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The Hands
Reflexology is commonly associated with the feet, while the possibilities of the hands are often overlooked. This is completely unjustified since hand reflexology is just as effective as foot reflexology. The hands, both on the palm and the back of the hand, serve physical as well as mental aspects. For physical symptoms, especially pain and functional complaints, hand reflexology can be quite effective. Hand massages are also an excellent self-treatment modality for enhancing well-being.
In addition to the physical aspects of hand reflexology there is also a psychospiritual dimension to this form of massage, as we may use the mudras (hand and finger positions that guide energy for overall health) to improve thinking. Sometimes certain signs that appear on the hands can be a warning that one’s lifestyle is due to undergo some changes. These signs include red spots or an eczema that stays despite all kinds of treatments. The meaning behind these signs lies in our basic psychospiritual settings, where these are early warnings of a need to change one’s attitude toward life or risk the physical consequences.
The hands need special “handling.” For physical issues a series of reflexology massages are appropriate. Such a series of treatments promotes pain relief and stimulates an increased excretion of metabolic wastes. Examples are improvements of pain in the shoulder, an activation of the digestion, or better blood-pressure regulation. Medical professionals may apply acupuncture needles in the appropriate zones on the dorsal side of the hands; from this kind of treatment we can expect good effects on the movement apparatus and the metabolism.
In the mental or spiritual field visualizations like the balloon visualization described in part 4 can be used in conjunction with reflexology massage of both sides of the hands. This provides a gateway to the inner world, which paves the way for finding solutions when we feel stuck or answers to questions that concern us. Thus hand reflexology represents a holistic avenue for healing both physically and energetically in the whole person, body, mind, and spirit.
On the two hands one finds a microcosm of the whole human being in its three-dimensional structure. Only the feet are missing here. There are three basic rules for reflexology on the hands: the left-right rule, the front-rear rule, and the top-bottom rule.
According to the left-right rule, the left side of the body is represented on the left hand, and disturbances in the right side appear on the right hand. Thus the left hip appears on the reflexology zones of the left hand and the right eye on the right hand. This also applies to the internal organs, where the appendix is to be found on the right hand, and the spleen is located in the reflexology zones on the left hand. For the spine we just need to put the two thumbs together. At the meeting line the left half of the spine is on the left hand and the right half on the right hand.
Cover courtesy of Healing Arts Press
As for the front-rear rule, we divide the body (with relaxed, hanging arms) into the front and the back. Attached to the front is the upper side of the hand, and to the back is the palm of the hands. Similarly, the nose and the belly are on the upper side of the hands, and the spine and the buttocks are located on the palm of the hands. The inner organs are on both sides of the hands.
For the top-bottom rule we divide the body into three areas: head with neck, chest, and pelvis with hips. As the fingers correspond to the head and neck the tops of the fingers correspond to the brain, and the sense organs have their zones. Below the end joint of the thumb, in the direction of the wrists, is the cervical spine zone. At the base joints of the fingers there is on the side of the thumb the transition between the cervical spine and the thoracic spine (between the red and the green area in the figure below), and on the lateral side of the hands the shoulder joints are found. One floor farther down (corresponding to the green area of the spine as shown in the figure below), toward the wrists, the zones on top of the metacarpals host the inner organs—the heart, lungs, stomach, gallbladder, liver, and pancreas. One floor farther down from this, at the carpal joints, the reflexology zones contain the lumbar spine, colon, small intestine, and the belly (the blue area of the spine). Finally, at the wrist is the sacrum (the orange area of the spine) along with the reproductive organs, the bladder, and the hip.
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Reprinted with permission from Holistic Reflexology by Ewald Kliegel and published by Healing Arts Press, 2018.
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