Reflexology is a pleasant and relaxing experience – nothing like walking across sharp stones or spiky pine needles. Celina Sousa, the manager of Hotel Jardim Atlantico, an eco-hotel in Madeira, though, has decided to combine the two to create a natural reflexology walk.

Sousa got the idea after visiting a reflexology walk in an Austrian park. The walk had four shallow beds of natural substances such as pebbles and wood over which barefoot park-goers were walking.

She came back and persuaded the owners Of Hotel Jardim Atlantico that they could do something similar in Madeira. Her 800-metre “barefoot walk” complete with 17 shallow beds containing natural materials collected locally on the island opened two years ago. Since then it has been slowly gaining in popularity with locals and tourists.

The walk – perched high on a lush green hillside overlooking the Atlantic and surrounded by beautiful white and lilac African lilies – is designed to “awaken the feet.” She claims that walking barefoot regularly on different textured ground stimulates the heart and improves circulation, it also improves posture and concentration and “stimulates the creation of a stable personality.”

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However, as I hobble barefoot across hard pine cones and squelch through cold clay I am unconvinced that this is either beneficial for my feet, heart or wellbeing. I am feeling increasingly unstable. This is more like an endurance test than a spa treatment.

Sousa skips across shards of gravel and bounces joyfully over pine needles. “It’s good, eh? It promotes a sense of wellbeing. It activates all the nerves in the feet,” she calls back to me.

She regales me of tales of injured trekkers who have come to walk the island’s many levandas - 2,500 kms of walkways which run alongside 16th century irrigation canals - and found the barefoot walk “extremely helpful”. Several of the island’s levandas criss-cross the hotel’s grounds.

She explains that if any particular point on my feet repeatedly troubles me on the walk then I should consult the hotel’s reflexologist who will offer a diagnosis and a soothing massage. Tempting though a massage sounds, no particular point is in pain – my entire feet hurt from heel to toe.

We walk across wood, small stones, pine needles, gold sand, black sand, lava stones, eucalyptus berries, rocks of varying sizes, bark, laurel leaves and clay. Between each bed is soft green grass – and, believe me, grass has never felt so good.

The experience finishes with a walk through a mini levanda filled with water during which we are handed scrubbing brushes and towels. Afterwards my feet tingle and feel terrific. And I would urge anyone going to Madeira to give the natural reflexology walk a try – once.

Next time though I’ll be heading indoors for one the hotel’s more regular spa treatments.

• The barefoot walk is free and open to non-residents. Hotel Jardim Atlantico, Lombo da Rocha, Prazeres, P-91370-605, Calheta, Madeira. +351 291 820 220 www.jardimatlantico.com

Carol Lewis travelled to Madeira courtesy of Elegant Resorts (01244 897 515) and the Madeira Promotion Bureau

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