Today’s post is a nudge to remind all you hard working stressed execs that I offer evening appointments – Mondays and Thursdays until 9pm.

So, if you are feeling the tension of increased pressure at work, longer working days and an increasingly competitive business environment break the cycle and book one of my special 60 minute tension taming treatments. A blend of aromatherapy and reflexology tailored to your needs, designed to keep you comfortable in your body and at ease in your mind.

Priced at just £40, your treatment will help you:

• Sleep better, waking more refreshed.
• Experience higher energy levels.
• Improve concentration.

Brilliant – you know it’s just what you need!

To book your treatment please contact me at: louise_kirkpatrick@msn.com

p.s. Please take a look at reflexology and aromatherapy if you would like more information on these treatments.

What curious weather we have been having.  I don’t know about you but my body is confused, this is often an awkward season change for us Brits, especially once the clock change kicks in.

Some Reflexology treatments can really help make the shift from late summer/autumn into winter go smoothly.  We all have a tendency to ‘close up ‘ a little in the winter, Kevin Kunz states that our hands and feet set the tension levels for the whole body.  I am not sure about the scientific basis of this statement!   But I do know that working both the feet and the hands is a quick and easy way of helping someone relax and soften.

Choose your essential oils carefully too at this time of year.  Geranium is wonderful for promoting balance and Thyme and Tea Tree are both effective ‘bug killers’.  Lemon is also a good antibacterial and its freshness can help cut through even the greyest of days!  Use in a vapouriser or sparingly in the bath to bolster your natural immunity.

Don’t forget – whatever the weather – to get outside for at least 20 minutes and day.  You just can’t replicate the benefits of fresh air and exercise!

Louise

Just a quick note to say how pleased I am to be able to offer you the opportunity to buy a range of Neals Yard products from me.

I have been using some of their face care range for a while now and I am really impressed.  They smell gorgeous giving me a little aromatherapy treat every morning,  the moisturisers really last all day and the cleansers don’t strip my skin leaving it feeling tight and dry.  The nourishing Melissa Nail Balm is a revelation, never have my nails looked so healthy!

They have been very effective for my daughter too – as a long term eczema sufferer and having just turned fourteen her skin offers a complex challenge,  at times very dry and inflamed but also subject to the odd break out and oily patch that can suddenly appear at this age.     However the combination of spritzing with the rose toner followed by an application of rose rehydrating daily moisture works really well.  Her skin is more balanced, soft and even in skin tone.  Plus she smells gorgeous when I kiss her goodnight!

I am having an open house coffee morning next Friday 26th November from 8.30 until 11.00  Come and have an organic coffee or herby tea and have a good nose through the products I have,  if you like something I can give you a sample pot to road test at home or you can place an order with me there and then.  There will be plenty of catalogues to leaf through allowing you to see all the ranges available or you can have a look online at                             https://uk.nyrorganic.com/shop/louisekirkpatrick

Louise

I have lost count of how many times I have been asked the question: How does reflexology work? Hardly surprising really – I suppose it is hard to get your head around the fact that your fourth toe may reveal clues both to the health of your digestive system and your hearing,  or that your love of sweet foods is no secret because of the shape of your big toes! That the area of athletes foot in the arch of your foot suggets to  me that your small intestine may be struggling to perform at its best – and that this may link in a very physical sense to unrecognised food intolerances or more esoterically to a difficulty with sorting out ideas and making choices.

So much for what your feet can reveal – but can a massage of the feet really help relieve indigestion, help you relax or ease your back pain? There is no one simple answer but instead a synthesis of processes that all combine to help you feel better after a reflexology session.

A study of the meridian system (as developed and used in Traditional Chinese Medicine) shows us that the liver, spleen pancreas, stomach, gall bladder, kidney and bladder meridians all run through the feet. The meridian system is a complex system of energy channels – along which chi (energy – try thinking of it as vitality – literally the energy of life) flows through the body. These channels have no hard matter, you wont find them in a corpse, but they function just as really as the network of blood vessels that allow blood to course through our bodies. Flow of chi can be enhanced by touch or needles – as in the case of acupuncture – or specific exercises such as those of T’ai Chi. The meridian system is as yet largely unexplored by western medicine, however it is interesting that if you overlay a transparency of the meridian flows over a diagram of the body and its systems (as mapped by orthadox medicine) and then take a look at some patient case histories the results are intriguing.

Indigestion, sore knees, sinus pain may all relate to a weakness of the stomach meridian. An acknowledgment of the meridian system often allows us to make links between health problems that medically speaking are not considered to be obviously related. It is so sad to take a history and realise that appropriate energy medicine treatment given earlier might have saved the patient a troublesome health history as years of seemingly unconnected health problems all relate to the same meridian disturbances, and disturbed energy left untreated often leads, longterm,  to disturbances at a physical level. Consequently reflexology and the restoration of full energy flow can help restore healthy physical function.

The very specific, targeted techniques that I use as a reflexologist will impact on energising and balancing your meridians, specific points on the feet can be worked on according to your needs.

An acceptance of the meridian system is vital in understanding the concept that one area of your foot can impact on another area of your body.

The pathway of a meridian will often concur with deviations in the shape of the foot – and also common feet health problems. Where your verucca or thickened toenail is can reveal a disturbance on a meridian – we know this is true because it will concur with your medical history. It also rather neatly leads into another aspect of reflexology which I feel is absolutely crucial in understanding why and how it works – and for those of you that struggle with the concept of ‘energy flows’ this is pure mechanics!

