That VooDoo That You Do

I have a reflexologist. (spell check denies this as a real word - get over it) I was introduced to the idea of reflexology (which is a word recognized by spell check) at a training about stress management. I thought it was a load of crap. But it looked like a nice self-pampering thing to do. So I vowed to give it a try and made an appointment with what I now know to be one of the most wonderful and intelligent ladies around.

The week that my appointment was happening, I started to have some back pain. It was bad enough that I considered going to a chiropractor - which is always a source of dread. (I really do not like them popping my neck with the same motion that I've seen BREAK necks in thousands of movies.) I decided that this would be a real test - I had just planned to go to this appointment as a relaxation technique, but now I'd have a real physical complaint.

I loaded up my body pain and I walked a few blocks to my appointment. We started chatting, she started her thing and within a few minutes she had made me blush by the amount of information she was telling ME about MY body. She found the irritation in my back. She knew that I was ovulating. She had comments about my bowels. She could tell that I had asthma and allergies. And I had shared NONE of these details. About 5 minutes into the 30 minute treatment I was making a mental note that she was pure genius and that it wasn't a load of crap and that I needed to come back next week.

I departed and began walking back to work. I was thrilled with the entire process. It was kind of weird - the lady is very naturalistic, organic, homeopathic remedies, etc- so it's just all a bit off the beaten path. And just as I was about to laugh at myself for falling under her spell - my whole back cracked. Like from the bottom to the top of my spine. It didn't hurt. But I did kind of freeze mid-step. I was pretty sure that I'd just become paralyzed and this next step was going to find my face meeting the sidewalk - or at the very least, there was going to be some pain involved. But no. No pain. That previous tension - totally gone.

When I went back to see her (which of course, I had to) - I told her the story and she laughed and said that when our bodies are functioning the proper way - they should self adjust and return to their natural positions. Tension, strain, stiffness and stress keep us bunched up and create our cramped body positions. I ditched the idea of a 30 minute treatment and decided that there was NO reason to mess around with anything less than an hour and quickly promoted myself to the full hour treatment on a semi-regular basis.

I have seen her for respritory issues, a sinus infection that I couldn't shake with two doses of meds and the threat of a cat scan, bladder infections, and of course some stress. With a full hour she also does some head work and an ear massage that would make anyone believe that dogs have got the right idea! At a recent visit, I mentioned that my whole system seemed to be set on "irritated". My emotioanl being, my skin, my body rhythm, my digestion - everything was just "off". I declared that I needed a total body detox, to which she replied, "I do that".

I quickly signed up for what I was told would be a two hour raindrop therapy treatment. And this weekend, I finally got to experience it. The very fact that she wouldn't let you drive yourself should have been a clue about what I was going to experience - oh yes, and the fact that she insisted that you have a "couple of days to rest / recover".

To sum it up - this was a combintation of a full body massaage, a reflexology treatment, a full body exfoliation, the raindrop therapy - which is made up of 12 essentail oils dropped over your back that pull toxins out of your spine, ending with several minutes of being packed in with hot towels. First, I don't know that I've been silent for that long in a LONG time - at least with someone else in the same room as me. Second, at some point - I checked out of consious land and instead visited a place where my mind wandered from thought to thought and occassionaly I'd become aware - and think "what the heck are you THINKING lady?" and the I'd go back to the crazy, random thoughts....one of which involved hearing (litterally HEARING) a discovery show about sea anemonie being cleaned by some particular ocean current -don't ask me, I wasn't really there. At the end, I was very lightheaded - in a kind of mildly drunk way - and really apathetic - in that super "chill out dude" kind of way.

I was escorted to the car - otherwise I may have just drifted into outer space (I really felt like I could have). And while I did go home and eat dinner - I only lasted about 1.5 hours before I called it a night and went to bed - and proceeded to sleep for 13.5 hours! And I woke still feeling very fuzzy / cozy headed and enjoyed my day ion a very lazy kind of way - and took a nap. Even today (48+ hours after), I'm not feeling quite as intense as is usual for me - but I'm totally okay with it.

The bottom line is. If you are reading this - and it sounds pretty insane (and I haven't even mentioned the knocking on your own chest 3 times to stimulate your immune system) - and you think that I'm pretty close to checking into the funny farm. I don't care. I think that this is one of the few times that I can honestly close my eyes and have total faith in the process. And if it's all slide of the hand trickery - so be it. What I do know is how I feel when I leave this lady's "office" and no medical doctor, no personal retreat, no spa pampering has ever come close to matching it. Break out your magic wands, your pixie dust, and your essential oils - they are all welcome in my world.

And for the record - this takes care of goal number #7.