Day 18: Reflex-ions

Today, during a massage at G Salon & Spa, I had one of the most unique and new-agey experiences to date. Since the massage was scheduled for just thirty minutes, the masseuse said that she wouldn’t be able to do a whole body massage and that I could choose an area and she would focus on that. I told her that she could do the massage that she was best at. She replied with “have you ever tried reflexology?” Keeping in the spirit of trying new things, I told her that no, I had never done it but would love to try. Thus, my new thing for New Thing Day 17 was that I tried reflexology.

Reflexology is an Eastern therapeutic tradition that says that certain parts of the head, hands and feet correspond to different places on your body. By stimulating those areas you stimulate the part of the body it corresponds to. Likewise, by identifying knots in these areas and by massaging them, you can get rid of those stresses in the body. Sounds ludicrous, I know, but this woman was like a freaking palm reader of where my tensions were and how to get rid of them. 

I didn’t tell her anything about my tensions before she launched into the massage. She found knots on either side of my pinkie toe that correspond with tensions in the shoulders—If you’ve ever seen me hunched up and typing, you know that I store all of my tension in my shoulders. Then she found another knot towards the middle of my foot that she said corresponded with my bladder—I had to potty for probably thirty minutes before the massage and I was definitely bothered by it. She also started rubbing my arches simultaneously and I felt tingly in my back. She said, “this will be the best back massage you ever get!” So true. So freaky. So wonderful.

You, reader, need to experience this. I’d like other people to say “oh yeah! I’ve had that too, it was crazy!” to make me feel less crazy about talking about how this non-scientifically proven, Eastern “medicine,” stuff works.