enough information – related to your physical health, general wellness, and any conditions, symptoms, or illnesses you might be experiencing – so that they can paint an entire picture of you beyond one diagnosis or major symptom.
This allows them to come to understand the potential connections between your symptoms and any conditions, while also gaining insight on any likely roots, or sources, of surface-level symptoms.
From the information they gather, they can treat you properly. They believe that everything in the body connects to other parts of the body and your energetic life force – qi. If they don’t have the full picture, treatment might not be as beneficial.
Physical touch to hands, feet, and/or ears
Reflexology has ‘reflex points’ where a reflexologist will apply pressure, trace their fingers on the skin, pull a body part, or use another movement to induce sensation, and from there, healing. They will only treat the feet, hands, and ears.
Sometimes, they might focus on one foot more than the other. Other times, they might treat every area mentioned. They will not touch other parts of the body. Touching other areas, beyond the feet, hand, or ears, would relate more to acupuncture and acupressure, which reflexology is not.
Hydration
Your reflexologist should remind you to drink plenty of water following your session. As reflexology moves the tissues in your body, it can detox your digestive system and lymphatic system.
If you ever received any other massage treatment, you likely already know this to be true, but hydration is incredibly essential following this sort of bodywork.
Drinking plenty of water following treatment allows your body to fully detox and aid in the balancing of qi.
Fasting beforehand & eating lightly following
Before treatment, try not to eat for an hour or two. This way you arrive without anything for your body to focus its energy on digesting. Instead, you can focus fully on healing as reflexology intends for you to heal.
Following treatment, eat lightly so that you do not disrupt the energetic and detoxifying shifts occurring. Though subtle and often entirely unseen, your body, physical and energetic, is shifting a lot. Eating minimally for a couple of hours following your reflexology session will honour this work.
So, what can you not expect in a reflexology session? For starters, there will be no needles.
Reflexology uses the hands alone as it is not acupuncture, though they do share some similarities. If you fear needles, this might be the complementary medicine route for you.
Beyond that, the following will likely not be a part of your reflexology treatment:
- Aggressive massage, as the treatment is rather gentle and should not be too uncomfortable
- Stone treatment, as this is not that sort of massage
- Any movement from you, as the reflexologist will do the work
- Sometimes, you do not need to lay down and can sit for the entire treatment
- Undressing, as only your feet, hands, and ears need to be bare
- And again, no needles
The best way to determine if reflexology is for you, and to combat any pre-treatment nerves, would be to ask your reflexologist questions. They can tell you what to expect and ease your mind as needed. They want you to have an enjoyable, healing experience and should answer your questions readily.
Jayne Bennett
Aromatherapist, Alternative Health Practitioner