January 6, 2025 • 45 mins
Discover the transformative power of touch with Dr. Njideka Olatunde, a luminary in the realm of holistic pain relief. With more than four decades of experience, Dr. Olatunde shares her pioneering insights into reflexology as a potent medication-free alternative for managing chronic pain. She unpacks her inspiring journey from a childhood steeped in home remedies to becoming a leading naturopathic practitioner focused on balancing natural health solutions with conventional medicine. Her commitment to empowering individuals to overcome opiate dependency through the body's innate healing abilities is a testament to her revolutionary approach.
Learn more about Dr. Olatunde and get a copy of her gift:
Medication and Addiction Free Stress and Pain Relief
Also learn more about Dr. Olatunde at her website here:
Focus on Healing
Embark on an exploration of "touchology," where the simple act of touch transcends physical healing to embrace mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being. We delve into the profound connection between pain and stress, with insights into how everyday interactions like a playful game of "This Little Piggy" can promote relaxation and healing. Dr. Olatunde highlights the underestimated power of touch, especially in the context of lockdowns, and stresses the importance of truly listening to patients' narratives to understand their pain and the body's signals.
Drawing on her international experiences, Dr. Olatunde discusses holistic family healing techniques that transform healthcare into a shared, supportive journey. From preventive approaches seen in countries like China to her impactful work in Cuba, she underscores the necessity of empathy and community in medical practice. We celebrate upcoming opportunities for engagement, including workshops in 2025, and extend an invitation to the Touchology Wellness Experience podcast. Together, we envision a future where touch is recognized as a critical component of wellness and healing.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I would like to introduce a guest for the Art of
Healing podcast, our guest fortoday.
I'm so excited.
Dr Njideka Olatunde, pioneeringholistic pain relief through
reflexology and the power oftouch.
For over 40 years, dr Olatundehas been at the forefront of
(00:22):
holistic wellness, specializingin medication-free alternatives
to pain relief.
As a master reflexologist andleading expert in the
transformative practice ofreflexology touchology, she has
empowered thousands to breakfree from the cycle of pain,
using the power of touch as afirst-line approach before
(00:44):
treatment.
With a unique blend oftime-honored healing traditions
and modern wellness strategies,dr Olatunde's work bridges the
gap between natural healthsolutions and conventional
medicine.
She has trained over 2,500reflexology practitioners,
mentored countless others andtransferred 3,000 lives through
(01:06):
her holistic pain relief methods.
Dr Olatunda has just a wealth ofresources.
Her website is amazing, so I'mgoing to put a copy of her
website link here and again eventhough I'll put this in the
chat because it's kind of goodto have this you all are going
(01:28):
to get all of this later.
So I was so honored that IndyJekka could join us today and I
really wanted her to share herwisdom in using reflexology
touchology.
She's also mentioned how thiscould be community and family
oriented.
So I'm so excited.
(01:48):
Njideka, am I saying thatcorrectly?
Remind me once again PerfectWell, thank you so much for
joining us.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
I thank you for having me.
It's my honor and my pleasure.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
So wonderful.
I had a chance to look at yourwebsite, read your blog post.
You know the universe works outlike this because even before
we met, I was reading aboutchronic pain, looking at some of
the content I had created, andthis was just such a gap, and so
it was just magical how youshowed up.
I'm so happy you're here.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Nothing, ever happens by accident?
Speaker 1 (02:23):
It doesn't, it really doesn't.
It was like you showed up righton time.
I was like perfect manifest.
So we'll start with what madeyou take an interest in helping
people with chronic pain.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
To answer your question.
What happened is like when Iwas growing up I grew up on home
remedies and back then as achild doctors kind of lived in
the neighborhood and so doctorsdid home visits back then and so
I wanted to be a doctor.
I said, because to me I sawdoctors as healers.
(03:00):
I said, oh OK, that'sinteresting.
But by the time I got tocollege it was a whole nother
rude awakening, because that'snot the emergency room as their
doctors and I kept sayingthere's something wrong with
(03:31):
this picture.
It kind of opened the dooragain for me to go back to.
I want to be a doctor, and atthat time natural and
alternatives were opening up.
So I went back to school andtrained to become a naturopathic
practitioner and so doing thatprocess, I wanted to add a
(03:52):
service to my practice andthat's how reflexology came into
play.
And how that originally gotstarted was the fact that I was
doing a study on my ancestry,from my African connection to my
Native American experienceconnection, and so I went to I
(04:14):
did from the Native Americanthey call what's a vision quest,
and so I went on a vision questand what that is is you're
placed in a spot on the mountainwith nature.
That is is you're placed in aspot on the mountain with nature
.
You don't have anything, you'rejust out there in nature and
you stay there for a period oftime.
But me, coming from an urbanarea, didn't know anything about
(04:35):
outdoors and nature and allthat.
That was a whole notherexperience.
But the essence of that is,while you were there, there were
, like you know, insects, therewere animals that came around,
and so you were doing recordingof this.
So when I went back and we did atranslation of what was going
on, I was told that I need tolook to my hands and I thought
(04:59):
that was massage and instead Ididn't.
When I went to massage, but Ididn't like massage and instead
(05:22):
when I went to massage, I didn'tlike massage, I liked
reflexology, and so that's howthat kind of evolved.
But from that to fast forward,I lost a lot of clients and a
lot of personal colleagues topain, and the pain was because
of being on opiates, themedications, and because of that
, when it got to the point thatthey could no longer receive
pain medication, they starteddoing all kinds of things in
(05:44):
terms of medicating to relievepain, and so, with a dear
colleague.
That made transition.
It opened my eyes to startlooking at reflexology
differently.
So I got into a whole researchpiece on looking at how to use
the power of touch to relievepain and the technique became
(06:07):
reflexology.
So that's how it all kind ofcame together, where I really
put my focus on introducingreflexology as a pain relief
alternative to the opiates, andthat's where my work has really,
where I've spent most of mytime in my work, as of late,
dealing with that, because thatwas a real.
(06:30):
The epidemic is a crucialproblem and most people don't
understand that, which is what Ilike, what you're doing,
because you're bringing theenergy component to the healing
process, and most people don'tunderstand that your body is
(06:51):
designed to heal itself.
As practitioners, we work withthe body by assisting it in the
healing process with ourmodalities and so which means
that all of the people that wesee, be it patients or be it
clients, there has to be thattwo-way connection in the
(07:12):
healing process and people don'tunderstand.
They only understand touch fromthe physical perspective.
But touch is a lot deeper thanphysical.
It's mental, it's emotional,it's spiritual and all of that
goes together when you talkabout relieving pain using the
(07:34):
power of touch.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
So you were initially .
You knew you were a healer andyour path took you to the social
work side initially.
Yes, which is funny to me whenyou say that.
That just makes everything inme sing.
Because I'm a practicingphysician, the healing modality
of social work ends up being alot of what I do.
(07:57):
So that's what you were calledThen to become a naturopathic
physician, then to reflexology,although you thought massage was
where you were supposed to go,but ended up being reflexology.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
That's the truth and to tell you that the combination
is.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
But tell me share with us because, again, because
you're the first that I've hadon this podcast what is
reflexology?
Speaker 2 (08:28):
Oh, definitely, please define it for us, yes.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Yes, what is reflexology Definitely?
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Most people don't know what it is.
Reflexology is the art andscience of working specific
reflex nerve ending points thatare found on the hands, the feet
and the ears, used to relievestress and pain, relax the body,
reduce toxins and impurities inthe system as well, along with
(08:57):
improving circulation.
And the way for me to helppeople understand what it is I
just said, think about.
One of the things aboutreflexology is that we work with
the nervous system, so we'reworking with the nerve endings,
and if you look at a chart ofthe anatomy and look at the
(09:17):
nervous system, all of the nerveendings begin in your head and
run straight through your body,ending in your hands, feet and
ears, and on your hands, feetand ears are nerve points that
correspond to various organs,systems inside the body.
We locate those points on thehands and feet to be about doing
(09:41):
a reflexology session, and feetto be about doing a reflexology
session.
Now, to bring it home so thatit makes a little clearer.
I like for people to thinkabout it from the standpoint of
in your house, you have wiringand you turn on the switch and
all of a sudden the lights comeon.
