He was a frail elderly gentleman out for a free breakfast of sausage and pancakes at one of the many locations offering this morning treat as a celebration of Edmonton's Klondike Days festival held annually in July. He was probably quite unaware of the life threatening event that was about to occur.

Also attending that pancake breakfast was me, Lauren Slade, newly arrived from England and eagerly anticipating the great Canadian outdoor experience. The event was being held in a car park on top of a mall in South Edmonton. I joined a long line up to collect my coffee...

Nearly 100 million Boomers desire wellness, aggressively disregarding authority and conformity.

Boomers do not wish to "grow old gracefully" rather they are seeking ways to hold on to their youth through Reflexology and other forms of complementary medicine.

A new study shows that Baby Boomers Look To Alternative Medicine In Record Numbers. Journal of Health and Social Behavior.

Many boomers demand Reflexology and alternative medicine options because of their frustration with the limitations of mainstream medicine. The most telling evidence of Americans' dissatisfaction with traditional health care is the more than $27 billion they spend annually on alternative and complementary medicine, according to government estimates.

Reflexology is based on the principle that by massaging one area of the body, you stimulate a reaction, or "reflex" in another, corresponding part of the body. It generally involves applying finger pressure to the feet or hands.

A 1990 study showed that working on specific reflex points on the soles or palms brings an improvement in the circulation in corresponding parts of the body, along with a reduction in tension (American Health: Fitness of Body and Mind, April 1990; 9 (3): 22).

"To be blunt, if my wife and I didn't think it was helping him, we wouldn't have continued with it," says Dan Polley. He's talking about Mikey, the Polleys' 2½-year-old in the next room, who was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia when he was 6 months old. Chemotherapy, radiation, and a bone marrow transplant have been crucial elements of Mikey's treatment. But the "it" his father speaks of is nothing like these aggressive, costly, and heavily researched exemplars of western care—it is a kind of touch therapy, from the camp of alternative medicine. Gentle and benign, "healing touch" is intended to rebalance the energy field that its practitioners believe surrounds the body and flows through it along defined pathways, affecting health when disrupted. Several times a week, therapist Lynne Morrison spends 20 minutes unblocking and smoothing Mikey's energy field, which energy healers like Morrison say they can feel and correct.

Before a recent session, Mikey was grouchy, drawing up his legs and issuing periodic yowls. His stomach hurt, said his father. But as the little boy nestled in his father's arms and Morrison moved her hands around his body, lightly resting them here and then there, his tenseness loosened and he quieted for a few minutes at a time. The Polleys believe that the therapy not only calms their son but is aiding his return to health.

The setting for the unorthodox therapy—an academic medical center—would have been startling just five or 10 years ago. Morrison is on the staff of Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago, a hard-nosed, tough-cases, research-oriented emblem of western medicine. It perennially ranks among America's premier hospitals and is the principal pediatric teaching hospital for Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine.

Reflexology has taken a great leap into the 21st century by utilizing the largest computer software in the world - known as the EPFX. It works in harmony with your body's electrical system collecting data with extreme precision and processing it into a user friendly computer screen. Utilizing the principle of biofeedback (using a thermometer to discover your body's temperature is the simplest form of biofeedback that most people know and understand.)

The computer system used is the 21st century version of discovering how the body is functioning in real time. In a four minute equivalent of an electrical handshake, the EPFX scans the body for over 10,000 frequencies, each associated with a different compound, much as anti-virus software would do for a computer.

BANGALORE: Of the many things that I had visualized I would do in Singapore and especially in Sentosa, putting my feet in a pool of Turkish spa fish was definitely not one.

For pedicure fanatics, who’ve done to death the routine of feet cleansing at various parlours, this experience of Fish Reflexology is a must. Though it sounds bizarre, it was extremely effective. Here’s how its works: You are led to a warm pool of water into which you submerge your feet and in a minute, Turkish spa fish swarm towards your feet and proceed to nibble at areas of dead skin!

Yes, definitely intimidating for the first few minutes as it feel a wee bit itchy as well as the ticklish sensation can be overpowering, but after awhile the fish nibbling actually begins to feel like fun. After about fifteen minutes, you are guided to another pool, with larger fish.

Where conventional medicine has failed, natural medicine can make a real difference. This is true of herbal medicine, meditation, and massage. This article deals with how reflexology is helping to alleviate symptoms and improve one's overall health.

Far Eastern cultures have been using alternative treatments for thousands of years. In most places of the world, natural medicine is the first line of defense against sickness and disease. Even the most technically advanced countries such as China and Japan appreciate the effectiveness and simplicity of natural medicine. We could benefit from the knowledge that has been gathered by those cultures. Where conventional medicine has failed, natural medicine can make a real difference.

Natural medicine and alternative treatments has become a booming industry.

Applications now being accepted for the Universal College of Reflexology’s September 2008 Quantum Reflexology program. The program is an easy and affordable way to extend your knowledge of 21st century medicine and is specifically designed for out of town students - with two days in class for three months plus convenient home study in between classes. The top 10 Questions being asked about the Universal College of Reflexology's fascinating and ground breaking program are…

1. How Is Quantum Reflexology Different From Other Types Of Reflexology?

Conventional Reflexology concentrates on the physical body. However we are multi-dimensional Beings, functioning on many levels simultaneously... mind, body, spirit and emotions... and therefore any unilateral approach to health is incomplete at best, and leaves a lot to be desired. Quantum Reflexology teaches how to work with the spiritual and emotional aspects of our existence – from working with aura’s, chakras and the quantum energy field.

2. What will I learn?

Quantum physics is now front and centre in the world of healing. With the release of the film "The Secret" and "What the Bleep" the concept of being surrounded by a field of energy is no longer in the realms of fantasy. Using videos, DVD's and 21st century technology - learning how to interact with "The Field" is front and centre in this fascinating course. Creating your own future, present and past.

Your cat has cancer because you have contained anger, says Reflexologist Kiannaa Leighland, who claims that pet health problems have nothing to do with the animals, but are actually a result of pent-up emotional problems of the owners.

She says animals strive to relieve human stress, and they internalize human issues, which manifest in pet health ailments. "They aren’t the animals’ issues," she said. "They get it from us."

She believes that through her animal version of reflexology, the human exercise of applying pressure to certain areas on the feet and hands to supposedly repair other parts of the body, she can discover not only what is wrong with the animal, but also exactly what is wrong with the human.

There are an estimated 15,000-20,000 reflexologists practising in Britain, and around 1.5 million people visit a reflexologist in the UK every year, and some NHS cancer trusts and hospices employ them.

The fact that a growing number of GPs are happy to recommend that patients see a reflexologist privately, and in some cases may be prepared to fund a course of treatment, is an acknowledgement that reflexology has real benefits.