Laura Ellis's fingers move rhythmically over the foot, massaging, applying gentle pressure, easing away stress with each stroke and restoring the body's natural ability to heal itself.
Ellis is a certified reflexologist, an ancient healing art and science that researchers believe began well over 5,500 years ago.
They've unearthed evidence in an Egyptian physician's tomb and found traces of reflexology in diverse cultures ranging from China, India and Europe.
Ellis said, "Reflexology won't hurt anybody, it benefits pretty much everyone, but the degree is different depending on the person and practitioner."
She points out, "According to the American Journal of Medicine, stress is known to cause more than 80 per cent of all illnesses."
She said reflexology provides stress relief, helps your body release toxins, improves cardiovascular and lymphatic circulation and activates your body's self-healing potential.
It doesn't tickle and it doesn't hurt. The technique is firm, but shouldn't be painful, although tenderness and tension in a specific spot usually indicates congestion in the area and the corresponding part of the body. While reflexology in China often involves implements in North America, it is done only with the reflexologist's hands.
As part of her certification process Ellis performed 60 case studies, many of them at a Toronto women's shelter. "It was there I started to really understand what reflexology could do. These people had extreme stress, they were refugees or abused women, there were whole families there."
She called their transformation following a treatment "absolutely incredible."
"They would come in with their faces tight, hunched shoulders, stressed out, headachy. When I was finished, the tension and headaches were gone, they were more relaxed."
Like many treatment options, reflexology may be the start of the healing process or a more in-depth, ongoing plan. "Ill health doesn't occur overnight and neither does wellness," Ellis said.
She said research is ongoing about the benefits of reflexology, including a $3-million study by Michigan State University into the benefits of reflexology to late-stage breast cancer patients' quality of life.
For many, it is a comfortable entry into natural health methods.
Reflexology involves taking your shoes and socks off, which may appeal to body-conscious people who just aren't comfortable removing their clothing for a soft-tissue massage.
For more information, call Laura Ellis at 427-1373, Michelle Smith at Luna Healing Studio at 528-0383, or Sarah Ireland at In the Pink in Penetanguishene at 549-5532.