But if you turn on the switchand the lights don't come on,
(10:04):
because all of you all arebabies.
You don't even know about this.
In the old days, when the lightsdidn't come on, we had to do
what was called a fuse.
So you had to put a fuse in abox and all of a sudden the
lights would come back on.
But today, for all of you,young people, you now have
what's called the circuitbreaker, so you go, flip the
(10:25):
switch and the electricity comeson.
But I say that to say is, ifthe wiring and you did all of
that and it doesn't work, youhave to call an electrician.
So the electrician would belooking for what is the wire
that's defective, so you're nolonger getting the energy flow
that produces the electricity.
(10:47):
That's what a reflexologist isdoing.
We are looking for thatblockage in that nerve ending
that's the contributor to thepain, so that we can move that
blockages out of that nerveending, so that you're no longer
able to feel pain.
Now let me share something withyou.
Everybody has done reflexologyand they don't know that they
(11:13):
have.
Think about it like this wehave a funny bone in our elbow
and when you hit it, what's thefirst thing you do?
Speaker 1 (11:23):
let's go ow, there you go.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
You know that pain is coming, and then it comes, the
first thing you're going to dois what you said a verbal
response, and with the verbalresponse message travels up the
nerve and it goes to the braintrauma, discomfort in the elbow
area.
Then what's the next thingyou're going to do?
Speaker 1 (11:44):
you're going to reach over and try to rub it out.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
Exactly so.
When you start rubbing it,message goes to the brain, start
sending the body's natural painrelievers to bring comfort to
that area.
And so, with you rubbing it,all of a sudden you're now
feeling a sense of ease from thepain and relief.
(12:08):
That's the process ofreflexology.
That is that's how it works.
And so and I'm gonna giveanother little tidbit all of you
all have actually donereflexology and don't know it.
You ever heard the little thingcalled this little piggy?
(12:28):
Yes, and parents did the littlepiggy.
And what you would do?
You would take the little toes.
You start turning the littlebig toe, the next toe, and
you're turning it.
Well, all of the nerve endingsto your head are found in your
fingers and in your toes.
So when you're working withthat little baby, doing a little
(12:49):
circling and all that, the babycomes happy, calms down and in
some cases will even go to sleep.
You've just relaxed the bodyvia the nerve endings in the
head.
So it's a common thing, it's abasic.
And what do we do?
We use what?
The power of touch?
We worked with the body,dealing with the communication
(13:14):
center which is the brain, andthe energy goes up the spine
through the nerve endings to thebrain and communicates, and
that's what we talk about whenwe say using the power of touch.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
So is touchology the same as reflexology, because you
mentioned that in your contenton your website, or is this is
touchology, so is that a part ofthe reflexology or is this a
separate practice?
Speaker 2 (13:45):
Touchology is the science and art of learning how
to listen mentally, physically,emotionally and spiritually,
based on touch.
That's what touchology is.
Touchology is introducing thepower of touch on all levels,
(14:09):
and when I say that, what I'mtalking about physical is
putting my hands on you, thephysical touch.
When I talk about mental touch,I'm talking about somebody who
may be depressed or feeling down.
And what do I do?
I come and I say everything isgoing to be all right.
(14:32):
That's a form of touch.
Verbally, You're driving inyour car and you know it's a
tight space and somebody opensup and lets you in and you may
raise your hand up as a form ofsaying thank you.
That's a form of touch.
Somebody opens the door for youand all of a sudden you say
(14:57):
thank you and then they get abig smile on their face.
That's a form of touch.
So touchology is the foundationin terms of healing.
It's activating the healingpower in whatever way is needed
mentally, physically,emotionally and spiritually.
And that's what we've got togive, because today we see touch
(15:21):
as something negative.
But guess what?
As a people, we need touch.
And my unscientific study aboutthe lockdown that we went
through for those two years themajor contributor was the lack
(15:41):
of touch that caused a lot ofpeople to make transition
because we weren't able to touch.
If I couldn't see my loved ones, that's a touch.
I couldn't feel my loved ones,that's a touch.
Those are the things that's soimportant to us in terms of
healing.
We need the power of touch toheal and that's what the whole
(16:06):
process, the therapy that I useis the reflexology, but the
process is about touching, and Isay that because one of the
things that and you opened upand you said it so elegantly in
terms of the number one reasonpeople seek out a doctor is
because they're in pain.
(16:26):
They're hurting and if a personis in pain, the one thing they
want more than anything isrelief from the pain.
Now, in my practice, I'm anadvocate of give your patients
what they want.
They want pain relief, nothingelse.
(16:46):
They're not interested inanything else.
And who wants?
Speaker 1 (16:48):
to hurt.
That's what's you know when Ilisten to other, because I try
to keep a foot in both worlds.
So I will build my communitieswith physicians.
And it's interesting to mebecause physicians are often
upset that their patients arecomplaining of pain and I'm
thinking, yeah, that's what paidyour bills.
They hurt.
We got to stop it Like one ofthe simplest things.
(17:10):
No one wants to hurt.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Exactly, exactly, and because of that, one of the
things that I do is that's atouching point.
When my clients slash patientscome to me, one of the things
the first thing I do is we'regoing to have a listening
session.
All I do is just sit there andlisten, because now they're
(17:35):
talking to me about what's goingon Through me.
Listening to them, I nowunderstand what is the
contributor to your pain,because one of the things we've
got to understand pain andstress go hand in hand the
pain-stress connection.
(17:56):
You can't separate this from thepain, because the reason why
you have the pain is because ofsomething that happened outside
of your body that you havebrought in and internalized.
Once you internalize it in ourworld, what happens is you now
create a dysfunction inside thebody because the stress has
(18:21):
built up in a particular areaand what it does?
It goes to whatever area isweak in your body and it's
trying to use that as an outletto release itself.
So, which means that if youhave a joint pain, how we see it
is that's toxins and impuritiesin that joint trying to come
(18:45):
out of the body, but it can'tcome out because that's not the
process of elimination.
So what is it going to do?
It's going to start you tohurting.
But why do you have that?
Because see, one thing peopledon't focus on the body will
always give you a warning signbefore it gets into the acute,
(19:09):
then the chronic state.
You get a warning, but most ofthe time we don't pay attention
to it and when you don't payattention, the body all of a
sudden says okay, you're notpaying attention, I'm going to
put you down, and that's becauseof something outside of the
body.
So we've got to focus on that.
(19:30):
So what I usually do with myclients is what I'm listening.
I'm listening to because mostpeople who are in chronic pain
have been in for a long time.
They can't even remember whenthey were never in pain.
It's true that memory isblocked.
They don't even know what iteven feels like to not never in
pain.
It's true that memory isblocked.
They don't even know what iteven feels like to not be in
(19:52):
pain.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
And you know you're talking with a patient that has
chronic pain.
But that is felt always to methe most difficult because there
does seem I'm glad you saidthere's like an amnesia.
It was like a blurring and it'shard to take them backward to
when the pain wasn't there andsometimes you go really far back
and it almost was like it wasalways there and so you know it
(20:16):
kind of wasn't there becausethey're talking about it now.
But yeah, there's a type ofamnesia.
You know you answered myquestion because I was going to
ask you what causes chronic painand you psychically tapped in
and you answered that I wantedto get from your stance what
causes chronic pain and you'resaying internalizing an external
event, taking it into the bodyand then not hearing the warning
(20:42):
sign, so the body begins tospeak with discomfort and pain.
Okay, okay and see.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
Another thing that we do also, and by you being a
physician, this is what makes usbecause I tell people one of
the what probably the mostoutstanding thing that
conventional medicine does isdiagnose.
Now, once you get a diagnosis,what we do now is we got to look
(21:09):
at the body system, and most ofus do not know the body systems
.
Say, for example, if the doctorsays you have asthma, so if you
have asthma, the question I'mgoing to ask is what part of the
body is associated with asthma?
(21:31):
And you know.
Usually you'll probably say,well, the chest.
Or you may say the lungs, thelungs, okay.
Then I'm going to say what bodysystem is connected with asthma
?
Most people don't know thesystem, but you're talking about
the respiratory when I bringthat to the respiratory.
