Heal the heel

Peter Wong likes to make my feet hurt. Real good. 

For the past several years, I have been visiting Synchronizity (the “z” is for the “oomph”) Foot Reflexology Spa to get a “quick picker-upper” from Peter. And, depending on the state of my health, the discomfort from my foot reflexology session will range from slightly wincing in pain to screaming like a straight man in a Saudi prison.

But on top of the foot massage, there’s a little something “extra” that comes during Peter’s reflexology session (and I’m not talking about a happy ending). 

In an interview with Peter, a former Hong Kong native, through his Chinese-Filipina wife (and interpreter) Bing, she describes Peter’s mutant-like power of healing, explains why there are some parts of the foot massage that make me feel like my foot is giving birth, and elaborates on what body parts Peter can stimulate that keep you — ahem — stimulated as well. 

RJ LEDESMA: Before Peter starts the foot reflexology treatment, he places both of his hands on my feet, closes his eyes and kind of just stays there for several minutes. Is he meditating? Relishing the moment? Taking in the vapors of my feet?

BING WONG: He is slowly “diagnosing” you from head to toe to find out if there is anything “negative” in your body.

How does Peter diagnose what’s wrong with me? Is he like Baymax from Big Hero 6? I noticed the resemblance.

Peter has a “gift.”  When his eyes are closed, he can “see” the parts of your body and, particularly, the parts that are “problematic.”

So Peter has seen all of me and my problematic pink parts? Just remember, it’s cold in this room. What makes a foot reflexology massage different from full-body massage?

(Dirty Old Man [DOM] representative: And how do these foot massages “end”?)

In reflexology, you massage pressure points on your feet that are connected to and stimulate your internal organs. If an organ is “weak,” then reflexology will “fix” that organ by improving its circulation. For example, if you are experiencing constipation, then reflexology will stimulate (the part of your foot that corresponds) to the digestive area until it functions properly again. 

If there is healing involved, how come the reflexology makes some parts of my feet feel like they’re giving birth to quadruplets?

The parts (of the feet) that are painful during the treatment correspond to the internal organs that are “weak” for a person. (The painful areas are) different for every person.

My spleen has never felt this much love before. While Peter was massaging a particular part of my foot, I felt a little jolt somewhere around my stomach. Does that mean I’m becoming a mutant?

When somebody is more “open,” they can more easily “feel” the treatment in the weak part of their body. In your case, it’s the digestive system.

I’m glad I didn’t feel a jolt around my pink parts. Wait a moment, if the foot corresponds to all my body parts, then he could be stimulating my pink parts as well!? I may need my wife’s permission before he stimulates anything in that area. Out of curiosity, which area is that on the foot?

The side of the ankle corresponds to the prostate, testicles and urethra.

(No Girlfriend Since Birth [NGSB] representative: I think I’ll need to learn how to give myself my own reflexology massage.)

(DOM representative: Not that it’s a problem, but what do you do for someone with low levels of libido?)

Low libido levels are caused by a combination of weaknesses in the kidney, the bladder, the urethra, the testicles, the prostate, the nervous system and the pituitary gland. If the genitals are weak, the number one thing that is weak is the kidney followed by the bladder, the urethra, the testicles, the prostate, the nervous system and the pituitary gland. All of that combined. Basta hindi dapat barado. Because if it is barado, then it affects the organs.

(NGSB representative: Barado? I get that problem a lot.)

And how does Peter fix that? With a vacuum cleaner?

He stimulates the pressure points of those areas.

(DOM representative: How about if one wants to improve his longevity? And I’m not talking about long life.)

He needs to have strong kidneys, his pituitary glands shouldn’t be so “tense” and the genital organs should be “fixed.” If you are stressed or tense, that can affect your genitals, which in turn will affect your longevity.

And I always thought you could fix that by eating birthday noodles. How about if you want your scalp hair to grow back?

There are two types of hair loss: one is natural; it’s hereditary. The other, if caused by sickness, can be fixed through reflexology  

(RJ whispering: I’m sorry, dad. I tried. K’thanksbye.) At the start of the session, I could feel a tingling sensation as Peter held on to my feet. Was that him or kinikilig lang ba ako?

Unlike other reflexologists, he is a healer. Peter is also giving you “energy” or “qi” to heal your body. The sensation of qi transference differs from person to person. For you, it’s tingling, while for others it’s warm or cold or electric or like a cloud entering their body.

What is this “qi” and is it regulated by the FDA? 

Qi is the energy, it’s like a power. Qi is in all living things. Qi is like oxygen. When a person doesn’t have qi, it is like he is “dry.”

(DOM representative: Dry? You mean like tigang?)

So the less qi that we have, the less energy that we have?

Where does he get the qi? From himself? From a power plant? From someplace tasteful?

No, it doesn’t come from him. Qi isn’t “nice” if it comes from people. The qi comes from the universe.

Is the qi postpaid or prepaid?

He can actually pass on qi to you even if you don’t come here to the studio. You can be in America and he can send over the qi.

Wow, his qi has got a pretty strong signal. You told me before that Peter comes from a family of healers?

His great-great-grandfather could heal without touching; he would heal through meditation. His great-grandfather was a healer and his father was a Chinese herbal doctor.

So did he learn “healing” from his father and grandfather? Or did he pick up everything from Google?

There’s a part that was learned, but most of it came from his mind. Most of what he knows (about healing) wasn’t learned.

So, he isn’t like Baymax, but more like Professor X of the X-Men? Hence the resemblance. I understand you also conduct ventosa (also known as “cupping therapy” where local suction is applied to the skin. Through suction, the skin is drawn upwards by creating a vacuum in a cup over a specific area. The cup is left there for several minutes) after the foot reflexology session. You mean to tell me that the pain in the foot isn’t enough, so there needs to be a pain in the back!?

Treatment of the back (with ventosa) is also good for balancing — the foot is for ying and the back is for yang. The back also has pressure points that need to be “fixed” through detoxification and improving circulation. But what is important is that Peter applies his qi healing hands on those acupressure points. Ventosa just helps stimulate those pressure points at the back and remove the lamig.

(NGSB representative: I think using your hands to relieve pressure is a life skill among many male adolescents.) 

How come after my ventosa therapy, the suction cups leave behind dark spots on some areas of my back, while the others have no spots at all? I often end up having to explain to my wife that I came from a ventosa treatment and not from a massage parlor.

Yan yung mga barado, kaya nangigitim.

(NGSB representative: I’ve got other body parts that are nangigitim. Can they apply the ventosa cups there?)

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For comments, suggestions or nangigitim ka na, please email Ledesma.rj@gmail.com or visit www.rjledesma.com. Follow @rjled on Twitter and @rjled610 on Instagram.

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You can contact qi healer Peter Wong at 0917-5322209 or 813-1899. You can also visit him by appointment at the Synchronizity Foot Spa at La Fuerza Compound, Pasong Tamo.