Month: May 2022

For those of you who don’t know me and even for those who do but don’t know the background to how I became a reflexologist, I thought I would share my story. My interest in feet goes a long way back. As a child, I was obsessed with feet! I was always barefoot and I loved my feet being tickled and stroked.  As a teenager, I wanted to be a podiatrist but when I told the careers advisor at school, she laughed at me and said it would be a horrible job and that put me off.

I became a vegetarian at 14 and I was very concerned with animal rights and the environment and later went on to become interested in holistic health therapies. I bought my first reflexology book in a health food shop when I was 18.

In my early 20s, I was diagnosed with endometriosis, a painful gynaecological disorder where tissue, similar to the lining of the uterus, grows outside of the uterus and can attach itself to other organs and tissues. Every month I would experience several days of debilitating pain that made it difficult for me to work and enjoy my day to day life. Whilst I was waiting for an operation, I started seeing a reflexologist and I found the treatments to be incredibly relaxing which in turn helped me to cope with the pain. Over time and with regular treatments, I also found that my hormonal-related headaches improved and I experienced fewer PMS symptoms in general.

After my experience, I wanted to find out more about this amazing therapy! There was a centre for healthy living in the next town and they were giving talks on holistic and complementary health therapies including reflexology. I went along and signed up that night for an 8-week introductory course. I enjoyed it so much that when it finished, I took the plunge and started a year-long practitioner course with the Aquarian School in Hertfordshire. I was working full-time as a manager in the NHS at the time but I knew I had to practice reflexology in some form. I qualified in March 2000 with a Practitioner Certificate from the Association of Reflexologists and for the next 15 years, I practised as a part-time reflexologist alongside other jobs. However, when my son started school I found I was struggling to manage the demands of a family together with an employed job and my reflexology clients and unfortunately something had to give. I took a break from practising for a few years but I really missed giving reflexology treatments and supporting clients.

In March 2020, as the pandemic hit, life was changing rapidly for me. I had recently made the decision to leave my job as a clinic manager where I had worked for more than 10 years. For a long time, I’d felt that reflexology was calling to me again and I had time during my lockdown walks to really think about the direction I wanted to take in the next stage of my life. I decided that what I really wanted was to start working as a reflexologist again so I relocated and redecorated my son’s playroom, bought a treatment couch, signed up for some CPD courses to update my skills and knowledge and finally opened the doors to my treatment room to welcome clients on 6th of May 2021.

Starting up during the pandemic was perhaps an interesting decision and some of the restrictions made things slightly more challenging but I’ve very much enjoyed my work over the past year and I am certain in my heart that I made the right decision.

As a child, I wasn’t naturally sporty or good at physical games. I used to try all sorts of tricks to get out of PE, particularly if it was cross country running on a cold, wet day which was my version of hell! However, some of my earliest and happiest memories are of long walks with my grandparents, especially my Nan who was a great walker and was renowned for the ‘magical mystery tour’ walks around her neighbourhood in north London that she would take my brother and me on when we were very little. I remember there was a green paddock, in the middle of an otherwise urban landscape, where a donkey who wore a straw hat lived, and we were always happy to walk that bit further if there was a chance of seeing him.

My grandparents later retired to Sussex, and we would continue our walks when we stayed with them during the school holidays. We’d traipse for miles over the South Downs and seafronts of that stretch of coast although by this time it wasn’t always willingly and often required the bribe of a picnic or a bottle of pop and a packet of crisps in a pub garden somewhere en route!

At home, walks were a daily necessity for our lovely but crazy Red Setter and later, our equally lovely but crazy King Charles Cavalier Spaniel, and Sunday mornings were often earmarked for long dog walks while mum cooked lunch in peace.

In my late teens to mid-20s, I discovered the joys of step aerobics (it was the 90s!) and found that I could enjoy exercise when it was a solo, non-competitive effort although I had no love of Lycra and still don’t! I’d have to walk through the gym to get to the aerobic studio and would look in horror at the muscly men lifting weights and posing in front of the mirrors.