So now, what are we looking at?
(21:51):
We're now looking at therespiratory system is in need of
a cleansing.
You need to look at cleansingthe respiratory system.
So now you'll be able torelieve yourself of the asthma,
which is the attack part that'scausing the pain.
(22:12):
So you have to be able toconnect the body systems with
the diagnosis and then startfocusing on what I need to do,
because one of the things aboutallopathic medicines.
When they deal with pain, theyonly go and you brought it up, I
heard you say this they only goto that area that's in pain,
(22:33):
but that's not the cause.
It's someplace else in the bodyand that's how we have to
understand.
The other thing I tell myclients slash patients.
We all know how the automobileoperates, we know the parts of
the automobile, but did you knowthat the automobile?
Automobile is designed in thesame image as your body.
(22:57):
It operates exactly the sameway.
The thing that you've got tounderstand is when your car
mechanic tells you don't do thisfor the car, you don't do it.
The same thing applies with thebody.
You've got to understand andput that connection together.
You do a maintenance programfor your automobile, but do you
(23:20):
do a maintenance program foryour body?
Because one of the things thatwe don't hear anymore.
Back in the day there was athing called healthcare
prevention, preventivehealthcare that's the word.
That's foreign, people don'teven know what that means, but
that's what you need to get backto if you're going to take
(23:41):
charge of your health.
I've had the opportunity tostudy reflexology locally,
nationally and internationally.
I wrote the book ReflexologyToday A Family Affair, and when
I wrote that book, I wrote itback in about 1987.
And at that time, when I wrotethe book, I was on my way to
(24:07):
China.
And when I got to China and Iwas studying reflexology as well
there one of the things that inChina, studying reflexology as
well there One of the thingsthat in China the doctor spends
anywhere between an hour to anhour and a half with each
patient.
And by doing that, they arelistening and they are putting
(24:28):
up.
That's even before they evenget to the treatment part.
Then, after listening, they'regoing to bring the family
together.
So when they bring the familytogether, what they're doing is
how do we put together apreventive treatment program for
the whole family so that theywill not get this particular
(24:50):
diagnosed illness?
So that was a confirmation,because when I left, I felt that
at least one member in ahousehold should know basic
reflexology techniques that needto be used in terms of
relieving pain.
So that was like myconfirmation in terms of I was
on the right path, in terms ofwhere I was headed, in terms of
(25:12):
using your hands as the power oftouch your hands as the power
of touch.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
I did notice on your website you did mention touch
and healing as a family affairand that part really stuck in my
brain.
I did share a link to your bookI just shared it in the chat
just in case anyone wanted tosee it Because your experience,
especially that internationalexperience wonderful, no problem
with that.
Yes, you mentioned this touchand healing as a family affair
(25:41):
and that part really got mebecause of course, I don't
really get that opportunity whenI'm working with my own
patients.
It's like this, reallyisolating, painful, like you're
hurting into your fault andyou're all alone and it's really
like punishing.
So tell me about this familyapproach, especially like during
the holidays, because that'sreally going to be resonating
(26:04):
with people.
Speaker 2 (26:05):
Well, one of the things that I do, believe it or
not, my practice is a virtual.
Speaker 1 (26:10):
And you know thanks.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
No, let me, don't, let me.
Let me scratch that.
It's not because of thepandemic.
It put us in virtual, you know,doing everything virtually.
And so what I do is, in termsof working with my patients,
slash clients, what I do is we,whatever the health area problem
(26:34):
, say, for example, like thisright here on the thumb, this is
where the spine is located.
So if someone had a backproblem, what I'm going to tell
them to do is you're going totake your thumb and you're going
to do what's like a walkingmotion up the thumb.
Same thing for the foot.
You're going to walk up thatside and just walk up and down.
(26:57):
That's what we call reflexingthe nerve ending to the foot.
You're going to walk up thatside and just walk up and down.
That's what we call reflexingthe nerve into the spine.
Now, it may be a specific areathat's in pain you don't know
that but it's not important,because what's important is you
want to activate the nerve inthat area to start relieving the
(27:18):
stress and pain that's in thearea.
Now, once we get to that point,that's the first step.
Then we start looking at.
Now let's look at if you gotlower back pain.
We got to look at where else inthe body is a contributor to
that lower back pain.
So, which means in reflexologywe work the whole body from head
(27:41):
to toe.
So we don't you just you justdon't work the area that's in
pain, it's the whole body.
And what I do is I may bring.
It could be a family member, itcould be a friend.
I show them how to do thereflexology technique on that
person who is experiencing thepain.
(28:01):
So now you have your ownpersonal reflexologist in your
home 24-7.
It becomes a family affair.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
That is so important.
Oh, my goodness, that is.
I love that because, dependingon your patients, you know what
they're going through.
They're really not goingthrough it alone, so there's
people that love them and whenyou do that, you're giving them
this power to be the healer andthe therapeutic effect.
(28:32):
Imagine how that magnifies,because when that person's
suffering, they're suffering,but they've got that energetic
tie to their spouse or theirsibling or their friend or
whoever their child.
And you know, typically intraditional medicine the way we
can empower families like, well,we can educate them, we can
tell them what prescriptionswere prescribed, you know.
So then that kind of limitsthem to, like, say, someone
(28:52):
who's on the cancer journey, andthen that kind of limits them
to, like, say, someone who's onthe cancer journey, their family
member, might only have.
The most empowering thing theycan do is provide the
prescription and the water totake it, yeah, or the doctor.
If it gets worse, then that'sit.
That's kind of all they can do.
So I love that you give themthis crazy powerful tool that
(29:16):
when their loved one's hurting,they can come in with that
lesson you gave and do somereflexology.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
Huge and it supports, like the work you do, because
you're dealing with energy.
And see, that's another piecethat people have to understand
in terms of healing deals withenergy and it's called energy
exchange.
We exchange.
It's not a one-way street, it'scircular, it goes around as I
give, I receive, as I receive, Igive.
(29:44):
And that's what helps in termsof the family structure, because
now, because you learned sometechniques that you can actually
use to help that loved one, youand that loved one are now
connected in oneness in thehealing process, working with
(30:05):
each other.
And the same thing applies withyou in terms of working with
your physician.
It has to be a two-way street.
It cannot be.
I go, park my body inside thedoctor's office and I tell you
this is what's going on andyou're supposed to.
Your doctor is not a bodymechanic.
You've got to stop treatingyour body like the automobile.
(30:27):
It doesn't work like that.
You both have to be a part ofthe process.
Speaker 1 (30:34):
I love the way you said it.
I've been trying to find aneloquent way to say that to my
patients.
But yes, you need to be part ofthe energy exchange.
We're getting close to oneo'clock and on the schedule I'd
set out, I wanted to leave alittle wiggle room.
Indi Jeke, are you okay withstaying with us a little bit
longer, or did you need to getanywhere?
I wanted to make sure I respectyour time.
Speaker 2 (30:56):
I'll follow your lead , my dear.
Speaker 1 (30:57):
So, since she's able to stay with us, cause we're
going for another at least 30minutes or so I'm going to share
her website again and can youshare with us your, your
resource, which was the?
I get the name of your resource.
Speaker 2 (31:15):
Okay, I'm going to put okay, let me share this with
you.
What I wanted to share with youis that, in the African
tradition, when you visitsomeone's home, you bring a gift
, and my gift to you and yourlistening audience I put it in
the chat is I have a medicationand addiction free pain relief
(31:35):
poster that I am going to thateveryone can download, is that
touchologyreflexologycom?
And I just put it in chat foreveryone and that's for everyone
in terms of giving you someresources in terms of how you
can find alternatives, in termsof for pain relief.
Speaker 1 (31:54):
That is perfect.
Thank you so much.
So, while that link is there,if any of you want to chime in
or type in a question, I've gotthe link.
That's perfect, thank you,that's perfect, thank you.
So we have any questions?
Thank you so much, lovette, forcoming.
Thank you, oh, that's perfect.
Yeah, you also.
It takes you to a drive link.
It's a great resource, thankyou.
I'm downloading my copy now.
So, thank you, that's perfect.
(32:14):
Yeah, you also.
It takes you to a drive link.
It's a great resource, thankyou.
