Reflexology: Sinead Corcoran jumps in feet first

In reflexology theory, points and areas on the feet, hands, and ears correspond to specific organs, bones and body systems.

Sinead Corcoran jumps feet first into a reflexology session on her soles and finds the pressure does her good.

If the foot massages you receive from your partner consist of them half-heartedly rubbing their claw on your hoof while watching TV through glazed eyes, have I got the thing for you.

I recently got reflexology done on my feet and had a near-religious experience. Where massage is all about relaxing your muscles, reflexology focuses on helping your insides, using trigger points to improve gland and organ function, promoting good health and keeping the body balanced.

In reflexology theory, points and areas on the feet, hands, and ears correspond to specific organs, bones and body systems. For example, stimulating the middle of the foot opens the energy pathways to the organs related to digestion, like the stomach, colon and intestines. This is said to help blood flow and circulation to these organs and can help alleviate digestive issues.

The areas on each side of the ankle relate to the uterus and vagina for women. Stimulating these areas can apparently improve the circulation to the reproductive organs and help to regulate and balance periods.

While no major Western clinical studies have proven the health benefits of reflexology, some smaller studies have found reflexology can help reduce anxiety, ease fatigue, and lower blood pressure.

So far, there's no scientific evidence to explain how reflexology works. Some theories claim that stress blocks energy flow, which then leads to illness – but that reflexology restores vital energy flow and maintains balance and health.

Another theory is that human touch is enough to calm the nervous system, which makes sense as we know that getting a lovely cuddle from a friend or terrible-foot-rubber partner usually makes us feel better.

I had my reflexology session at Bliss Day Spa in Auckland's Newmarket, where treatments are based on traditional Chinese techniques.

"Chinese reflexology points on your feet, hands and ears are reflective of different areas of your body, so that when massaged using the thumb and fingers by trained therapists – it can release stress held within your body and assist to help you re-energise and re-balance," says Yuka Numata, the spa's manager.

"By sending a calming message to the central nervous system, your body adjusts its tension levels and increases blood supply, oxygen, and nutrients to nourish and restore the equilibrium within. The healing touch also releases enkephalins and endorphins, which promote soulful feelings of well-being, and strengthen the immune and hormone systems of the body."

The reflexology session itself was epic. No pathetic foot swiping here. The pressure was firm for sure, they really dig deep into the little knots in your feet – but it didn't ever feel painful.

The masseur used his thumbs to work into each point on my feet, and some parts felt more intense than others – in particular the ball of my right foot, where I have a small nerve injury from a twerking class in my early twenties.

The middle part of the bottom of my foot, between the ball and the heel is usually sensitive to being massaged, but I think that's because my partner usually jabs at it while we watch murder shows and leaves me yelping.

However, when the masseur got in there, it felt amazing – like he was stretching out all the tendons and making them soft again. He didn't explain what he was doing as he worked, but that was fine by me as I prefer 100 per cent silence when getting a massage.

The whole treatment lasted 90 minutes, and 60 of those were spent solely on my feet before finishing with a back rub. Bliss.