BHUBANESWAR (Matters India): Thandapani, an 85-year-old man in Tamil Nadu, India, was found to been infected with black fungus in May. An ear-nose-throat doctor treated him with injections that cost 25,000 Indian rupees ($2,600) but could not cure him. By then, the octogenarian had lost consciousness. His body was swollen, and he had become incontinent and was unable to speak. His vision was also blurred. The doctor gave him a month to live.
His daughter, Nirmala, from Pallachi, near Coimbatore, said was saved through reflexology promoted by a Claretian centre in Chengalpet, Tamil Nadu.
She had attended classes on reflexology conducted by the Claretians priests.
Father P J Xavier, director of the Naturopathy Institute of Indigenous Reflexology and Holistic Health Science (NIIRAHHS) at Chengalpet, guided her and sent a woman therapist to treat her father.
“In a few sittings he recovered. The ENT took it as a miracle,” Nirmala recounted.
The Claretian centre organised a webinar on June 19 on foot reflexology to combat Covid-19. As many as 180 people—bishops, priests, nuns and lay people—attended.
The webinar aimed to help people affected by Covid-19 and save them, Father Xavier explained on June 22. “I am pained at losing so many of our brothers and sisters to coronavirus,” he said. India has lost around 560 priests and nuns in the second wave of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic.
Participants were asked to bring a butter spoon, a bread knife and a toothbrush with them to the webinar.
Father Xavier demonstrated the 20 relevant reflect points on the sole of the foot that correspond to the systems in the body in treating Covid-19. They are stomach, lungs, spine, hands, hip, lymph-head, throat, chest, nose, tonsils, adrenals, kidneys, ureter, bladder, esophagus, heart, eyes, ears, brain and head relaxation.
Father Soosai Manikam, the vice provincial of Chennai province, said the centre has organised several reflexology training sessions with hundreds of participants from all walks of life since the second wave of Covid-19. He said many of them were healed.
Several Covid-19 patients, who were healed by the therapy, said that they found reflexology immensely helpful in fighting the coronavirus.
Father Xavier treated Keerthana, a student from Madavaram, a Chennai suburb, who tested positive for Covid-19 in February. “Foot reflexology was the only treatment given to me. I recovered fully and was fully prepared for my class X exam. It got cancelled,” the girl said.
Father Xavier recalled treating his own provincial, Father Jesudoss, who contracted the virus and was hospitalised on April 28 at St. Joseph Dinigul. He was later shifted to Madurai on May 12. With low levels of oxygen he was on ventilation.
“One of our therapists reached him in the hospital and gave him foot reflexology. Since then our provincial’s oxygen level was stable without ventilation. He is healthy, stable and relaxed now,” the priest said.
Joe Lazar, a activist, said, “NIIRAHHS (Naturopathy Institute of Indigenous Reflexology And Holistic Healing Sciences), since the first wave, has been working tirelessly to treating thousands of Covid-19 patients and relieving them from the virus.”
Now the services of NIIRAHHS offers multiple online training programmes and guidance on foot reflexology to patients online. “We see tremendous progress in the lives of Covid infected patients,” Lazar said.
The Claretian centre was started 20 years ago with Father Xavier as the chairperson. He has more than two decades of experience in reflexology. The centre’s service has grown to encompass several cities in Tamil Nadu and Bangalore and Kerala.
“Our dedicated team members are ever ready to reach out to people with their service. Do not hesitate to call us whenever you need our help,” Father Xavier said.
Sujata Jena