I'm downloading my copy now.
So, thank you, that's beautiful, thank you.
So then I'm going to ask wheredo you, in your opinion, in your
extensive experience, where doyou feel that traditional
allopathic medicine misses themark as far as chronic pain?
Speaker 2 (32:39):
allopathic medicine misses the mark as far as
chronic pain.
I think it still goes back tothe fact that conventional
doctors are not given enoughtime to really connect with the
patients that they see.
If that connection was there,then their more I put it their
(33:01):
more humane and creative sidecan come out in their practice,
and that's what's missing.
And I say that to say when youlook at conventional medicine as
it is today, and I'll share thelittle the note about that.
(33:22):
I had the opportunity torepresent America in Cuba in
terms of introducing reflexologyand the touchology experience,
and it was with physicians andnurses that I was at this
program.
And when you asked me, when weopened up about whether I want
(33:43):
to be called Injadika or doctor,and I told you Injadika, and
the reason is because, in myexperience in Cuba, it kind of
took me back to when I wasgrowing up.
The doctors in Cuba live in theneighborhoods with their
patients and it's a communityapproach.
(34:05):
It's not that I'm the doctor,and so that's one of the major
problems because, like you said,it's a business and because
it's become a business, we lostthe human side of who we are as
practitioners, and that's what Ithink is the missing piece and
that's the reason why when myclients see me, I'm always in
(34:26):
Jadika.
The doctor piece was justeducational training.
For me personally.
It has nothing to do with who Iam and what I do, and that's
the reason why I moved that away, because I don't want the
clients that I see to have thathierarchy.
We're both on the same playingfield.
(34:47):
We are working together.
I'm empowering you and you'resupporting me.
I'm supporting you and you arealso empowering me, so that way
we're able to do that exchangewithout having this hierarchy
where you went to school and gotthis training, now you got this
label.
That's, I think, is the problem.
Speaker 1 (35:08):
Yes, it is beautifully stated.
Absolutely, I have the olderI've gotten.
What I do for myself to get myempathy in check is and I'll
tell my patients this is that isthere.
They're discussing what's goingon, and even if I started to
feel frustrated because I don'thave a quick answer or just
anything like that, I justsimply sort of snap my fingers
(35:31):
and I become them.
I imagine this is me, becausein a way, like why wouldn't it
be me?
Like why would I be me?
Why could I not experience this?
And then when I put it in myhead, it's like actually there's
no reason why I couldn't gothrough this, what this person
is going through.
And then it becomes a littleeasier to understand what
they're saying and then, ofcourse, to take action.
Now, my Reiki training helpedfor me because my medical
(35:54):
training and at some point Ihope that I can put it into
words, most physicians know thisbut the the I don't think it's
intentional, maybe it is theempathy is trained out of us.
A lot of us went to medicalschool with empathy and it was
trained out of us.
I've told a few people thatthat, like that's to me, some of
the more painful lifeexperiences was the medical
(36:15):
training, and they tell you atthe time it's necessary, but
when I look back on it it's likeno, it wasn't, it did not have
to be like that.
And so then, for well,depending on where they are,
then they have to sort ofrelearn or refine that empathy.
Some doctors never lose it.
For the most part it's in anumber of ways trained out of us
and you have to find a way toget back to it.
(36:35):
So for me, the easiest is Imake myself the patient.
I recently had a cat, my furbaby.
I had it for 21 years and I hadto put her to sleep.
It's been a few months ago andif I'm really finding I'm having
trouble connecting with thepatient, I just simply imagine a
human form of my cat.
I make that person it.
(36:56):
Then the urgency and everythingsteps way up like oh, oh, oh,
wait a minute, even if I don'thave an answer, just
understanding that this is realsuffering.
Don't turn away, and it may notbe that I'm going to have the
answer, but don't turn away,don't tune out, don't blame the
person.
It's like they didn't ask forthis, so wonderful.
(37:19):
And then let's see, I hadanother question and you guys,
if y'all have any questions,y'all make sure to tune in.
Absolutely Got your resourceshere.
What's the best way to stay intouch with you For those of us
that are listening, also thosethat are going to be on the
podcast when this comes out in afew weeks?
What's the best way to reachyou?
What's the best way to stay intouch with you for those of us
that are listening, also thosethat are going to be on the
(37:39):
podcast when this comes out in afew weeks?
What's the best way to reachyou?
What's the best way to get intouch with you?
Speaker 2 (37:42):
Well, the best way to reach me is I tell everyone go
to my website, focusonhealingcom, and put in the contact.
If you have any questions oranything you want me to answer
for you, type it into thecontact.
I definitely will get back toyou.
And also, if you wantinformation, you can also do.
(38:04):
Info at Focus on HealingInstitute.
I'm sorry, info Focus onHealing Institute at gmailcom.
That's where you can email medirectly.
But I'm available to answer anyquestions, because the bottom
line it's about what we have todo is what we have to do is, um,
(38:28):
no change that it should befocused on healing institute at
gmailcom.
Speaker 1 (38:33):
That's what it should be.
Speaker 2 (38:34):
Focus on healing institute at gmailcom.
Focus on healing institute atgmailcom.
That's.
That's the email address.
Okay, perfect, and um, like youknow email address.
Okay, perfect, and like youknow, like I say, by all means,
I will be.
(38:54):
I'm also in the process ofputting together some.
In 2025, I'm going to be puttingtogether some intro training
workshops so that people canlearn how to do some basic
reflexology themselves and itdoesn't take long to learn, it's
not a long process.
So that's what's coming in 2025.
So I encourage you, get on themailing list so that you can be
(39:16):
one of the first to hear aboutit in terms of being trained,
because I'll tell you thislittle trade secret, I have a
program where I train youngpeople between the ages of 16 to
18 in terms of how to doreflexology, and we're looking
at moving them into it as acareer choice.
(39:36):
And the reason why I say thatis because some of the best
reflexologists are young people,once they get past the touch,
because young people don't touchanymore in a positive way, and
the reason being is because ouryoung people today are extremely
(39:57):
stressed out and they have notbeen shown the tools and
resources available to them interms of relieving stress and
reflexology is an easy way tointroduce them to touch, as well
as how they can be abouthealing themselves using the
(40:19):
power of touch, and so that's awhole nother arena.
In terms of how we've got toprepare our young people as they
move into adulthood, we allknow how okay, I can go get a
massage, I can go do this.
Young people need to.
Of how we've got to prepare ouryoung people as they move into
adults.
We all know how okay, I can goget a massage, I can go do this.
Young people need to have thosesame kind of resources.
It needs to be available tothem.
(40:39):
By all means, get them to learnhow to do some basic
reflexology, because, I tell you, this is how you open up the
lines of communication andbreaking that generational gap.
So now older people can starttalking to younger people in a
positive and open way, and bothcan learn from each other.
Speaker 1 (41:02):
I love it.
It's empowering young people,because I don't know that they
feel empowered to help theirespecially older relatives.
This is important because we'vegot a big chunk of the
population that's not that younganymore I mean baby boomers and
so knowing that, you know,hopefully their grandchildren or
great-grandchildren would atleast have the curiosity and
(41:24):
possibly able to help them, thatis so powerful.
Speaker 2 (41:27):
I'll tell you my business mission and that's what
this is all about that peopleneed to recognize Hell.
We've got to get to the pointof passing on generational
health instead of illness andgenerational wealth instead of
poverty, because it's yourbirthright to have both.
Speaker 1 (41:53):
In jideke.
Dr Olatunde, it has beenwonderful, it has been a
blessing having you on as aguest.
That piece of wisdom.
I think we can close yourinterview, but you are welcome
to stay.
I'd love for you to stay if youdon't mind.
Thank you so much for being onwith us.
Again, I could and I think Ieven felt you coming.
(42:15):
This was the knowledge thatI've been hoping to share with
the community and hopefullyyou'll be on as a guest.
I would love to have you onbefore you launch your program,
if you don't mind, so we canshare that some more in 2025.
Speaker 2 (42:27):
Most definitely, and what I want to say to you before
I leave is and this is for yourlisteners to hear we need to do
an exchange, because it wouldbe my honor and my privilege to
have you as a guest on mypodcast, the Touchology Wellness
Experience, because I wouldlove to be able to share with my
(42:48):
listening audience a medicaldoctor who is using energy in
her healing practice.
