you walk wrong

at last!!!!!
a concise detailed description of the evils of shoes.

please read and then come see me for reflexology so we can wean you off those evil shoes!

from the article:
"...She explains that, when we don’t use our feet properly, our muscles have to strain to compensate—not just in our feet but in our whole body. She asks me to lift the front of my foot, which I also do. She then replants my foot and asks me to “trust my bones to hold me up.”

And I have to tell you, in that brief moment, it felt like I had never stood up properly on my own two feet before in my entire life..."

You Walk Wrong

from article:

"Try this test: Take off your shoe, and put it on a tabletop. Chances are the toe tip on your shoes will bend slightly upward, so that it doesn’t touch the table’s surface. This is known as “toe spring,” and it’s a design feature built into nearly every shoe. Of course, your bare toes don’t curl upward; in fact, they’re built to grip the earth and help you balance. The purpose of toe spring, then, is to create a subtle rocker effect that allows your foot to roll into the next step. This is necessary because the shoe, by its nature, won’t allow your foot to work in the way it wants to. Normally your foot would roll very flexibly through each step, from the heel through the outside of your foot, then through the arch, before your toes give you a powerful propulsive push forward into the next step. But shoes aren’t designed to be very flexible. Sure, you can take a typical shoe in your hands and bend it in the middle, but that bend doesn’t fall where your foot wants to bend; in fact, if you bent your foot in that same place, your foot would snap in half. So to compensate for this lack of flexibility, shoes are built with toe springs to help rock you forward. You only need this help, of course, because you’re wearing shoes.

Here’s another example: If you wear high heels for a long time, your tendons shorten—and then it’s only comfortable for you to wear high heels. One saleswoman I spoke to at a running-shoe store described how, each summer, the store is flooded with young women complaining of a painful tingling in the soles of their feet—what she calls “flip-flop-itis,” which is the result of women’s suddenly switching from heeled winter boots to summer flip-flops. This is the shoe paradox: We’ve come to believe that shoes, not bare feet, are natural and comfortable, when in fact wearing shoes simply creates the need for wearing shoes."

Consider a paper titled “Athletic Footwear: Unsafe Due to Perceptual Illusions,” published in a 1991 issue of Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. “Wearers of expensive running shoes that are promoted as having additional features that protect (e.g., more cushioning, ‘pronation correction’) are injured significantly more frequently than runners wearing inexpensive shoes (costing less than $40).” According to another study, people in expensive cushioned running shoes were twice as likely to suffer an injury—31.9 injuries per 1,000 kilometers, as compared with 14.3—than were people who went running in hard-soled shoes. "(emphasis added)

Bodies, the exhibit

I went to see the Bodies exhibit on Monday and left with a feeling of disappointment and strangeness of the whole thing.

It is a very fascinating thing these people have done, preserving these bodies in a very specialized way that leaves them structurally sound, plasticised and very bizarre looking. It was like being in a cadaver class without the smell of formaldehyde and no instructor to tell you what you are looking at.

It was well worth the price if you are at all interested in the working of the human body and have not studied how the different systems of the body work. It is also amazing to see how we fit together and and the size of our organs. (I didn't realize kidneys were so small.)

The best part was all these random facts hung up on the walls. Short little tidbits like children are born with 300 bones and adults have 206 (they fuse in the childhood and into later teen years) and that children grow more in the springtime. Also women have a bigger brain than men. And smoking one pack of cigarettes decreases your life by 2 hours and 20 minutes.

It is not so worth it if you have a medical degree or massage training or anything where you have had to learn all the systems and muscles. I'm not unhappy I went, I learned a lot about muscle relationship and size and texture and shape, size of organs. I also picked up several new facts about the function of organs and got to look at them so when I do my sessions I can bring this visual into the process.

The bodies were bizarre and I wish there had been more posed in dynamic ways instead of all the organs and stuff they had. My favorite part was the section on the arteries and veins, amazing how they extracted these and so beautiful to look at. A lot like coral. (with our the fish) The silicone process created this weird muscle texture and by the end I felt like I was looking at psychotic Barbie dolls.

