Incorporating essential oils into your self-care routine* can be incredibly beneficial for your mind, body, and soul.

January often feels like a fresh start, a chance to reset, and a perfect opportunity to introduce small, positive habits that support wellbeing.

Essential oils are easy to include in everyday life*, whether diffused to fill your space with calming aromas or diluted in a carrier oil for topical application.

This January, I’ve focused on aromatherapy and wellbeing, sharing daily posts on Instagram that highlight some of the most popular essential oils used in client bespoke blends.

Oils such as lavender, chamomile, peppermint, geranium, citrus blends, and grounding resins are featured, as well as a few of my personal favourites, frankincense, elemi and ylang-ylang. All familiar favourites known to support relaxation, emotional balance, focus, and overall wellbeing.

Throughout the month, I’ve been sharing daily aromatherapy posts on Instagram, highlighting some of the most popular essential oils that are used to create client’s bespoke blends. I’ve featured oils such as lavender, frankincense, rose, peppermint, geranium, citrus blends and grounding resins. Familiar favourites that many people find supportive for relaxation, emotional balance, focus and everyday wellbeing.

My goal has been to offer simple, accessible insights into aromatherapy. To help you discover how essential oils can be used to calm a busy mind, lift low energy, and support sleep. To explore how aroma can create a peaceful atmosphere at home.

Within Lorraine’s Treatment Room, as well as aromatherapy massage, essential oils can complement treatments such as relaxation massage, reflexology, and other holistic wellbeing therapies.

In fact, most treatments at Lorraine’s Treatment Room can be enhanced with carefully selected essential oils and, after discussing your hopes and desires, oils are chosen with care to support both your physical comfort and emotional wellbeing. Essential oils help create a calm, nurturing space where your body can fully relax.

If you’d like to explore aromatherapy further, you’re very welcome to browse and book from my Aromatherapy Treatments here.

Often, the oil you’re drawn to is a helpful sign of what your body or mind might need at that moment.

Taking time to notice preferences can be a valuable part of your self-care and wellbeing.

I’ve notice many people are using January as an invitation to slow down, breathe a little deeper, and begin the year feeling more balanced, supported and at ease. Let essential oils help you on your 2026 journey.

*Essential oils should always be used with care. Please check suitability for yourself and your circumstances before use.

Let’s talk fascia!

If you’ve visited me recently, or read my newsletter, you may have heard me mention fascia, muscle chains (orthopody), and MFR (myofascial release).

Fascia

Fascia is the soft, stretchy web inside our bodies that supports the muscles, organs, and everything in between. When fascia tightens up, we often feel stiff, tense, or just not quite ourselves.

The wonderful thing is, it responds really well to simple, everyday care. Staying well-hydrated keeps it soft and flexible, and slow, steady stretching — like Yin yoga — gives it time to gently reset without forcing anything.

Myofascial Release

MFR can help too.

Gentle holds can encourage restricted fascia to ease, and some of the more advanced techniques can release the areas that feel especially tight or restricted.

Many clients tell me they feel lighter, freer, and much more comfortable after a session.

If you’re searching for something to help with stiffness, tension, or that general sense of being “stuck,” MFR can be a really supportive option, especially when combined with self care at home such as gentle stretching and staying hydrated.

Foam Roller

If you use a foam roller at home, that can also help keep your fascia moving more freely. Slow, steady rolling encourages the tissue to warm up and release, especially around the back, hips, and legs. You don’t need to go hard or fast — gentle is enough. It’s just another simple way to look after your body between sessions if it feels good for you.

However, the Guardian have their own take on foam rollers!!

Should I Take Collagen to Help my Fascia?

You might have heard some people mention taking collagen supplements as we get older.

This is not something I can advise on, as it sits outside my remit.

However, if it’s something you’re considering, it’s always worth doing your own research or chatting with your medical professional.

If you’d like to read more, The Guardian published a really interesting article this week.

And as always, if you’ve got any questions about MFR, Orthopody or any other massage treatments and how they might help you, please feel free to ask. I’m always happy to chat and help you find what feels right for your body.

What is Orthopody?

Orthopody is a specialised style of foot reflexology that aims to restore balance through the body’s musculoskeletal and fascial systems. It isn’t a medical discipline, nor is it linked to orthopaedics or podiatry.

Rooted in the idea that the feet mirror the whole body, orthopody works along the anatomical myofascial “trains” or chains — the interconnected pathways of muscle and fascia.

By following the natural lines of tension that run through your body, and easing these areas through the feet, orthopody can help your whole body feel more balanced, comfortable, and supported. Many people also find it helps them let go of tension that has been held for a long time, including stress or trauma stored in the body.