My listeners would love that,because that's what we talk
about.
Speaker 1 (43:01):
I'd love to meet your community.
I'd be honored.
Thank you, I just your presenceagain.
It's like I said, you are aprayer answered, so anything you
want me to do, I'm there.
Speaker 2 (43:10):
So count me in.
We're going to make that happen, so your listeners will be able
to know that you're going tocome into the Touchology
Wellness Experience.
That is going to happen andthank you so much for having me
and to your listeners, you know,as we move into 2025, have a
happy and healing 2025, knowingthat you hold the power of touch
(43:33):
, which heals all.
Speaker 1 (43:35):
Amazing.
Thank you so much, thank you.
I would like to introduce a guest for the Art of
Healing podcast, our guest fortoday.
I'm so excited.
Dr Njideka Olatunde, pioneeringholistic pain relief through
reflexology and the power oftouch.
For over 40 years, dr Olatundehas been at the forefront of
(00:22):
holistic wellness, specializingin medication-free alternatives
to pain relief.
As a master reflexologist andleading expert in the
transformative practice ofreflexology touchology, she has
empowered thousands to breakfree from the cycle of pain,
using the power of touch as afirst-line approach before
(00:44):
treatment.
With a unique blend oftime-honored healing traditions
and modern wellness strategies,dr Olatunde's work bridges the
gap between natural healthsolutions and conventional
medicine.
She has trained over 2,500reflexology practitioners,
mentored countless others andtransferred 3,000 lives through
(01:06):
her holistic pain relief methods.
Dr Olatunda has just a wealth ofresources.
Her website is amazing, so I'mgoing to put a copy of her
website link here and again eventhough I'll put this in the
chat because it's kind of goodto have this you all are going
(01:28):
to get all of this later.
So I was so honored that IndyJekka could join us today and I
really wanted her to share herwisdom in using reflexology
touchology.
She's also mentioned how thiscould be community and family
oriented.
So I'm so excited.
(01:48):
Njideka, am I saying thatcorrectly?
Remind me once again PerfectWell, thank you so much for
joining us.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
I thank you for having me.
It's my honor and my pleasure.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
So wonderful.
I had a chance to look at yourwebsite, read your blog post.
You know the universe works outlike this because even before
we met, I was reading aboutchronic pain, looking at some of
the content I had created, andthis was just such a gap, and so
it was just magical how youshowed up.
I'm so happy you're here.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Nothing, ever happens by accident?
Speaker 1 (02:23):
It doesn't, it really doesn't.
It was like you showed up righton time.
I was like perfect manifest.
So we'll start with what madeyou take an interest in helping
people with chronic pain.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
To answer your question.
What happened is like when Iwas growing up I grew up on home
remedies and back then as achild doctors kind of lived in
the neighborhood and so doctorsdid home visits back then and so
I wanted to be a doctor.
I said, because to me I sawdoctors as healers.
(03:00):
I said, oh OK, that'sinteresting.
But by the time I got tocollege it was a whole nother
rude awakening, because that'snot the emergency room as their
doctors and I kept sayingthere's something wrong with
(03:31):
this picture.
It kind of opened the dooragain for me to go back to.
I want to be a doctor, and atthat time natural and
alternatives were opening up.
So I went back to school andtrained to become a naturopathic
practitioner and so doing thatprocess, I wanted to add a
(03:52):
service to my practice andthat's how reflexology came into
play.
And how that originally gotstarted was the fact that I was
doing a study on my ancestry,from my African connection to my
Native American experienceconnection, and so I went to I
(04:14):
did from the Native Americanthey call what's a vision quest,
and so I went on a vision questand what that is is you're
placed in a spot on the mountainwith nature.
That is is you're placed in aspot on the mountain with nature
.
You don't have anything, you'rejust out there in nature and
you stay there for a period oftime.
But me, coming from an urbanarea, didn't know anything about
(04:35):
outdoors and nature and allthat.
That was a whole notherexperience.
But the essence of that is,while you were there, there were
, like you know, insects, therewere animals that came around,
and so you were doing recordingof this.
So when I went back and we did atranslation of what was going
on, I was told that I need tolook to my hands and I thought
(04:59):
that was massage and instead Ididn't.
When I went to massage, but Ididn't like massage and instead
(05:22):
when I went to massage, I didn'tlike massage, I liked
reflexology, and so that's howthat kind of evolved.
But from that to fast forward,I lost a lot of clients and a
lot of personal colleagues topain, and the pain was because
of being on opiates, themedications, and because of that
, when it got to the point thatthey could no longer receive
pain medication, they starteddoing all kinds of things in
(05:44):
terms of medicating to relievepain, and so, with a dear
colleague.
That made transition.
It opened my eyes to startlooking at reflexology
differently.
So I got into a whole researchpiece on looking at how to use
the power of touch to relievepain and the technique became
(06:07):
reflexology.
So that's how it all kind ofcame together, where I really
put my focus on introducingreflexology as a pain relief
alternative to the opiates, andthat's where my work has really,
where I've spent most of mytime in my work, as of late,
dealing with that, because thatwas a real.
(06:30):
The epidemic is a crucialproblem and most people don't
understand that, which is what Ilike, what you're doing,
because you're bringing theenergy component to the healing
process, and most people don'tunderstand that your body is
(06:51):
designed to heal itself.
As practitioners, we work withthe body by assisting it in the
healing process with ourmodalities and so which means
that all of the people that wesee, be it patients or be it
clients, there has to be thattwo-way connection in the
(07:12):
healing process and people don'tunderstand.
They only understand touch fromthe physical perspective.
But touch is a lot deeper thanphysical.
It's mental, it's emotional,it's spiritual and all of that
goes together when you talkabout relieving pain using the
(07:34):
power of touch.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
So you were initially .
You knew you were a healer andyour path took you to the social
work side initially.
Yes, which is funny to me whenyou say that.
That just makes everything inme sing.
Because I'm a practicingphysician, the healing modality
of social work ends up being alot of what I do.
(07:57):
So that's what you were calledThen to become a naturopathic
physician, then to reflexology,although you thought massage was
where you were supposed to go,but ended up being reflexology.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
That's the truth and to tell you that the combination
is.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
But tell me share with us because, again, because
you're the first that I've hadon this podcast what is
reflexology?
Speaker 2 (08:28):
Oh, definitely, please define it for us, yes.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Yes, what is reflexology Definitely?
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Most people don't know what it is.
Reflexology is the art andscience of working specific
reflex nerve ending points thatare found on the hands, the feet
and the ears, used to relievestress and pain, relax the body,
reduce toxins and impurities inthe system as well, along with
(08:57):
improving circulation.
And the way for me to helppeople understand what it is I
just said, think about.
One of the things aboutreflexology is that we work with
the nervous system, so we'reworking with the nerve endings,
and if you look at a chart ofthe anatomy and look at the
(09:17):
nervous system, all of the nerveendings begin in your head and
run straight through your body,ending in your hands, feet and
ears, and on your hands, feetand ears are nerve points that
correspond to various organs,systems inside the body.
We locate those points on thehands and feet to be about doing
(09:41):
a reflexology session, and feetto be about doing a reflexology
session.
Now, to bring it home so thatit makes a little clearer.
I like for people to thinkabout it from the standpoint of
in your house, you have wiringand you turn on the switch and
all of a sudden the lights comeon.
But if you turn on the switchand the lights don't come on,
(10:04):
because all of you all arebabies.
You don't even know about this.
In the old days, when the lightsdidn't come on, we had to do
what was called a fuse.
So you had to put a fuse in abox and all of a sudden the
lights would come back on.
But today, for all of you,young people, you now have
what's called the circuitbreaker, so you go, flip the
(10:25):
switch and the electricity comeson.
But I say that to say is, ifthe wiring and you did all of
that and it doesn't work, youhave to call an electrician.
So the electrician would belooking for what is the wire
that's defective, so you're nolonger getting the energy flow
that produces the electricity.
(10:47):
That's what a reflexologist isdoing.
We are looking for thatblockage in that nerve ending
that's the contributor to thepain, so that we can move that
blockages out of that nerveending, so that you're no longer
able to feel pain.
