I think most of us have read The Diary of Anne Frank and if you haven’t it is probably worth your while getting a copy.
It’s the true story of a young girl in Germany who is forced to go into hiding along with her family to escape the persecution inflicted upon them during World War 2.
The Anne Frank House has just released the only existing film of Anne Frank as she is leaning out of a window watching a neighbours wedding.
Take a look:
How much do you know about Reflexology? If you enjoy a foot massage, then this could be your idea of heaven and it could help you to heal too.
What is Reflexology?
Reflexology is a Complementary Therapy. This means that it can be safely used alongside medical treatment or other complementary therapies. It involves pressure being put onto various points on the feet that correspond to organs or areas of the body. These points are rather like acupuncture points. Reflexologists believe that these points are where vital energy pathways crossover. If they have become blocked by ill health, stress or injury then the body’s energy is prevented from flowing normally. If that happens, further illness or stress can be caused. Therefore, the aim of Reflexology is to open up those pathways and restore the energy flow. This brings the body back into proper balance and allows healing to take place.
Is it a new thing?
Not at all. There are paintings on the wall of a Doctor’s tomb in Ancient Egypt showing people having their feet treated by reflexology. The pictures have been dated to 2330 BC.
Up until 200AD, Delphi in Greece was a spa. People flocked there for all kinds of relaxing and beneficial massages, hydrotherapy treatments and reflexology. These were also thought to help people develop their sixth senses, an ability which was highly prized.
Reflexology is known to have been used for centuries in China, Japan, India and Russia.
What is Zone Therapy and what does it have to do with Reflexology?
Zone Therapy was developed by Doctor William Fitzgerald. He believed that reflexes work in different areas (zones) of the body and that pressure put onto a certain reflex could diminish pain in the corresponding zone of the body. He divided the body into ten vertical zones to facilitate treatment.
In the 1930’s, a physiotherapist called Eunice Ingham was using Zone Therapy on her patients. She discovered that many of the zones were accessible from the feet so she created a map showing the areas on the feet that related to the zones. Reflexologists use that map to massage areas on the feet to achieve relief in other areas of the patient’s body. A good Reflexologist can help to relieve tension, improve circulation, help with elimination and relieve pain – all by massaging the feet, often with the thumbs.
What can Reflexology help with?
From a general point of view, it can help the body to restore its own balance so that it can help to heal itself. More specifically, it has been shown to be beneficial in the treatment of:
Is it safe?
Yes. In fact it is now offered by some Doctors (along with acupuncture) as a form of healing. It can be used on all ages.
What happens during a Reflexology treatment?
A treatment usually lasts around half an hour although the first one may take a little longer. This is because the Reflexologist will ask you some simple questions about your medical history and your current situation. You will then take off your shoes and socks or hose and lie back in a comfortable chair.
The Reflexologist will commence the treatment. This often has three parts.
Is the treatment painful?
Many people report it to be a relaxing experience. You may find that some areas are tender but this is because they are linked to a corresponding issue elsewhere in your body. You may not have been aware of these tender areas until the Reflexologist finds them. Once massage has begun on the area, the sensitivity is usually relieved.
I have ticklish feet – I’m not sure if I could stand it!
Reflexologists come across many people with this worry. However, because a treatment involves a steady pressure, it doesn’t feel anything like having your feet tickled!
How many treatments are necessary?
It really depends how long you have been suffering with your current condition. As a general rule, the longer you have had the issue, the longer it will take to resolve. As a general rule, most full treatments are completed after four or six visits.
Will I feel better after a session?
As previously mentioned, it will probably take 4 – 6 sessions to improve the core cause of your health issue. After one session, people tend to feel either extremely relaxed or full of energy. Others may feel a little tearful or even feel a bit sick. You may feel one or some of these reaction but they are all completely normal. It’s important that you tell the Therapist how you are feeling so that they can judge the effectiveness of the treatment. There’s no way of knowing how it will affect you until you have a session.
What about side effects?