This is well worth the attention of the general public and should be recommended to anyone who is interested in the function of their body, so all my clients will hear about it. Most people should be ok with everything, the exhibit is very well done and very well put together, I don't see how anyone could get squimish. If you can look at anatomy photos you will be able to handel this no problem.

Here is a link to an article in the Seattle Times if interested. The exhibit ends soon.

Anatomy Sites

Just found this giant list of anatomy sites (with quizzes if you want them) so I'll send you over to them:

http://www.bodyworkonline.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3176

Also here is another one, I've just been over there playing with their bone quizes:

http://getbodysmart.com


If you find more email me and I'll add them!

Missing Organs

That title reminds me of a Monte Python skit...

While wandering around a natural health blog I found a reflexology question on organs. Specifically what does it mean reflexively when an organ has been removed. In the five years I have been practicing I have had many clients with missing gall bladders, appendix, tonsils, ovaries and/ or uterus, kidney, and spleen. I all the cases I found tough tissue at the reflexive space, hinting at scar tissue and a vacant energy field.

In the world view I inhabit the energy of the organ is still there. As a reflexologist I find it necessary to add energy or drain energy form the reflexive spot. I often find that along with tough tissue there is a sense of detachment and loss and that nothing has been done to fill the space. If the client seems willing I work with them on visualization and potentially some massage to the local area and teach them the reflexive spots so they can work on creating a balance. If the client does not feel receptive to this form of work, I focus on the energy or pulse of the reflex and visualize light filling the space, so the vacant energy is dispelled and balance can be restored in a more subtle way.

I find acupuncture a great addition as the acupuncturist will again work on restoring balance in the body and help distribute the energy that will be disrupted by the surgery. I'm always looking to refer a client, I understand my limitations and I love getting others views on the situation, often times they will see things that then trigger a deeper understanding for both the client, myself and the other practitioner.

here is an interesting article talking about organ removal as well as missing limbs with reflexology and quantum energy theory (I love quantum energy!)

Triangles

I just recently finished teaching a class on the structure of the foot. It is fascinating to me how much abuse the feet can take. We daily demand that they carry us through our lives and rarely do we thank them with a reflexology session, a foot rub, or even a good soaking.

After class I realized I had left out some vital information. Education on the triangles of the feet.

If you place your foot down on the ground you will notice a peculiar thing. Your foot should be shaped like a triangle with the heel (calcaneus) being the peak and the toes the base. Now put any standard pair of woman's or men's dress shoes near by and notice. Hum the triangle goes in the opposite direction with the peak being at the front. Who designed this? And what were they thinking? Now we can go into all sorts of theories with the predominate one being sex but I'm not going to open that can of worms in this post.

There are three bones that all students of yoga, tai chi, and qi gong are familiar with. These bones form your triangle of support and balance. They are the calcaneus (heel), the base of the 5th metatarsal (ball of foot under pinky toe), and the base of the 1st metatarsal (ball of the foot under great toe). When you are standing still you should be giving equal weight to all these bones with compensations for balance being made between the 1st and 5th. If this triangle is compromised due to foot deformities caused by shoes or injuries a person will most likely feel unbalanced while standing and walking at all times. This, in my opinion, will further lead them to feel unbalance in their whole life.

To strengthen both the feet and to correct issues that are forming here is a great exercise:
Stand with feet as close together as possible (ideally medial arches almost touching) If this is not possible due to feelings of instability place the feet in alignment with the hips or the shoulders and move them in as strength is gained. Now when you have found your balance in this pose (called mountain in yoga) lift all your toes off the ground. This will show you where that triangle of support is as you will be forced to stand only on it. Hold toes up for at least 30seconds. When you place your toes back down try to place them one at a time, focusing on creating space between the toes. If two toes are sticking together gently reach down and separate them. Rest in mountain pose to feel this new balanced place. Eventually try doing this exercise one foot at a time.