Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/68175
ANTIANXIETY FOOT MASSAGE This research is encouraging for hospice patients, who suffer not only from the aforementioned complaints, but also from an assortment of maladies, including symptoms from disease, side effects of medication, psychosocial/ emotional issues, or spiritual angst. The two most prevalent complaints within the hospice community are anxiety and pain. These are typically the most unsettling and disturbing sensations across the multidimensional planes of existence, as this author's 12- year, full-time, professional association with hospice continues to prove. APPLICABLE FOR A BROAD POPULATION Created originally within a hospice environment, antianxiety foot massage should not be misconstrued as a treatment solely for the purpose of providing benefit to dying individuals. It is applicable to all settings and all populations, including people with physical/mental challenges and children. There are few contraindications, the most pronounced being classic skin issues pertinent to all manual therapies or a proclivity to being ticklish (although by adapting pressure and approach, this typically becomes a moot issue). Therefore, as you read on, please consider concluding a spa session with this technique, or establishing grounding during an energetic session, or gently awakening a client after a guided imagery session. I often blend this technique with other modalities, too, and adapt it for use on the face and head. It is perfect for use by those specializing in the psychological arts, especially as a link to the utilization of craniosacral or polarity therapies, as these are becoming increasingly popular with counselors, social workers, and psychologists. RESTING POSITION BORN OF NECESSITY Antianxiety foot massage was born from a necessity to provide a means of calming the ever-heightening anxiety presented by a client with end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). It was near the beginning of my career when a woman with COPD was admitted to the facility in which I was working. One morning, at 3:00 a.m., she experienced an exacerbation of shortness of breath, which immediately increased her anxiety. Medication was minimally helpful. Remembering my recent admittance to the massage program and remembering my 24/7 policy, she informed the staff that perhaps the calming sensation of touch would, in some way, have a positive effect on her breathing. Upon arrival, I found her not only extremely anxious, but agitated, as well. I engaged her with foot massage, sleepily thinking that of all modalities, a foot intervention would serve many purposes. First, it is noninvasive, far from the center of her true being. This was especially helpful since a touch relationship had not yet formed and, more importantly, since she was experiencing respiratory distress, staying away from the center of distress was psychologically the 54 massage & bodywork july/august 2010 correct approach. Second, it was revealed during her intake interview that she had always enjoyed having her feet rubbed, since her career as a security guard was spent walking in heavy shoes. Third, I believed that a movement-oriented massage would have more impact than an energetic modality in this case, as it was believed she required something to distract her attention, and concentrate on. Finally, it simply seemed the right thing to do. Prior to engaging her, I remembered how I had fallen asleep that very night. It occurred while listening to a CD recorded by a psychiatrist. The recording was based on hypnosis theory and utilized two stories told simultaneously, but separated in time. Why not try the same with my hands? Why not provide a hypnotic massage by moving the hands in somewhat identical patterns, but as if they were mimicking one another, like a musical canon or echo. It worked perfectly that night, and as the weeks rolled by, this same client willingly offered comments as the procedure was developed. Fortunately, during that same period, a string of clients with COPD were admitted, thereby affording me a