Orthopody: Restoring Balance, Strength and Flow to Your Body Through your Feet

Orhtopody can help when your body feels misaligned, out of balance, tense or restricted.

It’s easy to assume the problem lies exactly where you are feeling the dis-ease or discomfort such as your tight neck, aching hip, or painful lower back.
However, your body doesn’t work in isolated parts. It communicates through long, interconnected chains of muscle and fascia that run from your head to your toes. Consequently, when one area becomes stressed or compromised, your entire system can shift out of balance.

This foot-based treatment offers a whole-body approach to musculoskeletal health, movement, posture and emotional wellbeing. This specialised reflexology method can gently restore your body to balance and homeostasis. By using precise, informed techniques applied to your feet, your orthopody practitioner is able to work all eight of your body’s myofascial chains.

Why Choose Orthopody?

Orthopody is both therapeutic and genuinely transformative.

By working along the anatomical myofascial “trains” first mapped by Thomas Myers, orthopody recognises how tension, restriction or collapse in one part of the body can affect further away areas. All the muscles and organs in your body are supported by a web of fascia. Anatomy trains inform us of these connections and help explain why your headache maybe being caused by a pain in your big toe. This phenomena is frequently explained as referred pain or communicated pain.

This is why issues such as:

• lower back pain
• hip or pelvic discomfort
• shoulder or neck tension
• limited range of movement
• postural imbalance
• lingering tightness after surgery, injury or inflammation

often have deeper origins than we realise.

For example, simply having a deep tissue back massage may not eradicate the pain you are experiencing in your lumbar region. Thorough consultation, assessing range of movement and working areas of imbalance can have far greater effects.

Through targeted reflex work, orthopody encourages your fascial network to release, reorganise and return to functional integrity, thereby helping helping, amongst other things, to improve your strength, balance, flexibility and stability.

Orthopody works on your myofascial chains. Consequently, orthopody can be especially supportive if you are carrying long-term tension, discomfort that “travels,” or patterns that return again and again despite stretching or massage.

The Somatic Element: Working With the Body’s Story

From a mind – body perspective, fascia doesn’t only hold physical tension, it can also hold onto emotional impressions and the somatic residue of past stress or trauma.

When we experience overwhelm, restriction, or prolonged periods of coping, this frequently expresses itself physically through bracing, tightening, or collapsing patterns in our bodies.

Orthopody not only works on the myofascial chains, this wonderful therapy also supports you somatically, gently and safely.

By influencing the myofascial chains through your feet and lower legs, orthopody can help your body soften protective holding patterns and invite a sense of internal spaciousness and calm.

Following an orthopody treatment, clients often report feeling:

• more grounded
• emotionally clearer
• less tense
• more connected to themselves
• more capable of moving without resistance

While Orthopody is not counselling, it can facilitate and complement emotional wellbeing beautifully by supporting your body’s ability to relax, release and re-centre.

What Happens in an Orthopody Session?

Your Orthopody treatment is available as a standalone 60-minute session or a 30 minutes add-on to facial reflexology.

Prior to your treatment time, I will ask you if there are any emotional or physical concerns you would like to address. If there are concerns, I will carry out a focussed treatment working on the relevant myofascial chains relating to these. If you are having your treatent for well-being or relaxation, then I will work generally on the eight, major, myofascial chains.

For the treatment, access to your feet and lower legs is required.

The 60 minute session time allows your body to settle, unwind and respond without being rushed — ideal if you would like deeper work with more meaningful results.

Would I Benefit from Orthopody?

Similar to myofascial release, this treatment is ideal if you are experiencing:

• musculoskeletal pain or tension
• recovering from injury
• experiencing post-surgical restrictions
• have inflammation or trauma in your tissues
• are suffering with poor posture or limited range of movement
• have scar tissue
• experiencing chronic stress, overwhelm or somatic holding

Whilst hands-on myofascial release and orthopody achieve similar results, orthopody is a wonderful option if you prefer to stay clothed for your therapy but would also like a deeply considered, whole-body treatment that supports your structure, movement and emotional ease.

This is great, Lorraine, however, how do I know which of my myofascial chains need work?

To simplify this blog, I’ve done a separate blog with the eight major myofascial chains, the muscular and postural conditions each can help, along with their somatic meaning. This way, clients booking Orthopody can learn more about their body’s patterns and choose areas, if any, they would like to focus on.

Orthopody is a thoughtful, effective, and beautifully grounding therapy. If you’re ready to experience how this work can support both body and mind, you can now book your 60-minute session directly at Lorraine’s Treatment Room.