As we stand, walk, run, any tensions or restriction in our feet might impact on the musculo-skeletal system. Next time you stand just try a little experiment. Stand feet square (no shoes) and shake out any tensions you have in your body, now just scrunch the toes of your left foot – observe how areas of muscle in your body tense as they work to keep you upright and balanced – you may feel it most in your buttock muscles or across your back in the area of deltoids. There will almost certainly be an increased tension across your shoulders.

Poor shoes, muscular tension and bad postural habits all combine to undermine that natural balance between foot and body – sadly it is a self perpetuating cycle. Tight feet mayengender tension in the body – a tense bodymight restrict proper walking….the cycle continues. Often we are unaware of holding tension in our bodies – having lived with it daily for a lifetime. It is only when the tension is relieved that you notice it by its absence!

Not sure if this applies to you? Take a look at the soles of your shoes – do you wear the soles out more on one area, do you wear out both shoes evenly – all are clues as to how you move and weight bear and which areas may be under long term musculo-skeletal stress. A good reflexologist will work to increase the flexibility of your feet with deep massage and sometimes some gentle mobilisation techniques. Thus reducing tension in your musculo skeletal system and fostering a more flexible, relaxed body.

Better still this encourages an improved blood supply. Enhanced blood supply means better nourishment for the cells in any given area, fostering better health and well being. (You have probably at some time or another experienced an example of loss of function due to reduced blood supply – the classic tension headache. Tight neck, shoulder and scalp muscles all restrict blood supply to the head, brain and face, performance levels fall – a headache ensues.)

There may be benefits for the immune system too as properly functioning flexible feet allow us to roll through the feet when we walk, this fully engages the calf muscles which serve as a pumping mechanism for the lymph flow in the legs. Good lymph flow is essential to maintaining an efficient immune system.

It’s not spooky or hokem just the mechanics of locomotion.

Lastly, but definitely not least, there are the benefits of spending an hour with another empathetic human being with whom you can discuss in complete confidence anything which is bothering you. The power that even the simplest of touch can have when given with respect and love. The sense of self worth that you can gain from choosing to value yourself and make the time for treatment. Tricky to assess in a scientific way but nonetheless tangible to those who have experienced Reflexology.

This is just a brief overview of some of the more obvious explanations as to how Reflexology works and why it might work for you. I have been fascinated by Reflexology for twenty years – it’s a fascination that just grows and grows. I hope that this brief overview inspires you to seek out more information or if you are interested in trying Reflexology as a therapy please contact me at louise_kirkpatrick@msn.com.

Thanks

Louise

It is estimated that up to ninety percent of disease is stress related: and perhaps nothing ages us faster , internally and externally, than high stress levels.  It is unrealistic to eliminate stress altogether in today’s fast paced world but wouldn’t you rather feel zingy than zonked when under pressure?

Aromatherapy, Reflexology and Tsuboki Face Massage are all valuable tools to use in managing our stress levels; they all help us relax,  but use different mechanisms within the body to do so – if you are unsure which therapy is best suited to your circumstances please call me, and we can talk it through.

Louise

1. Squeeze and ‘Chinese burn’ your lower forearm and wrist.  Squeeze the outside edge of you hand.
2. Supporting the palm of your hand with your fingers, thumb walk up the furrows between the tendons on the back of the hand.
3. Working from finger tip to base pinch the top and underside of each finger, then do the same to the sides of the fingers.
4. Turn your hand over, use thumb pressure to rub and massage the fleshy area at the base of the thumb.
5. Now use your thumb to rub in a circular motion over the area of the palm that covers the knuckles.
6. With your thumb rub and circle the area in the centre of the palm – this is a reflexology point for the solar plexus.  Take a moment to observe yourself.   Are you are holding your breath as your mind focuses on something new. Be mindful of your breath at this point, try to let it deepen, engaging the diaphragm.
7. ‘Caterpillar’ with your thumb over the creases in the inner wrist.
8. It is fun to compare the done with the undone, feel the difference?
9. Now do the other hand!

This is for all the lovely ladies I met this evening in Oxford. There follows some basic facts about our hands and repetitive strain injury (RSI).

• There are 8 bones in your wrist, 5 in your palm and 14 in your digits – 27 in total.  Our hands are articulated by two sets of muscles and tendons.

• Our hands possess the greatest natural positioning capability of any part of our body and they give us the richest source of tactile feedback.

Repetitive Strain Injuries

A healthy muscle is soft and elastic – at each end it tapers forming denser, stiffer tissue called tendon.  The tendons attach muscle to bone.

When a muscle is overused with repetitive movement the muscle fibre shortens.  The greater density of tendon tissue makes it stronger than the major portion of muscle fibre, but the corresponding loss of elasticity makes tendon tissue prone to microscopic tears at the point of attachment resulting  in inflammation and irritation.

Common hand and wrist RSI’s in the workplace are keyboard and computer work related.  Other more outlandish recreational RSIs are gamer’s thumb, rubik’s wrist and raver’s wrist!

Prevention is better than a cure – stretching the muscles with exercise and massage on a regular basis helps to lengthen the muscle fibres and takes pressure off the tendon. Use your massage routine to keep your hands flexible!

Louise x