This is a copy of an article by Nirmala McAfee, of Sedona, Arizona. The article ran in an online issue of Sedona.Biz (www.Sedona.biz) in spring of 2007.

 

About John Campbell of Happy Feet in Sedona, Arizona, Master Reflexologist.

 

Where is my objectivity?  Gone out the window when it comes to John Campbell’s special talent for making folks feel good.  I will admit it right now.  John is the person I go to when I need healing relief! John is a Master Reflexologist and I feel, one of the best!  So, when the opportunity came to chat with John about his life and his healing service, reflexology, I jumped at the chance to visit John at his office at Afterglow of Sedona, 51B Bell Rock Plaza in the Village of Oak Creek.

 

Reflexology is an ancient practice or science, dating back to the Egyptians.  This science adheres to the principle that there are reflex areas in the feet and hands, which correspond to all the glands, organs, and parts of the body. When the thumbs and fingers properly stimulate these reflexes, using a specialized method, areas of congestion or tension are released, thus, assisting the body to operate at its peak efficiency. There are many benefits to reflexology, including but not limited to, improved circulation, relieving stress, tension and pain and, of course, absolute pleasure.  In the case of John, himself, reflexology brought about a cessation of allergies that had plagued him since he was a child.

 

Born in Flint, Michigan, John was an athletic kid who loved playing outdoors and was a natural at sports. Unfortunately for him, the same weather that prompted him to go outside also plagued him with allergies.  He suffered from allergies for as long as he could remember, although he laughingly tells me, “My mother never believed it.  I would eat some watermelon and break out in hives.  When I ran to my mother, she would say, ‘Oh, you must have been rolling in the grass.’ I was allergic to watermelon and pretty much everything else.”

 

I ask, “So, how did that get you to the field of reflexology?”  John laughs, “It’s a long story.”  And so we began.

 

John graduated from high school in 1966.  According to John, his hometown of Flint was already a “depressing city, a union town that was at odds with the big corporation.”  In fact, it later became the subject of Michael Moore’s feature-length documentary, “Roger and Me.” which chronicles General Motors’s massive layoffs in 1989 and its devastating effects on its hometown of Flint, Michigan. (www.michaelmoore.com/dogeatdogfilms/rogerme.html).  In 1968, John was drafted, so he decided to join the Navy instead.  He served on a nuclear sub and the last place he was stationed was Charleston, SC.  Finding that he liked the warm south, he moved to Florida where he went to college.  “The weather sure beat Flint, that’s for sure.”

 

In late 1979, he moved to Texas to apply to osteopathic school.   John only had 18 hours of premed left to complete and thought this was the direction he wanted to pursue.  But when he didn’t get into the osteopathic school of his choice, mostly due to a difference in focus and philosophy (‘I was a bit too into alternative medicine for them’), he decided to put doctoring behind him and go back to accounting.  

 

“So now I’m in Texas, working for a huge corporation as an accountant, making money, enjoying my life, except for one thing – my allergies.  In Texas, my allergies got worse.”  John tells me that northern Texas is notorious for ragweed; consequently, his day-to-day existence, outdoors from August through October, was downright miserable. 

 

“The worst part was having my allergies act up during a baseball game.”  John loves baseball but being outside just made him feel terrible, what with the tearing eyes and the itching.  While employed as an accountant, John’s health insurance provided for allergy shots.  But when he was part of a series of layoffs in the recession of the early 1990’s, his health insurance was dropped, and John was on his own to deal with his allergies.   That fall, when ragweed season hit, it was very hard on him.  He could hardly breathe and forget about watching baseball! In addition to his allergies, he would also get frequent sinus infections.  Needless to say, he was open to change.

 

As fate would have it, one of John’s good friends was seeing a Reflexologist for asthma.  His friend swore by the treatment. John decided to give it a try for his allergies.  What did he have to lose? The Reflexologist was very confident and told him that she could help him.  John went religiously every week for four months.  He didn’t change any other part of his lifestyle or diet; he was already eating natural and organic as much as possible.  He just kept his appointment every week.

 

“It changed my life,” John tells me emphatically. After four months, he saw a marked difference in his health.  He was hooked. 

 

During this time, due to the forced layoffs, John found himself doing temporary and part-time accounting – that is, short-term assignments – while he chose a new life direction.  Although he was still dabbling in the fields of accounting and real estate, he felt that he was ready for something different. With more free time on his hands, he found himself outdoors more and more, camping and hiking, especially now that his allergies were getting under control.   One day, his Reflexologist suggested that he, himself, become a Reflexologist. The idea resonated with him.  He entered the International Institute of Reflexology and was certified in 1995.

 

The International Institute of Reflexology (www.reflexology-usa.net) can be traced back to Eunice D. Ingham, a physical therapist, who became fascinated with zone therapy under the direction of her mentor, Dr. Shelby Riley. In 1930, she began developing a theory of foot reflexology, based on the idea that every reflex point in the foot is “connected” to some corresponding organ.  Her first book on the subject, Stories the Feet Can Tell, was published in 1938 and was later translated into seven foreign languages.  Helped in her mission by others who shared her insight and passion, the International Institute of Reflexology opened in the mid 1970’s by her student and nephew, Dwight Byers and his wife, Nancy.                   

 

“So, how did you come to find yourself practicing reflexology in Sedona?” I ask further.