Now let me share something withyou.
Everybody has done reflexologyand they don't know that they
(11:13):
have.
Think about it like this wehave a funny bone in our elbow
and when you hit it, what's thefirst thing you do?
Speaker 1 (11:23):
let's go ow, there you go.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
You know that pain is coming, and then it comes, the
first thing you're going to dois what you said a verbal
response, and with the verbalresponse message travels up the
nerve and it goes to the braintrauma, discomfort in the elbow
area.
Then what's the next thingyou're going to do?
Speaker 1 (11:44):
you're going to reach over and try to rub it out.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
Exactly so.
When you start rubbing it,message goes to the brain, start
sending the body's natural painrelievers to bring comfort to
that area.
And so, with you rubbing it,all of a sudden you're now
feeling a sense of ease from thepain and relief.
(12:08):
That's the process ofreflexology.
That is that's how it works.
And so and I'm gonna giveanother little tidbit all of you
all have actually donereflexology and don't know it.
You ever heard the little thingcalled this little piggy?
(12:28):
Yes, and parents did the littlepiggy.
And what you would do?
You would take the little toes.
You start turning the littlebig toe, the next toe, and
you're turning it.
Well, all of the nerve endingsto your head are found in your
fingers and in your toes.
So when you're working withthat little baby, doing a little
(12:49):
circling and all that, the babycomes happy, calms down and in
some cases will even go to sleep.
You've just relaxed the bodyvia the nerve endings in the
head.
So it's a common thing, it's abasic.
And what do we do?
We use what?
The power of touch?
We worked with the body,dealing with the communication
(13:14):
center which is the brain, andthe energy goes up the spine
through the nerve endings to thebrain and communicates, and
that's what we talk about whenwe say using the power of touch.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
So is touchology the same as reflexology, because you
mentioned that in your contenton your website, or is this is
touchology, so is that a part ofthe reflexology or is this a
separate practice?
Speaker 2 (13:45):
Touchology is the science and art of learning how
to listen mentally, physically,emotionally and spiritually,
based on touch.
That's what touchology is.
Touchology is introducing thepower of touch on all levels,
(14:09):
and when I say that, what I'mtalking about physical is
putting my hands on you, thephysical touch.
When I talk about mental touch,I'm talking about somebody who
may be depressed or feeling down.
And what do I do?
I come and I say everything isgoing to be all right.
(14:32):
That's a form of touch.
Verbally, You're driving inyour car and you know it's a
tight space and somebody opensup and lets you in and you may
raise your hand up as a form ofsaying thank you.
That's a form of touch.
Somebody opens the door for youand all of a sudden you say
(14:57):
thank you and then they get abig smile on their face.
That's a form of touch.
So touchology is the foundationin terms of healing.
It's activating the healingpower in whatever way is needed
mentally, physically,emotionally and spiritually.
And that's what we've got togive, because today we see touch
(15:21):
as something negative.
But guess what?
As a people, we need touch.
And my unscientific study aboutthe lockdown that we went
through for those two years themajor contributor was the lack
(15:41):
of touch that caused a lot ofpeople to make transition
because we weren't able to touch.
If I couldn't see my loved ones, that's a touch.
I couldn't feel my loved ones,that's a touch.
Those are the things that's soimportant to us in terms of
healing.
We need the power of touch toheal and that's what the whole
(16:06):
process, the therapy that I useis the reflexology, but the
process is about touching, and Isay that because one of the
things that and you opened upand you said it so elegantly in
terms of the number one reasonpeople seek out a doctor is
because they're in pain.
(16:26):
They're hurting and if a personis in pain, the one thing they
want more than anything isrelief from the pain.
Now, in my practice, I'm anadvocate of give your patients
what they want.
They want pain relief, nothingelse.
(16:46):
They're not interested inanything else.
And who wants?
Speaker 1 (16:48):
to hurt.
That's what's you know when Ilisten to other, because I try
to keep a foot in both worlds.
So I will build my communitieswith physicians.
And it's interesting to mebecause physicians are often
upset that their patients arecomplaining of pain and I'm
thinking, yeah, that's what paidyour bills.
They hurt.
We got to stop it Like one ofthe simplest things.
(17:10):
No one wants to hurt.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Exactly, exactly, and because of that, one of the
things that I do is that's atouching point.
When my clients slash patientscome to me, one of the things
the first thing I do is we'regoing to have a listening
session.
All I do is just sit there andlisten, because now they're
(17:35):
talking to me about what's goingon Through me.
Listening to them, I nowunderstand what is the
contributor to your pain,because one of the things we've
got to understand pain andstress go hand in hand the
pain-stress connection.
(17:56):
You can't separate this from thepain, because the reason why
you have the pain is because ofsomething that happened outside
of your body that you havebrought in and internalized.
Once you internalize it in ourworld, what happens is you now
create a dysfunction inside thebody because the stress has
(18:21):
built up in a particular areaand what it does?
It goes to whatever area isweak in your body and it's
trying to use that as an outletto release itself.
So, which means that if youhave a joint pain, how we see it
is that's toxins and impuritiesin that joint trying to come
(18:45):
out of the body, but it can'tcome out because that's not the
process of elimination.
So what is it going to do?
It's going to start you tohurting.
But why do you have that?
Because see, one thing peopledon't focus on the body will
always give you a warning signbefore it gets into the acute,
(19:09):
then the chronic state.
You get a warning, but most ofthe time we don't pay attention
to it and when you don't payattention, the body all of a
sudden says okay, you're notpaying attention, I'm going to
put you down, and that's becauseof something outside of the
body.
So we've got to focus on that.
(19:30):
So what I usually do with myclients is what I'm listening.
I'm listening to because mostpeople who are in chronic pain
have been in for a long time.
They can't even remember whenthey were never in pain.
It's true that memory isblocked.
They don't even know what iteven feels like to not never in
pain.
It's true that memory isblocked.
They don't even know what iteven feels like to not be in
(19:52):
pain.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
And you know you're talking with a patient that has
chronic pain.
But that is felt always to methe most difficult because there
does seem I'm glad you saidthere's like an amnesia.
It was like a blurring and it'shard to take them backward to
when the pain wasn't there andsometimes you go really far back
and it almost was like it wasalways there and so you know it
(20:16):
kind of wasn't there becausethey're talking about it now.
But yeah, there's a type ofamnesia.
You know you answered myquestion because I was going to
ask you what causes chronic painand you psychically tapped in
and you answered that I wantedto get from your stance what
causes chronic pain and you'resaying internalizing an external
event, taking it into the bodyand then not hearing the warning
(20:42):
sign, so the body begins tospeak with discomfort and pain.
Okay, okay and see.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
Another thing that we do also, and by you being a
physician, this is what makes usbecause I tell people one of
the what probably the mostoutstanding thing that
conventional medicine does isdiagnose.
Now, once you get a diagnosis,what we do now is we got to look
(21:09):
at the body system, and most ofus do not know the body systems
.
Say, for example, if the doctorsays you have asthma, so if you
have asthma, the question I'mgoing to ask is what part of the
body is associated with asthma?
(21:31):
And you know.
Usually you'll probably say,well, the chest.
Or you may say the lungs, thelungs, okay.
Then I'm going to say what bodysystem is connected with asthma
?
Most people don't know thesystem, but you're talking about
the respiratory when I bringthat to the respiratory.
So now, what are we looking at?
(21:51):
We're now looking at therespiratory system is in need of
a cleansing.
You need to look at cleansingthe respiratory system.
So now you'll be able torelieve yourself of the asthma,
which is the attack part that'scausing the pain.
(22:12):
So you have to be able toconnect the body systems with
the diagnosis and then startfocusing on what I need to do,
because one of the things aboutallopathic medicines.
When they deal with pain, theyonly go and you brought it up, I
heard you say this they only goto that area that's in pain,
(22:33):
but that's not the cause.
It's someplace else in the bodyand that's how we have to
understand.
The other thing I tell myclients slash patients.
We all know how the automobileoperates, we know the parts of
the automobile, but did you knowthat the automobile?
Automobile is designed in thesame image as your body.
(22:57):
It operates exactly the sameway.
