I don’t know why YOU are a reflexologist, but in my case many apparently isolated and unrelated experiences, as well as chance meetings all eventually combined; attracting my interest, and encouraging me to allow reflexology to be a part of my life.
In retrospect I think we can all say that reflexology is so much more than an interest, a hobby or a career. It is one of the mediums we have chosen to help us strive towards our potential. It is an integral part of our personal growth and self-development.
In August this year, I was asked to give a presentation for the Reflexology Association of Australia. The the topic for this two hour presentation was my choice.
I decided to ask the question, Why are you a reflexologist?
The subject gave me the opportunity to:
Discuss the relevance and purpose of reflexology in the life of a practitioner
Look at the benefits that reflexology have brought to practitioners on a personal and professional level
Help practitioners support clients by considering the purpose of sore feet, pain and sickness
In expanding the question,
The first hour of the presentation discussed
Why and how you became a practitioner
How your interest in reflexology evolved, and has been maintained over time
Where reflexology led you, and the discoveries you made along the way
When will it be time to change your focus, and follow a different path
The second hour of the presentation discussed how a reflexologist could help a client in the healing process by considering:
Alternative perspectives on pain and sore feet
Concepts and ideas which could enhance wellbeing
Theories and possibilities in relation to sickness and disease
The role of the practitioner in the healing process
Each part of the presentation included four topics, and over the next few weeks I will post my PowerPoint notes from the first hour of the presentation.
Written words, without the colour and graphics of the PowerPoint slides, and the vitality of the presenter aren’t the same as a live presentation, but it seems such a shame to leave this information sitting in a file on my computer.
I’m sure people will have already heard much of what I will talk about, but every so often someone comes along who uses a different approach or unusual examples, and these can have an impact not previously recognized or felt.
Also, if you have read any of my books, you may recognize some of the stories. I use these stories, not to tell you about my life, but to demonstrate how seemingly unconnected events can come together to produce amazing results. I tell my stories, so that you can remember your own, and trust that everything is as it needs to be, as it prepares you for what is to come.
If you embrace alternative ideas and different ways of thinking, or if life has taken you to a point where you are willing to try something new, because old patterns of doing and thinking aren’t working any longer, you may enjoy reading this presentation.
But before I ask the title question once again, let me say that I could pose the same question to anyone in any modality, career or walk or life, and the basic, underlying answer is the same for everyone.
So let me begin the presentation with the title question.
Why are you a reflexologist?
I don’t know your individual answers and stories
But
I would expect that we were all motivated by different circumstances for various reasons.
It may have been:
A need to make changes in your life by finding a new interest
A desire to run your own business and be your own boss
A yearning to follow a path you felt you were being led along
A wish to help others improve their health
But, whatever the reason
Reflexology is so much more than an interest, a hobby or a career for all of us
It is one of the mediums we have chosen to help us strive towards our potential
It is an integral part our personal growth and self-development
Reflexology has empowered us to grow, blossom and bear fruit
Which is often shared with others
But, the most important reason we are reflexologists is to heal ourselves
Everything we do is primarily to heal ourselves, not others
And, as we heal, others can reap the benefits
Reflexology will present opportunities to:
Change what isn’t working in your life
Help you grow in self-confidence
Express your creativity
Strive towards your potential
But, if we isolate reflexology to only being a career choice, and don’t see its fundamental connection to personal growth, our clinical practice may become overwhelming due to the health issues and expectations that our clients will bring to us.
So what exactly was it that sparked your interest and motivated you to study?
Some of the influences would have been conscious choices.
While others were more like following an inner knowing, not sure of the outcome.
In my case, many apparently isolated and unrelated experiences, as well as chance meetings all eventually combined; attracting my interest, and encouraging me to allow reflexology to be a part of my life, and subsequently stretch me far beyond anything I had ever expected.
So by talking about my experiences, I hope that my stories will encourage you to:
Bring to mind some of the choices you have made in relation to your reflexology career
See where they have taken you
Decide if they are still relevant
In retrospect, many of life’s events become much clearer.
- This is only a brief introduction to the four topics I will expand over the next few weeks.
I hope you will follow along and enjoy what you read.
Still to come:
Why and how you became a practitioner
How your interest in reflexology evolved, and has been maintained over time
Where reflexology led you, and the discoveries you made along the way
When will it be time to change your focus, and follow a different path