Reflexology is recognized as helping the body to get rid of waste. You may find that you urinate more than usual, or have more bowel activity that usual. You may also sweat more and your nose may run. These effects show that the treatment is working and Reflexologists call them ‘healing reactions’. Be sure to tell your Therapist if you experience any of them. They are all transitory and should settle as treatment continues.
Millions of people now have regular reflexology treatments. They’re relaxing, non invasive and proven to promote healing. Why not book up for one and see how you could benefit
Pre-Columbian Central America was a fascinating place. This region was once ruled by the Mayan empire. The Maya were one of the most advanced prehistoric civilizations on the planet. Their religion focused a great deal around astronomy. In fact they are one of the few cultures that recognized the concept of a solar system.
If you’ve read any conspiracy theory literature recently it seems that everyone is jumping on the 2012 band wagon. According to those that just want you to buy their books the world will end on December 21st, 2012. They point out that the Maya predicted the end of civilization through their precise astronomical records.
This is a bit misleading. The Mayan’s did indeed have a sophisticated calendar system that broke time up into very unique intervals that can best be visualized as cogs in a wheel. The largest of the wheels is informally known as the long count calendar. The long count calendar cycles every 5126 years through a new age. 2012 is simply the end of a revolution of that wheel and the start of a new age.
One area that is getting mixed up with the whole Mayan calendar is the 11 year sun spot cycle. Conspiracy theorists are pointing to the fact that we will be at a solar maximum in the year 2012. Since these 2 events overlap then of course the earth must be destroyed by an erupting sun spot.
Other wilder theories state that an unknown planet will reenter the solar system and cause untold havoc to life on earth.
Neither of these two theories have anything to do with the Mayan calendar.
So whatever your belief system it’s always better to be informed than ignorant. A little research into Mayan culture will show that this once great society was truly ahead of it’s time. It developed a revolutionary and accurate calendar system that has proven to be extremely accurate.
To find out more about Dec 21 2010 Click Here!
Dr Jill Bolte (pronounced Boltee) Taylor is a remarkable woman. In 1996, she was at the top of her game as a neuroanatomist. One morning in December, over a period of five hours, all of that changed. Jill had a major stroke. As a ‘brain Doctor’, she recognized what was happening to her…as it happened. It affected her physically, emotionally, mentally and maybe most profound of all, spiritually.
Her book ‘My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist’s Personal Journey‘
Before the stroke
Jill grew up with a brother who was 18 months older than her. Even as a child, she recognized that he didn’t function as she did. They reacted differently to events and saw the world in very different ways. Jill wanted to know why and this led her to a career studying how the brain works. She became a neuroanatomist – someone who studies the structure and function of the brain right down to its’ molecular level. Her brother was subsequently diagnosed with schizophrenia and Jill concentrated her work to focus on how this common but little understood mental disorder affects the brain at a chemical level. She worked at Harvard University and for the organization NAMI (National Association for Mental Illness). Life was sweet.
The Stroke
On 10th December 1996, at 7 a.m., Jill was woken by her CD player and found she had a sharp pain behind her left eye. She had a history of migraines that hadn’t responded to medications. Thinking that exercise might clear her head, she got out of bed and climbed onto her exercise machine. She noticed that she felt dissociated and felt as if she was observing herself on the machine. She felt a little alarmed but not unduly so considering what was to follow.
She started her usual morning routine but when she turned on the shower, the water hitting the tub sounded like bullets going off. This did alarm her as she began to realise that something was seriously wrong. When her right arm suddenly went ‘dead’ and thumped lifelessly into her side, Jill knew for sure that she was having a stroke. Bizarrely, her first reaction was “How cool!” The Scientist in her was fascinated by what was happening to her. She was experiencing her own research first hand.