The thing that you've got tounderstand is when your car
mechanic tells you don't do thisfor the car, you don't do it.
The same thing applies with thebody.
You've got to understand andput that connection together.
You do a maintenance programfor your automobile, but do you
(23:20):
do a maintenance program foryour body?
Because one of the things thatwe don't hear anymore.
Back in the day there was athing called healthcare
prevention, preventivehealthcare that's the word.
That's foreign, people don'teven know what that means, but
that's what you need to get backto if you're going to take
(23:41):
charge of your health.
I've had the opportunity tostudy reflexology locally,
nationally and internationally.
I wrote the book ReflexologyToday A Family Affair, and when
I wrote that book, I wrote itback in about 1987.
And at that time, when I wrotethe book, I was on my way to
(24:07):
China.
And when I got to China and Iwas studying reflexology as well
there one of the things that inChina, studying reflexology as
well there One of the thingsthat in China the doctor spends
anywhere between an hour to anhour and a half with each
patient.
And by doing that, they arelistening and they are putting
(24:28):
up.
That's even before they evenget to the treatment part.
Then, after listening, they'regoing to bring the family
together.
So when they bring the familytogether, what they're doing is
how do we put together apreventive treatment program for
the whole family so that theywill not get this particular
(24:50):
diagnosed illness?
So that was a confirmation,because when I left, I felt that
at least one member in ahousehold should know basic
reflexology techniques that needto be used in terms of
relieving pain.
So that was like myconfirmation in terms of I was
on the right path, in terms ofwhere I was headed, in terms of
(25:12):
using your hands as the power oftouch your hands as the power
of touch.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
I did notice on your website you did mention touch
and healing as a family affairand that part really stuck in my
brain.
I did share a link to your bookI just shared it in the chat
just in case anyone wanted tosee it Because your experience,
especially that internationalexperience wonderful, no problem
with that.
Yes, you mentioned this touchand healing as a family affair
(25:41):
and that part really got mebecause of course, I don't
really get that opportunity whenI'm working with my own
patients.
It's like this, reallyisolating, painful, like you're
hurting into your fault andyou're all alone and it's really
like punishing.
So tell me about this familyapproach, especially like during
the holidays, because that'sreally going to be resonating
(26:04):
with people.
Speaker 2 (26:05):
Well, one of the things that I do, believe it or
not, my practice is a virtual.
Speaker 1 (26:10):
And you know thanks.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
No, let me, don't, let me.
Let me scratch that.
It's not because of thepandemic.
It put us in virtual, you know,doing everything virtually.
And so what I do is, in termsof working with my patients,
slash clients, what I do is we,whatever the health area problem
(26:34):
, say, for example, like thisright here on the thumb, this is
where the spine is located.
So if someone had a backproblem, what I'm going to tell
them to do is you're going totake your thumb and you're going
to do what's like a walkingmotion up the thumb.
Same thing for the foot.
You're going to walk up thatside and just walk up and down.
(26:57):
That's what we call reflexingthe nerve ending to the foot.
You're going to walk up thatside and just walk up and down.
That's what we call reflexingthe nerve into the spine.
Now, it may be a specific areathat's in pain you don't know
that but it's not important,because what's important is you
want to activate the nerve inthat area to start relieving the
(27:18):
stress and pain that's in thearea.
Now, once we get to that point,that's the first step.
Then we start looking at.
Now let's look at if you gotlower back pain.
We got to look at where else inthe body is a contributor to
that lower back pain.
So, which means in reflexologywe work the whole body from head
(27:41):
to toe.
So we don't you just you justdon't work the area that's in
pain, it's the whole body.
And what I do is I may bring.
It could be a family member, itcould be a friend.
I show them how to do thereflexology technique on that
person who is experiencing thepain.
(28:01):
So now you have your ownpersonal reflexologist in your
home 24-7.
It becomes a family affair.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
That is so important.
Oh, my goodness, that is.
I love that because, dependingon your patients, you know what
they're going through.
They're really not goingthrough it alone, so there's
people that love them and whenyou do that, you're giving them
this power to be the healer andthe therapeutic effect.
(28:32):
Imagine how that magnifies,because when that person's
suffering, they're suffering,but they've got that energetic
tie to their spouse or theirsibling or their friend or
whoever their child.
And you know, typically intraditional medicine the way we
can empower families like, well,we can educate them, we can
tell them what prescriptionswere prescribed, you know.
So then that kind of limitsthem to, like, say, someone
(28:52):
who's on the cancer journey, andthen that kind of limits them
to, like, say, someone who's onthe cancer journey, their family
member, might only have.
The most empowering thing theycan do is provide the
prescription and the water totake it, yeah, or the doctor.
If it gets worse, then that'sit.
That's kind of all they can do.
So I love that you give themthis crazy powerful tool that
(29:16):
when their loved one's hurting,they can come in with that
lesson you gave and do somereflexology.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
Huge and it supports, like the work you do, because
you're dealing with energy.
And see, that's another piecethat people have to understand
in terms of healing deals withenergy and it's called energy
exchange.
We exchange.
It's not a one-way street, it'scircular, it goes around as I
give, I receive, as I receive, Igive.
(29:44):
And that's what helps in termsof the family structure, because
now, because you learned sometechniques that you can actually
use to help that loved one, youand that loved one are now
connected in oneness in thehealing process, working with
(30:05):
each other.
And the same thing applies withyou in terms of working with
your physician.
It has to be a two-way street.
It cannot be.
I go, park my body inside thedoctor's office and I tell you
this is what's going on andyou're supposed to.
Your doctor is not a bodymechanic.
You've got to stop treatingyour body like the automobile.
(30:27):
It doesn't work like that.
You both have to be a part ofthe process.
Speaker 1 (30:34):
I love the way you said it.
I've been trying to find aneloquent way to say that to my
patients.
But yes, you need to be part ofthe energy exchange.
We're getting close to oneo'clock and on the schedule I'd
set out, I wanted to leave alittle wiggle room.
Indi Jeke, are you okay withstaying with us a little bit
longer, or did you need to getanywhere?
I wanted to make sure I respectyour time.
Speaker 2 (30:56):
I'll follow your lead , my dear.
Speaker 1 (30:57):
So, since she's able to stay with us, cause we're
going for another at least 30minutes or so I'm going to share
her website again and can youshare with us your, your
resource, which was the?
I get the name of your resource.
Speaker 2 (31:15):
Okay, I'm going to put okay, let me share this with
you.
What I wanted to share with youis that, in the African
tradition, when you visitsomeone's home, you bring a gift
, and my gift to you and yourlistening audience I put it in
the chat is I have a medicationand addiction free pain relief
(31:35):
poster that I am going to thateveryone can download, is that
touchologyreflexologycom?
And I just put it in chat foreveryone and that's for everyone
in terms of giving you someresources in terms of how you
can find alternatives, in termsof for pain relief.
Speaker 1 (31:54):
That is perfect.
Thank you so much.
So, while that link is there,if any of you want to chime in
or type in a question, I've gotthe link.
That's perfect, thank you,that's perfect, thank you.
So we have any questions?
Thank you so much, lovette, forcoming.
Thank you, oh, that's perfect.
Yeah, you also.
It takes you to a drive link.
It's a great resource, thankyou.
I'm downloading my copy now.
So, thank you, that's perfect.
(32:14):
Yeah, you also.
It takes you to a drive link.
It's a great resource, thankyou.
I'm downloading my copy now.
So, thank you, that's beautiful, thank you.
So then I'm going to ask wheredo you, in your opinion, in your
extensive experience, where doyou feel that traditional
allopathic medicine misses themark as far as chronic pain?
Speaker 2 (32:39):
allopathic medicine misses the mark as far as
chronic pain.
I think it still goes back tothe fact that conventional
doctors are not given enoughtime to really connect with the
patients that they see.
If that connection was there,then their more I put it their
(33:01):
more humane and creative sidecan come out in their practice,
and that's what's missing.
And I say that to say when youlook at conventional medicine as
it is today, and I'll share thelittle the note about that.
(33:22):
I had the opportunity torepresent America in Cuba in
terms of introducing reflexologyand the touchology experience,
and it was with physicians andnurses that I was at this
program.
