Happy Birthday blog
12
May
2011
My reflexology blog is one year old today!
To celebrate here’s a link for £5 off my reflexology vouchers. This offer is for one day only and is only available on my blog but please feel free to let other people know.
Terms & Conditions
- Before buying my vouchers please look at my opening hours to make sure they will fit in with the voucher recipient’s free time!
- Vouchers will be valid until 12th July 2011.
I’m very busy at the moment but I’m planning to run some special offers to promote vertical reflexology soon. Watch my blog for further details and thank you for reading!
If you haven’t already subscribed to my blog and would like to receive email updates of my blog entries and therefore be the first to know of any special offers, please enter your email address and click on subscribe:
Leave a commentBackache in pregnancy
03
May
2011
Can reflexology help relieve backache in pregnancy?
Reflexology is a very gentle therapy that helps support the body during all the rapid changes of pregnancy.
For pregnant women with backache I concentrate on:
- gentle stretching, twisting and massaging of the spinal reflexes with the intention of easing any pain or discomfort while keeping the joints relaxed and supple
- stimulating and relaxing the diaphragm reflexes to ease emotional stress
Why do women get backache during pregnancy?
It’s not surprising that many pregnant women suffer with backache during pregnancy.
The abdominal muscles are stretched a long way beyond their normal state and are unable to help maintain body posture as they would usually do. The lower back compensates for this by taking on the extra weight from the torso. During pregnancy women lean backwards to counterbalance the baby’s increasing weight.
The pregnancy hormone relaxin softens your ligaments to relax your pelvic joints so that you are able to give birth. However, the hormone softens all the ligaments in your body so you have to be extra careful not to put too much strain on your joints, including your back.
Finally, many people hold tension in their back at times when they feel stressed and emotional. There’s no doubting that pregnancy is not always a happy, carefree time for everyone.
If you are pregnant and suffering from backache and would like to see if reflexology would help you, please contact me to book a reflexology appointment.
Leave a commentHeartburn in pregnancy
26
Apr
2011
Pregnancy hormones relax your body’s ligaments to help your body make room for the baby. Unfortunately these hormones, combined with pressure from your growing baby, may also relax the sphincter muscle that usually stops the stomach contents from coming back up causing heartburn.
Heartburn feels like a burning sensation behind the breastbone and can make your chest feel like it’s on fire. The burning and pain may travel from your diaphragm all the way to your throat. You may have a sour taste in your mouth and the feeling that food is coming back up into your mouth.
When I was pregnant I often suffered from heartburn at night, sometimes it would wake me up and was so uncomfortable it would be difficult to get back to sleep.
There are many things you can do to avoid heartburn or to relieve heartburn:
- eat small, frequent meals
- eat slowly and try to sit up straight while eating
- avoid fried, fatty or spicy food
- avoid bending over
- use extra pillows to prop you up overnight
- make slippery elm tea. Slippery elm is a dried herb. I bought it in powdered form from Neal’s Yard when I was pregnant and although it wasn’t exactly tasty, it was very effective.
Reflexology may also help with heartburn. Your reflexologist should use techniques to:
- calm the stomach reflex area to prevent over activity
- calm the oespohagus reflex area to ease pain
- hold the ‘solar plexus’ reflexes to calm and relieve anxiety
If you would like to try reflexology to see if it will help relieve your heartburn, please contact me to book a reflexology treatment.
Heartburn in pregnancy is extremely common and is usually nothing to worry about, however you should mention it to your midwife to be on the safe side. See NHS: Indigestion in pregnancy for a more detailed explanation of this condition.
Leave a commentHow to give a relaxing foot massage
22
Apr
2011
This video shows you how to give a relaxing foot massage, as demonstrated by Rosalind Oxenford of the Bath Reflexology Centre. Rosalind trained me to be a reflexologist and so this is the foot massage I tend to use at the start of a reflexology treatment.
Leave a commentWould you like to learn basic reflexology to use at home?
19
Apr
2011
Would you like to learn more about reflexology so that you can use it to give basic treatments to family or friends?
Would you like to learn reflexology for self-help?
The Bath Reflexology Centre runs 6 week ‘Introduction to Reflexology’ courses to teach you everything you would like to know about reflexology.
It’s an ideal course for anyone with an interest in reflexology or anyone who is considering to train to be a reflexologist but wants to know more before committing to starting a professional reflexologist training course.
The course covers:
- foot massage
- location of the main reflex points on the feet and the hands
- reflexology techniques and how to stimulate reflex points
- a basic reflexology routine
- routines to help with common ailments such as headaches, travel sickness, constipation, relaxation, back pain, toothache etc.
The course will be run on Wednesday evenings starting on 11th May 2011 and ending on 22nd June 2011.
