Foot Reflexology techniques and step by step instructions

Foot reflexology technique - thumb walking

This is the most used technique for doing foot reflexology

It is easy, can be done for long periods of time without straining your hand and is extremely effective on the feet

Your thumb walks forward by itself simply by you bending and unbending the thumb.

Step one, know which bit of the thumb to use

1 put your hands palm together in front of your face and look at the tops of your thumbs

2 roll thumbs together at the top slightly so the nails are just touching

3 feel the part of your thumbs where they are touching each other just on the inside at the top

This is the part of the thumb to use when thumb walking, the inside edge of the very top of your thumbs, (edge meaning that it is furthest away from the fingers of the same hand when the hand is put flat on a table)

Step two, the thumb walking reflexology technique

1 hold a pen with one hand (if you don't have a pen any similar surface is fine)

2 with the other hand, put your thumb on the pen touching it with the part of the thumb described in the first step

3 bend your thumb

4 without moving anything else, simply straighten your thumb making sure that it stays in contact with the pen

You will notice two things

- your thumb crept slightly forward

- you are now able to apply a little bit of pressure with the part of your thumb that is touching the pen

5 repeat; Bend, unbend, bend, unbend

Apply pressure at the unbend and creep forward in the bend.

Practice this technique slowly, it gets easier and faster with practice

It is easy learning foot reflexology techniques, pratically anything is a great surface to practice on ; tables, chairs, TV remote controls... anything can be thumb walked!

This technique is used for the entire foot

Thumb walking allows a reflexologist to apply stimulating pressure to every single part of the foot, giving a thorough and relaxing treatment

How to do reflexology on the feet step by step

Begin your foot reflexology session on the right foot, do the whole foot, then do the left foot

Step one, relaxation exercises

1 massage the foot all over slowly but firmly to loosen it up

2 with both hands, hold on to the spine area with the palm of the hands- the fingers on the top of the foot and the thumbs on the bottom of the foot.

3 slowly and gently twist/ wring the hands away from each other in order to gently twist the spine area on the foot. This is a relaxation exercise. Do this, twisting both ways, for about ten to fifteen seconds each way

Step two, thumb walking up and down the spine

1 thumb walk up the spine from the bottom of the heel to the tip of the big toe

2 thumb walk down the spine from top of the tip of the big toe to the bottom of the heel

3 thumb walk down the spine, but across-ways- from right to left for the entire length of the inside of the foot, see diagram below

Step three, rotate the toes

1 hold the toe firmly at the base of the toe, gently move in circular motions so that you are rotating and stretching the base joint that attaches the toe to the foot

2 hold the toe just above the second joint and again move the joint in a large circular motion

3 rotate the very top joint on the toe (the big toe only has two joints)

This foot reflexology step is great for relieving headaches as it relates to all of the bones in the skull, jaw... every bone in the head

When learning how to do reflexology remember the bones protecting our brain are fused together but are also separate bones, rotating the toes sends extra blood flow to their joints