This discussion has a lot to do with soles, as in the soles of your feet. I’m not sure if it has a lot to do with souls. I’ll talk about that at the end.

I just finished reading The Science and Art of Tracking by Tom Brown, Jr. Tom is America’s most acclaimed tracker and teacher of tracking skills. When Tom was seven, his grandfather, Stalking Wolf, an Apache elder, shaman, and scout, began teaching Tom the skills of tracking, wilderness survival, and awareness. The book talks about those teachings. It includes how to read a human or animal track for the direction the track maker is going and its physical and emotional condition when it made the track. You can read more about Tom on his website. The book is available in all the usual places and I highly recommend it.

Reflexology is the application of pressure to specific points on the feet, hands, or ears. The belief is that these reflex points correspond to different body organs and systems. Pressing them has a beneficial effect on the organs and general health. According to several studies, this practice in Denmark has resulted in reduced sick leave and absenteeism (and significant economic savings for the employers). For more on reflexology, please take a look at this University of Minnesota website.

So why am I putting these two topics together? Because they provide a fascinating kind of support for one another.

Reflexology is considered quack medicine by a large part of the medical community. Here’s one example from Quackwatch. Their bottom line is, “Reflexology is based on an absurd theory and has not been demonstrated to influence the course of any illness.”

Tracking has more support in the world of ordinary reality. In fact, The Science and Art of Tracking was written almost entirely in physical world terms. You’ll see from the website that Tom is far more spiritual than he showed in his book. I think this is as it should be when you have an idea that works well in both worlds. It gives the author the widest audience for his teachings.

But the last third of Tom’s book moves into areas that are probably beyond physical reality. In that section Tom talks about being able to discover information about the internal state of the track maker by reading a track. We’re talking about internal emotional states, which seems believable. And we are also talking about how hungry the track maker is or how full the bladder is and other information about acute and chronic conditions and injuries. This seems less likely, but I’m convinced it is true.

I can’t do the kind of tracking Tom does. As he says many times in his book, it takes many years of constant practice to reach his level. However, because of my martial arts training, I am able to notice how my feet feel different in ways that would change my tracks. I never would have thought of it before I read the book. But when I pay attention, I notice the difference.

So the connection between tracking and reflexology is this: If an expert tracker can see how a person is feeling from a track, a reflexologist with sufficient experience will be able to feel it in the foot. The reality of one skill supports the reality of the other. Sufficient experience is the key. Neither tracking nor reflexology can be learned from books, charts, and a couple of hours of classes.

How does this tie in with souls? When Tom talks about learning to read how full a track maker’s stomach is, he suggests making a set of tracks with an empty stomach and then additional sets of tracks while eating. That way there are tracks corresponding to the stomach at several levels of fullness.

Then he says to look at the tracks and absorb what you see in your subconscious. Less complicated tracking techniques can be done with the conscious mind and ordinary reality tools. But Tom says that understanding the internal state of a track maker is more than the conscious mind can handle.

I think when Tom says subconscious, he is using that as a way of saying non-ordinary. This level of tracking is something that your soul needs to do as it connects with the track maker’s soul through the tracks.

The same would be true of an expert reflexologist. It takes more than physical touch to do the healing. Souls and life force are involved.

I expect that many of the people reading this will have their own experiences where something physical is used to make a connection between souls. As always, I hope you will share your experiences to build our community of understanding.