Reflexology is a non-invasive complementary health therapy for overall health and wellness. It is a hands-on therapy where the practitioner works on feet, hands and sometimes ears, stimulating various zones with gently firm massage, and pressing on specific reflex points which correspond to major organs, glands and bodily systems.
There exists a neurological relationship between the skin, the brain and our internal organs via our vast neural network . While working on the feet, thousands of nerves are stimulated, and these impulses encourage the body’s neural pathways to activate our natural healing mechanism, calming us on a very deep level, and bringing our body into a state balance for optimum functioning.
Reflexology is an extremely relaxing treatment, and highly beneficial for healing on all levels – physical, mental and emotional. It is suitable for the whole family.
The guiding principles of Reflexology: "Reflexologists do not heal clients; the body repairs itself"
This is an acknowledgement that reflexology is offered to help bring the person back into balance so that the body can nurture and repair itself, and the reflexologist is a mere participant in the session, rather than "the healer."
Earliest documentation of reflexology as a healing practice dates back to ancient Egypt (approx. 2400BC), as depicted in the tomb of Ankmahor, Saqqara. There is also evidence that a form of foot and hand therapy was being practised in China at about the same time. Tibetans and tribes of North American Indians are also known to have practised foot therapy for hundreds of years. In Europe, in the late 14th century, there is evidence that reflexology was used under the name of Zone Therapy, and during the 16th Century a number of books were published on the topic of Zone Therapy.
Dr. William Fitzgerald (1872–1942) is considered the father of modern reflexology, as he brought the practice into widespread use in the US, and wrote “Zone Therapy or Relieving Pain in the Home” in 1917. Two years later, the book was expanded and published under a second title “Zone Therapy or Curing Pain and Disease”.
However, it was Eunice Ingham (1879 – 1974), a physiotherapist, who brought Reflexology to the recognised profession it is today. She extended the work of Dr Fitzgerald and painstakingly mapped out detailed charts of the feet with all the corresponding organs and glands of the body. She was a true pioneer, and was determined to help people to help themselves, if their doctor was not using reflexology. In the early years, she worked with doctors to prove her findings and to demonstrate that besides the healing benefits, reflexology was also a useful diagnostic tool.