Lorraine’s Treatment Room is an oasis of calm and tranquility situated in the village of Worth, between Sandwich and Deal in Kent.

World reflexology week occurs annually during the last full week of September. Established in 1999, one of the main objectives is to promote awareness about reflexology and its many benefits.

If you’ve ever been curious about reflexology, World Reflexology Week 2025 is the perfecr time to discover more – or even to schedule an appointment and experience this amazing treatment for yourself.

What is Reflexology?

Reflexology is one of the CAM (complementary and alternative medicine) therapies.

Whilst foot reflexology is the most well known, reflexology can be carried out on your feet, hands, ears, and face.

It is believed that all of your body’s systems and organs are reflected in one of these smaller, peripheral areas. Your reflexologist will apply gentle pressure to specific points, and, stimulating these points can help bring about balance and homeostasis, promote relaxation, improve well-being, and support your body’s natural healing processes.

Reflexology is regularly used as a complementary therapy alongside traditional medical treatments. 

Is Reflexology Suitable for me?

Imagine a new-born baby and how, naturally, we stroke their feet and toes. Or consider end of life care where the simple acts of hand-holding and stroking can be deeply reassuring and comforting to the receiver.  

With very few exceptions, reflexology is considered to be safe for people of all ages, from the very young to the elderly.

Does Reflexology Work?

There are many articles suggesting that reflexology can be effective in reducing stress, anxiety, and pain, improving mood, supporting healing, and bringing balance to mind, body, and soul.

However, others imply there is insuficient evidence to support reflexology as a treatment for specific medical conditions.

A quick internet search will help you discover more about sides of the discussion should you wish to.

What’s important to remember is that reflexologists do not diagnose, cure, or prescribe.

However, I think we are all aware of the positive and powerful the benefits that touch can bring. During a session, most clients find themselves relaxing deeply while feel-good hormones are released into the body.

The best way to discover if reflexology works for you is simple – give it a try!

What Conditions Can Reflexology Help?

Many people turn to reflexology to support their health and well-being.

Reflexology is believed to help with many conditions – here are just a few of the ways reflexology has helped my clients.

• Easing Aches & Pains – from headaches and backache to stiffness from arthritis.
• Calming Stress & Worries – reflexology is deeply relaxing and soothing.
• Better Sleep – it may improve sleep quality and ease insomnia.
• Supporting Digestion – can help with bloating, sluggish digestion, or constipation.
• Boosting Circulation – encouraging healthy blood flow and oxygenation.
• Balancing Hormones – supporting PMS and other hormonal changes.
• Breathing More Easily – some people with asthma or allergies find it helps.

What Happens in a Treatment?

When you arrive at Lorraine’s Treatment Room, we’ll first talk through how you’re feeling and what you’d like from your session. Then you will be settled comfortably on the couch, ready for your treatment to begin.

I offer foot reflexology and facial reflexology, both of which are carried out with you relaxing on the treatment couch.

• Foot Reflexology: After your feet are cleansed, a gentle welcoming massage is carried out before moving onto the reflexology treatment.
• Facial Reflexology: After an optional cleanse, a soothing, introductory massage prepares you for the facial reflexology/zone therapy session.

You can also combine both treatments for a blissful hour of relaxation.
PLUS! In celebration of World Reflexology Week, I’ve created a unique, limited-edition facial reflexology experience – you can read more about that here.

How Will I Feel After a Treatment?

Many clients step off the couch feeling tranquil, deeply relaxed, refreshed, and even energised – often stating they feel lighter and brighter. Others notice they sleep better, feel less pain, or have improvements in digestion and urinary function.

Reflexology is believed to give you what you most need at that moment – what your body needs, it will invariably take from your treatment.

The best aftercare advice – alongside drinking water, avoiding stimulants, and steering clear of heavy meals – is simply to listen to your own body. If you feel tired, rest. If you feel energised, embrace that feeling and run with it!

Where and When Did Reflexology Orignate?

No blog on reflexology would be complete with a few words about the history of reflexology.

Reflexology in some form is thought to have been practised since around 2500 BC. If you’ve ever visited Egypt, you may have seen hieroglyphics depicting foot massage on pyramids and temples. Around the same time, China was incorporating foot massage and pressure points as part of their Meridian theory and India included pressure points within their traditional healing systems.

In the early 1900s, Dr. William Fitzgerald introduced Zone Therapy to the Western world, showing how areas on the hands and feet correspond to specific organs and body parts.

In the 1930s, Eunice Ingham further refined his work, creating detailed maps of the hands and feet and developing reflexology as we know it today. She is often credited as the pioneer of modern reflexology.