Please note that the course does not lead to a professional reflexology qualification so you will not be a qualified reflexologist and able to charge for reflexology treatments on completing the course.
For more information see Introduction to Reflexology.
Leave a commentCan reflexology relieve morning sickness?
16
Apr
2011
Many of us who have ever been pregnant know how awful morning sickness can be. We all know that it’s usually a good sign that the pregnancy is progressing well and we’re thankful for that but it’s still not pleasant and can be an isolating experience feeling so ill at a time when we may not be ready to broadcast the fact that we’re pregnant.
Morning sickness is the term used for nausea and vomiting during pregnancy and, frustratingly, you can suffer with it round the clock not just in the morning.
A reflexologist will help relieve your morning sickness by:
- using reflexology techniques to calm the stomach reflex zone
- stimulate the pancreas reflex to help balance your blood sugar levels
- balance your endocrine system to help you adapt to your changing hormone levels
Apart from reflexology there are many other things you can try to do to relieve the sickness including:
- eating small amounts of food that you can tolerate. The key is to eat little and often.
- ginger or peppermint can ease the vomiting.
- have something to eat in bed before you get up in the morning. One client of mine found nibbling gingernuts before even getting out of bed really helped keep her sickness at bay.
- listen to your body. Figure out what it is that will help you feel better. For me it was boiled veg and gravy, for my Mum it was oranges!
If you are suffering from morning sickness, contact me to arrange a reflexology appointment.
Hyperemesis gravidarum is severe and persistent vomiting during pregnancy. If you are suffering from continued vomiting you are likely to become dehydrated. Reflexology may help relieve hyperemesis gravidarum but it is important that you contact your midwife in case further medical treatment is needed.
Leave a commentFabulous weather = Rotten hay fever
14
Apr
2011
We’ve had some great weather recently. I’ve been out in the garden enjoying getting ‘back in touch with nature’. The lawnmower has been heaved out of the shed as the grass is now needing a weekly cut again. My daughter loves seeing the trees in blossom. She calls them ‘blossom trees’ and counted over 100 on the car journey between our house and her friend’s.
My dog enjoying the spring
I’m lucky, I don’t suffer from hay fever, and neither does the dog, but for some of us this can be a miserable time of year.
Reflexology is a holistic treatment that may help to balance and normalise the systems of the body. For this reason it’s an excellent treatment for hay fever where the body goes into overdrive in reaction to hay fever.
As a reflexologist I concentrate on:
- clearing the airways
- calming down streaming, itchy eyes and nose
- strengthening the body’s immune response to help minimise the reaction to pollen
Although reflexology can have an immediate effect on relieving hay fever symptoms, the best way of keeping hay fever at bay is to have regular reflexology treatments. You would not expect hay fever to go away from taking one pill but if the one pill helped relieve symptoms you would go back for more. Reflexology has a cumulative effect so if you have regular treatments each successive treatment builds on the results from previous treatments.
If you are a hay fever sufferer and would like to see if reflexology can help you, please contact me to arrange an appointment.
Leave a commentGetting back on track
13
Apr
2011
Well, perhaps my New Year’s resolution should have been to regularly update my blog!
I’m sorry I’ve been so quiet for the last couple of months. I’ve been very busy and haven’t made the time to keep writing – whoops!
Anyway, I’m back on track now and am planning to write about how reflexology can help common conditions such as hay fever, morning sickness etc. I’ll also be running some new promotions so please keep reading!
Leave a commentHappy New Year
14
Jan
2011
A belated ‘Happy New Year’ from me.
I love the start of a new year as a way of re-evaluating life and looking at ways to improve it. Have you made any resolutions for 2011? Personally I’ve taken up tap dancing! I’ve never tap danced before and had my first lesson last night which was very fast paced and great fun. I’m hoping that regular lessons will be a good way of getting out of the house to do something for me as well as a way of keeping fit.
Many of us make plans to improve our health and well-being in the new year, particularly after over-indulging over Christmas. If you are feeling stressed out by life and want to feel more in control, reflexology may help you to do this by releasing tension throughout the body and mind. Reflexology gets to the root of problems rather than focussing on a set of symptoms.
After a reflexology treatment most people feel invigorated and energetic. Treatments are generally relaxing and many of my clients tell me they place huge value on taking some time for themselves, something which many of us find hard to fit in with the demands of everyday life.
So, if you fancy making 2011 the year when you take control of your health and well-being, get in touch!
Leave a commentMerry Christmas!
25
Dec
2010
Hope you’ve all had a fabulous time today. I’ve had a great day with my family, it’s been a lot of fun.
I’m really looking forward to meeting all those who received gift vouchers for reflexology treatments. Give me a call or send me an email to book your treatment in the New Year.
Best wishes to everyone for the rest of the holiday period and for a very happy 2011!
Elizabeth
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