It’s Time to Share Traditional Chinese Reflexology with the World

My husband belongs to a parents’ email list at work and he occasionally forwards me messages from the list. I’ve learned about some fun local activities for families and we also scored an amazing deal on a used kitchen play set.

Hubby also forwards me emails from parents who are asking for health-related advice for their kids. Oftentimes, the parents have tried everything with no success and are hoping that someone out there might have a suggestion that can help.

As a parent myself, I can really empathize with these families. You want the best for your kids and you’ll do anything to ensure their health and happiness. Even if my little guy only has a runny nose, my heart goes out to him when he’s feeling under the weather. His teary eyes, the trickle of snot and the machine gun blast of successive sneezes makes me want to scoop him up, hold him close and let him bury his head into me and wipe his nose off on my shirt.

I’ve had the good fortune (although once you learn the whole story, it might not seem like good fortune at first) to have had the opportunity to learn the traditional Chinese method of reflexology the old school way. I studied from an old Chinese doctor who developed his own style of Chinese Reflexology.

He teaches only a handful of students at a time in a makeshift classroom set up in the basement of his home. It’s a bit like how Bruce Lee transformed his knowledge of Kung Fu to create his own martial art, Jeet Kune Do, and then taught it to his students.

Learning Chinese Reflexology changed my life and also inspired me to study a four year Masters in Traditional Chinese Medicine. I made it halfway through the program when my baby boy arrived. His arrival prompted me to reevaluate how I spent my time and I realized at the halfway mark in the program that I had learned all that I wanted to learn.

I already knew a tremendously powerful healing system. I didn’t need to become a licensed acupuncturist to then practice reflexology. It took me a while to accept this truth. I was just scared to share what I knew with the world.  It was so unconventional and so non-mainstream.

But in my own fear, I was depriving countless people of information that they could use to tap into their own potential to heal themselves. Friends and parents of friends were falling ill, some were dying, but I hoarded this knowledge because I was scared to share it.  I was scared of being judged and of being ridiculed.

I used to work in the Internet industry and I remember one sunny day, sitting outside for lunch with my co-workers. One of them was asking for advice to help with her back pain and I noticed that when I spoke to her, I came alive in a way I never did when I was talking about the user experience of a website.

And a very LOUD voice in the back of my head asked me, “Why are you bothering with making websites when you know how to cure cancer?”  [NOTE: I am not claiming that I can cure cancer.  I thought about editing this sentence, but those were the exact words that I thought and I would feel like I wasn’t speaking my truth if I watered it down.  There is no known cure for cancer, but there are many ways to balance the body when it is imbalanced.]

That was over 5 years ago. Better late than never, eh?

 

1 thought on “It’s Time to Share Traditional Chinese Reflexology with the World”

  1. Hi Holly,
    I just read several of your blogs since I had kept your last email handy to ensure I would stay on your list. I love your writing, with its honesty and valuable sharing. I have been rubbing my feet the last few days again, and have kept returning to it pretty regularly over the last 8 months or so since signing up for your eNewsletter, etc. It’s great to feel free to do it, even at a Shakespeare Santa Cruz performance last night!
    It continues to amaze me how sore so many points can be as I am rubbing them, and only then. Yes, there is a phantom sensation when I stop, but it is more of a “Hurts so good” sensation, overall. I also have kept looking up all kinds of help in the Mildred Carter reflexology books I have had for some time. What a rich world of wellness it all is. Thanks again so much for getting over your fears and doing this great work. ~Monica

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