At this point in time, walking wasn’t a big part of my life. It tended to be out of necessity if other modes of transport were unavailable – most often due to the lack of a taxi after a night out and cursing my footwear! However, as I progressed into my career in NHS administration, I found that a walk during my lunch break at work was essential for maintaining my mental health and periods where I felt under pressure to work through lunch and miss my walk corresponded with the times that I struggled most with work-related stress.

In my late 20s and early 30s, I finally plucked up the courage to venture into the gym and found I really enjoyed using the fixed and free weights, as well as clocking up miles on the treadmill and I was probably the fittest I’d been in my life. By this stage, my husband and I had relocated to Aberdeenshire, via Norfolk, and I was working as a reflexologist on a part-time basis which gave me the flexibility to indulge my love of walking and Aberdeenshire offers the most amazing landscape for exploring on foot.

I then had a baby at 35, by emergency cesarean section, which completely changed my relationship with my body and exercising. I felt self-conscious about my new body shape which didn’t ping back to its pre-baby weight and my flat stomach was a thing of the past. I lost a lot of confidence at this time and like most new mums, I found aspects of new motherhood challenging, especially without a family support network nearby and a husband who travelled for work. During this time, walking was my lifeline. I would take my son out for daily walks in the pram as the fresh air and movement were guaranteed to send him to sleep and I would be able to exchange hellos with other passers-by and feel some connection to the world. Walking was also a form of exercise that I could tolerate as I healed from the operation.

However, my son wasn’t happy to stay in the pram for long, and those brisk, long walks soon became very slow, short walks at his toddler pace and then developed into running behind his balance bike, then to family bike rides, and now to being left at home while he and his dad head off on 100-km bike rides at a pace I can’t begin to keep up with!

And so, I’m back to my solo daily walks. I try and walk 4 miles most days and really feel it when I don’t. My mood and sleep suffer terribly. I love to walk in nature and absorb the sounds and smells of the countryside and I’m lucky to have this available on my doorstep. I also love walking in cities and towns. Maybe it’s due to those early walks with my Nan but I find great joy and fascination in exploring residential streets on foot, looking at front doors, imagining the lives of those who live behind them, peering into the gardens of houses to see what they’re growing (I know, nosiness is a terrible trait!)

I’ve also recently rediscovered the benefits of strength training and can regularly be found lifting dumbbells in front of a YouTube video in my living room. I haven’t quite plucked up the courage to go back into the gym yet but maybe one day…

However, I know that whatever direction my relationship to exercise takes over the course of the rest of my life, walking will always be a fundamental part of it. It’s good for my physical and mental health and good for my soul. One day, I hope to be the grandmother, taking my grandchildren on a ‘magical mystery tour’ and inspiring their love of walking.

Walking for Health Facts and Stats

Walking has many health benefits: (reference: May is National Walking Month – Active Nation)

It’s good for your heart – walking helps strengthen your heart and reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke. A brisk walk for 30 minutes every day is said to reduce your risk of a stroke by 27%.

Helps you to lose weight – if you walk at around 2 mph for 30 minutes then you will burn around 75 calories and if you increase this to 4 mph this will rise to 150 calories. 20 minutes of walking each day could burn 7 pounds of body fat a year.

It can help to lower our risk of dementia – an older person who walks 6 or more miles per week is less likely to have problems such as dementia.

It gives you energy – walking boosts our circulation and increases the oxygen supply to our body helping us to feel more alert and awake.

It’s a full-body workout – walking activates many muscles in the body including the calves, glutes, hamstrings, quads and abdominal muscles.

Increase your Vitamin D intake – many people in the UK are deficient in Vitamin D which is important for our bone health and immune system and a good way to increase your levels is to go outside for a walk in the sunlight.

It makes you happy – many people say that a brisk walk makes them feel happy and can be a great help if you are suffering from depression, anxiety or feeling stressed.