What is Reflexology?
Our hands and feet hold mirror images of the structure, organs and systems of the body and by treating through these areas we are stimulating zones and approx. 7000 nerves with this form of massage. It releases trapped energy, allowing the body the freedom to start the healing process.
Where did it originate?
Pictures of foot massage on a physicians tomb in Egypt date back to 2330 BC and it has been practised through many civilizations. The Chinese using pressure techniques for over 500 years working on accupoints and meridian lines to unblock energy. The most familiar today is acupuncture with the use of needles.
An American, Dr. William Fitzgerald was important in the development of Reflexology when he discovered that by putting pressure on a point it would effect the whole zone it was made in and not just the point of pressure. It could even anaesthetise the area for minor surgery. Later discoveries where made as to the effects it had on various parts of the body. Dr. Joseph S Riley refined this technique and made the first detailed diagrams of the reflex points located on the feet.
It was Riley's assistant Eunice Ingham who made the greatest contribution when she seperated the work on the reflexes from Zone therapy, charting the feet as a map of the entire body.
What are the benefits of the therapy?
75% of disease is estimated to be stress related and reflexology is a great reliever of tension and the continuing stress that our lifestyles bring. In order to function the body needs energy in the form of oxygen and nutrients which are circulated in the blood. Reflexology improves the circulation, increasing efficiency of the organs, cells and systems and unblocks the trapped energy required to heal naturally.
With regular weekly treatments, particularly as we get older and are not as active as we used to be, the body can keep at its optimum. This gentle and relaxing therapy is suitable for all ages.
Last Modified on: 05-12-2018