And when you asked me, when weopened up about whether I want
(33:43):
to be called Injadika or doctor,and I told you Injadika, and
the reason is because, in myexperience in Cuba, it kind of
took me back to when I wasgrowing up.
The doctors in Cuba live in theneighborhoods with their
patients and it's a communityapproach.
(34:05):
It's not that I'm the doctor,and so that's one of the major
problems because, like you said,it's a business and because
it's become a business, we lostthe human side of who we are as
practitioners, and that's what Ithink is the missing piece and
that's the reason why when myclients see me, I'm always in
(34:26):
Jadika.
The doctor piece was justeducational training.
For me personally.
It has nothing to do with who Iam and what I do, and that's
the reason why I moved that away, because I don't want the
clients that I see to have thathierarchy.
We're both on the same playingfield.
(34:47):
We are working together.
I'm empowering you and you'resupporting me.
I'm supporting you and you arealso empowering me, so that way
we're able to do that exchangewithout having this hierarchy
where you went to school and gotthis training, now you got this
label.
That's, I think, is the problem.
Speaker 1 (35:08):
Yes, it is beautifully stated.
Absolutely, I have the olderI've gotten.
What I do for myself to get myempathy in check is and I'll
tell my patients this is that isthere.
They're discussing what's goingon, and even if I started to
feel frustrated because I don'thave a quick answer or just
anything like that, I justsimply sort of snap my fingers
(35:31):
and I become them.
I imagine this is me, becausein a way, like why wouldn't it
be me?
Like why would I be me?
Why could I not experience this?
And then when I put it in myhead, it's like actually there's
no reason why I couldn't gothrough this, what this person
is going through.
And then it becomes a littleeasier to understand what
they're saying and then, ofcourse, to take action.
Now, my Reiki training helpedfor me because my medical
(35:54):
training and at some point Ihope that I can put it into
words, most physicians know thisbut the the I don't think it's
intentional, maybe it is theempathy is trained out of us.
A lot of us went to medicalschool with empathy and it was
trained out of us.
I've told a few people thatthat, like that's to me, some of
the more painful lifeexperiences was the medical
(36:15):
training, and they tell you atthe time it's necessary, but
when I look back on it it's likeno, it wasn't, it did not have
to be like that.
And so then, for well,depending on where they are,
then they have to sort ofrelearn or refine that empathy.
Some doctors never lose it.
For the most part it's in anumber of ways trained out of us
and you have to find a way toget back to it.
(36:35):
So for me, the easiest is Imake myself the patient.
I recently had a cat, my furbaby.
I had it for 21 years and I hadto put her to sleep.
It's been a few months ago andif I'm really finding I'm having
trouble connecting with thepatient, I just simply imagine a
human form of my cat.
I make that person it.
(36:56):
Then the urgency and everythingsteps way up like oh, oh, oh,
wait a minute, even if I don'thave an answer, just
understanding that this is realsuffering.
Don't turn away, and it may notbe that I'm going to have the
answer, but don't turn away,don't tune out, don't blame the
person.
It's like they didn't ask forthis, so wonderful.
(37:19):
And then let's see, I hadanother question and you guys,
if y'all have any questions,y'all make sure to tune in.
Absolutely Got your resourceshere.
What's the best way to stay intouch with you For those of us
that are listening, also thosethat are going to be on the
podcast when this comes out in afew weeks?
What's the best way to reachyou?
What's the best way to stay intouch with you for those of us
that are listening, also thosethat are going to be on the
(37:39):
podcast when this comes out in afew weeks?
What's the best way to reachyou?
What's the best way to get intouch with you?
Speaker 2 (37:42):
Well, the best way to reach me is I tell everyone go
to my website, focusonhealingcom, and put in the contact.
If you have any questions oranything you want me to answer
for you, type it into thecontact.
I definitely will get back toyou.
And also, if you wantinformation, you can also do.
(38:04):
Info at Focus on HealingInstitute.
I'm sorry, info Focus onHealing Institute at gmailcom.
That's where you can email medirectly.
But I'm available to answer anyquestions, because the bottom
line it's about what we have todo is what we have to do is, um,
(38:28):
no change that it should befocused on healing institute at
gmailcom.
Speaker 1 (38:33):
That's what it should be.
Speaker 2 (38:34):
Focus on healing institute at gmailcom.
Focus on healing institute atgmailcom.
That's.
That's the email address.
Okay, perfect, and um, like youknow email address.
Okay, perfect, and like youknow, like I say, by all means,
I will be.
(38:54):
I'm also in the process ofputting together some.
In 2025, I'm going to be puttingtogether some intro training
workshops so that people canlearn how to do some basic
reflexology themselves and itdoesn't take long to learn, it's
not a long process.
So that's what's coming in 2025.
So I encourage you, get on themailing list so that you can be
(39:16):
one of the first to hear aboutit in terms of being trained,
because I'll tell you thislittle trade secret, I have a
program where I train youngpeople between the ages of 16 to
18 in terms of how to doreflexology, and we're looking
at moving them into it as acareer choice.
(39:36):
And the reason why I say thatis because some of the best
reflexologists are young people,once they get past the touch,
because young people don't touchanymore in a positive way, and
the reason being is because ouryoung people today are extremely
(39:57):
stressed out and they have notbeen shown the tools and
resources available to them interms of relieving stress and
reflexology is an easy way tointroduce them to touch, as well
as how they can be abouthealing themselves using the
(40:19):
power of touch, and so that's awhole nother arena.
In terms of how we've got toprepare our young people as they
move into adulthood, we allknow how okay, I can go get a
massage, I can go do this.
Young people need to.
Of how we've got to prepare ouryoung people as they move into
adults.
We all know how okay, I can goget a massage, I can go do this.
Young people need to have thosesame kind of resources.
It needs to be available tothem.
(40:39):
By all means, get them to learnhow to do some basic
reflexology, because, I tell you, this is how you open up the
lines of communication andbreaking that generational gap.
So now older people can starttalking to younger people in a
positive and open way, and bothcan learn from each other.
Speaker 1 (41:02):
I love it.
It's empowering young people,because I don't know that they
feel empowered to help theirespecially older relatives.
This is important because we'vegot a big chunk of the
population that's not that younganymore I mean baby boomers and
so knowing that, you know,hopefully their grandchildren or
great-grandchildren would atleast have the curiosity and
(41:24):
possibly able to help them, thatis so powerful.
Speaker 2 (41:27):
I'll tell you my business mission and that's what
this is all about that peopleneed to recognize Hell.
We've got to get to the pointof passing on generational
health instead of illness andgenerational wealth instead of
poverty, because it's yourbirthright to have both.
Speaker 1 (41:53):
In jideke.
Dr Olatunde, it has beenwonderful, it has been a
blessing having you on as aguest.
That piece of wisdom.
I think we can close yourinterview, but you are welcome
to stay.
I'd love for you to stay if youdon't mind.
Thank you so much for being onwith us.
Again, I could and I think Ieven felt you coming.
(42:15):
This was the knowledge thatI've been hoping to share with
the community and hopefullyyou'll be on as a guest.
I would love to have you onbefore you launch your program,
if you don't mind, so we canshare that some more in 2025.
Speaker 2 (42:27):
Most definitely, and what I want to say to you before
I leave is and this is for yourlisteners to hear we need to do
an exchange, because it wouldbe my honor and my privilege to
have you as a guest on mypodcast, the Touchology Wellness
Experience, because I wouldlove to be able to share with my
(42:48):
listening audience a medicaldoctor who is using energy in
her healing practice.
My listeners would love that,because that's what we talk
about.
Speaker 1 (43:01):
I'd love to meet your community.
I'd be honored.
Thank you, I just your presenceagain.
It's like I said, you are aprayer answered, so anything you
want me to do, I'm there.
Speaker 2 (43:10):
So count me in.
We're going to make that happen, so your listeners will be able
to know that you're going tocome into the Touchology
Wellness Experience.
That is going to happen andthank you so much for having me
and to your listeners, you know,as we move into 2025, have a
happy and healing 2025, knowingthat you hold the power of touch
(43:33):
, which heals all.
Speaker 1 (43:35):
Amazing.
Thank you so much, thank you.
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