She began to alternate between ‘knowing’ what was happening to her and drifting into a quiet, peaceful place – but this was not an out-of-body experience. The stroke had occurred in the left side of her brain. This is the side that deals with details, numbers, facts, our own physical boundaries – all of the important things that we need to know and remember. All of the things that make us who we are. The quiet place was the right side of her brain, which was unharmed. This hemisphere is to do with intuition, feelings, awareness and seeing ‘the bigger picture’. Because Jill’s ‘personal boundaries’ were gradually being eroded by the bleed in her brain, at times she felt as if there was no end to her own existence. She ceased to perceive her physical body as where she ‘stopped’ and was intensely aware of what made her body the way it was. She knew she was fluid, cells and never ending – all functioning in such an amazing way…even though she was gradually losing the ability to do things that we take for granted every day.
Jill tries to get help
Jill knew that she had to get help and that her life was in grave danger. She was still alternating between periods of almost lucidity and the dreamlike ‘all knowing and peaceful’ state. While able to, she pulled the ‘phone towards her and knew that if she punched the keypad she could bring help. Trouble was, she couldn’t remember what a number was – let alone the sequence required. Still drifting ‘in and out’ she finally managed to remember the numbers but only as a series of squiggles. With immense effort and energy-sapping concentration, she wrote the squiggles down with her left hand. In her next lucid wave, she matched the squiggles to the squiggles on the keypad and miraculously got through to a Doctor colleague who was also a friend. She was amazed to hear his voice as he “…sounded like a Golden Retriever”. When she replied to him, her voice sounded just the same to her own ears, although in her head, she had clearly said “It’s Jill. I need help.” Although she couldn’t understand his reply, the right side of her brain recognized the care and worry in his tone and at that point she knew help was coming.
What had happened to her?
Jill had suffered an extremely rare form of stroke, a burst (Arteriovenous malformation). This is a ‘fault’ in her brain that she was born with but had never been discovered. The migraines which didn’t respond to medications were later thought to have been tiny bleeds. As the blood flooded over her brain cells, their functions were stopped, one by one.
What Jill learned from her stroke.
The right side of our brain is the quiet, contemplative, peaceful one. Those who meditate are taught to ‘still their minds’ and this means silencing what Jill calls ‘brain chatter’. This is the constant subconscious dialogue kept up by the left side of our brain. Jill’s stroke silenced her brain chatter and because of the damage to her left side, she was left with just her right side. This is why she was able to experience ‘nirvana’. The truth is that this wonderful state is with us all the time but we are barely aware of it because of the necessary day-to-day functioning of our practical and busy left side.
How to treat people with brain injury
From Jill’s experience, we should change many of the ways we care for those with compromised brain function. She couldn’t bear light in her eyes and yet part of the neurological exam, which is carried out endlessly, is to shine a torch in the persons’ eyes. She was desperate to sleep as the sensory input that she could not comprehend was exhausting. And yet people in hospital are routinely woken up early and kept awake for most of the day. When she went home, Jill woke up for 20 minutes and then slept for six hours!
Although Jill found it almost impossible to understand what people said to her, her intuitive right side recognized those who gave her energy and those who took hers away. Some medical workers spoke loudly to her as if she was deaf – she wasn’t. Others looked her in the eye and touched her gently, making her feel safe.
Leave your baggage behind
As she rehabilitated, which took eight years, Jill had to re-learn to be Jill. But it was a new Jill, not the woman she had been before. As she learned about her past and previous situations, she discovered that thinking about some things caused her to feel angry or upset. And so she chose not to think about them any more. She argues that we can all do that. If we choose to give these things room in our lives, they stay there. So don’t give them room!
Please read this book!
My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist’s Personal Journey
You can watch a video of Jill discussing her book, “My Stroke of Insight”, on Oprah’s Soul Series here.
We
are two friends who are interested in improving our health and overall well-being both spiritually and mentally. We each work from home which gives us the time to experiment with different natural health care products and foods, supplements and various self improvement programs and philosophies. We both love the law of attraction, meditating and relaxing our minds and bodies with Qigong. We also exercise using the PACE program
We hope you enjoy your stay on this site.
Paula and Wanda