 

Like so many people who live in our wonderful town. John also has a unique story of how he came to be a part of the red rock scene.   For many of us there is a moment when we see Sedona and exclaim, “I want to live there.  I will live there,” yet the circumstances that get us here are always so varied.  For John, it began during a holistic workshop in 2000.  John was joining other practitioners of various healing sciences at an expo on holistic healing at the Convention Center in Austin, Texas.  As luck would have it, the off ramp leading to the Convention Center was closed that weekend.  Construction kept the usual crowd of conventioneers from attending.  Consequently, there were plenty of empty seats as attendance was way down due to the closed off ramp.  The vendors found themselves with time on their hands.  They didn’t have much to do, so they began inviting one another to their individual workshops.

 

John decided to attend a workshop on animal power shields.  The workshop leader, Eagle Soaring was from Sedona.  John really “connected” with Eagle Soaring and his Native American message. In addition, Eagle Soaring created beautiful animal power shields, which attracted John on so many levels.  Eagle Soaring told him that he offered spiritual retreats in Rimrock, Arizona.  The next one would be in November, and each day there would be different offerings: a sweat lodge, medicine wheels, power shield work, etc. John made plans to go.

 

During the retreat, which was all John could have hoped for, he learned that Eagle Soaring and his partner were hoping to sell their home in Rimrock, where the retreat was taking place, and travel in their RV around the country.  At the time, this information meant little to John.  He went home to Arlington, Texas, renewed from the workshop and resumed his life.

 

Several weeks later, after John was back in Arlington, he found himself driving home at lunchtime.  This was rare, as his home was quite some distance from his job and he seldom took the time to go all the way home midday.  But for some reason, on this afternoon, he felt compelled to drive the extra distance to return home at lunchtime, something he never did.  Out his kitchen window, which looked out into his backyard, he saw a hawk flying with a recently acquired squirrel in his talons.  Small black birds chased the hawk frenetically in the sky.  The Hawk landed in a tree near John’s back door, and in the face of the onslaught of small black birds, the hawk decided to drop the squirrel in John’s backyard compost pile.

 

At first John thought, “I don’t know what this means, but it means something.”  But after some contemplation, which was his habit, he decided that the hawk was an animal spirit message, which came to tell him, “Drop those things that are not important.”

 

John saw this event as something special. He called Eagle Soaring and told him about the vision, and asked for his insight.  Eagle Soaring agreed that the hawk had a message for John and invited him to another workshop six months later, again in Rimrock. John decided to attend the May workshop and during that time, he and Eagle Soaring discussed John making some major moves in his life.   John ended up buying Eagle Soaring’s home, and today that is where John lives.

 

John made the move to Sedona on an auspicious day - New Year’s Eve 2001. The second week in Sedona, John was at New Frontiers, one of Sedona’s natural food markets. He was looking at the bulletin board and found an announcement for an Interfaith Fellowship Church service at the library.  About 30 to 40 people showed up on that cold January day. When announcement time came, a man named James Gregory stood up and announced that later that afternoon a group would be going hiking and rock climbing and all were invited to join.  Being the weather was so inclement, John and only one other person showed up to join James Gregory on his January adventure.  John recalls laughingly, “I really wasn’t prepared.  I didn’t even have on real hiking boots.”  Even so, the group went climbing behind Slide Rock State Park.   John was amazed. “We were going up the sides of these rock faces.  I could never have dreamed....”

 

John became a regular climber with the group.  James, the other fellow who braved the cold that day, was in the process of inventing a repelling device, “... for descending and/or lowering objects from a height employing a device that includes a fixed strand, a locking carabiner, and a simple harness.”  John helped build and test the Grappler, which was loosely named after its inventor, Gregory.  It was patented (US patent # 7,025,172) on April 11, 2006.

 

Today, John keeps very busy with his many interests.  Besides his successful reflexology practice and mountain climbing, John is an avid baseball fan.  As a young man, he played on two city championship teams and also intramural softball in college.  In fact, he played competitive softball until he was 46.  John has seen 16 out of the 30 major league ballparks!  This spring, he’ll take a long weekend to go to see the Cactus League spring training - over a dozen major league teams that prepare in Phoenix and Tucson.   When I asked which is his favorite team, he looked astonished, “The D-Backs, of course,” he replied.

 

Gardening is another passion of John’s.  When he came to town, he picked up the Ad King and was attracted to an ad that read, “Do what you love.”  That sounded promising.  The ad was for help at Angel Valley Spiritual Retreat Center (www.angelvalley.org). The folks there wanted assistance with their organic garden, fire tending during ceremonies, help with the sweat lodge, etc.

 

“Picking up the Ad King was, again, one of those things that happens in Sedona,” John tells me.  He responded to the ad and not only became a part-time gardener, but he was able to provide reflexology services at the retreat center, as well.

 

This year, John will put in a garden at his Rimrock home that sits on .9 acres.  Previously, he planted fruit trees.  The house, built in the 1960’s, sits on the flood zone. Consequently, during the last big rain in Sedona, John was out there with sandbags, waiting for nature to take its course.  Luckily, his house was spared. 

 

If all that isn’t enough to keep John busy, he is also a member of the Beaver Creek Kiwanis Club, “a global organization of volunteers dedicated to changing the world one child and one community at a time,” according to their 2004 mission statement (www.beavercreekkiwanis.org). 

 

“Um, you do have time to work on me, right?” I ask, all of a sudden worried that my Reflexologist may be too busy.  But, like usual, John always has time for his clients, and gives me the exact appointment time I want.  Handing me an appointment card as I leave his office, I notice his email address Happyfeetsedona@earthlink.net. "That’s a fitting address.” I tell him. 

 

Call John for an appointment at 928-821-0383 and see what reflexology can do for you!