Wednesday was a 'normal' day. The sun was shining enthusiastically, lighting up the small town I live in. I've lived in this town most of my life; I know it well. I can tell you the location of any road, I can navigate the network of alleyways, I can go to the town and say hello to five people a time. Yet lurking under the surface of this average town is a secret world of alternative therapies: a whisper of crystals, a murmur of chakras and a whiff of fragrant oils.
I may have woken up in my own bed on a mundane Wednesday but by midday I could have been somewhere else entirely...
It all started with my increasing interest in complementary or 'alternative' medicine. I think this must happen to lots of people...when Medical Professionals fail to provide answers or fast-enough fixes, you look towards other options. Alternative medicine is basically the opposite to conventional medicine. According to the great internet God Wikipedia, it is 'healing practice based on historical or cultural traditions, rather than on scientific evidence.' This can also be called as Holistic Medicine which means 'to treat the whole self,' rather than individual parts of the body as conventional medicine does.
These healing practices have been around a long time. Thousands and thousands of years. Although they are not grounded in Scientific understanding, they are still important as they appear to work. People are still enjoying the positive effects of Reflexology, Acupuncture, Reiki and so on. There must be a reason for this; it obviously works for some people. Yes, we may not fully understand it but do we need to? As far as I am concerned, as long as it does no harm, I am willing to give it a go. Any improvement is some improvement in the deep, dark world of recovery.
My first foray into this alternative world took me to the Far East. As I slipped off my very English shoes and socks, I was told that Reflexology has been practised since ancient times in Chinese culture and was also used by the Ancient Egyptians. For fellow historical philistines out there, the Early Dynastic Period of Egypt dates from 3150 BC.
Translation reads:
Patient: "Please do not hurt me"
Physician: "I will work so that you shall praise me"
From DPEX Fitness Reflexology
I was referred to Reflexology by my Physiotherapist. It was administered by a very spiritual lady who also practises Reiki and Indian Head Massage. Initially she took a full statement from me which included medical questions and questions about my personality. She believes that in order to treat illness or injury you must treat the whole self, including the spiritual and emotional self. She put on some relaxing music and told me she didn't speak during the treatment.
I was expecting more of a massage but the Reflexology felt more like manipulation of my toes, feet and ankles. The lady was very thorough: tweaking my big toe, kneading the in-step and rotating my ankles.
Reflexology works by relieving stress in the body which could help to promote healing. It's believed that each part of the body can be accessed through specific zones on the feet and putting pressure in the correct places can help balance the flow of energy in the body. When she worked on my big toe my ears tingled quite dramatically. Afterwards she told me the zone for the head is indeed the big toe.
After the treatment I was amazed that she had found no physical problems showing up in my feet. A masseuse at Lifehouse (click here for post)correctly guessed the location of my injury through my feet as she said below my little toe was 'crunching.' I could feel it when she demonstrated what she meant. Yet now nothing physical was showing; my health has improved. I was very pleased about this.
She said my emotional health was another story entirely!
After an accident, you are going to progress through a series of emotions that, even without having an accident, you can probably guess at. However, this lady picked up on quirks of my personality type that she couldn't really have known otherwise. She was very positive about my recovery which I found reassuring. I agreed with most of her observations but I didn't book another appointment as I felt what needed to be done had been done, at least for the time-being.
She recommended that I get some crystals. Although I'm not a big believer in this unscientific practice I do admit to already having an Amethyst crystal point that someone gave me when I was at my weakest. And putting it next to my bed to point to my sleeping self.....
So armed with the name and address of the Crystal Seller I headed back onto the yellow brick road....
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