Reflexology is a profound Healing Art and Science!
Practiced in diverse cultures for centuries, Reflexology is a method of touch therapy and a universally acclaimed healing art and science. For preventative care or in response to physical or emotional distress, a Reflexology session acts as a catalyst to aid the body toward its own natural healing process.
Researchers believe that Reflexology is well over 5,500 years old. The first record of Reflexology is found in an Egyptian physician's tomb, which dates back to 2330 BC. Traces of 'foot work" also appear in other cultures such as China, India and early European going back thousands of years, indicating no one culture invented it. A carving of "The Foot of Vishnu" (a Hindu God) shows symbols on the bottom of the feet. Although the actual meaning of these symbols is unknown, their placement corresponds too closely with today's knowledge of specific reflex areas and corresponding organs and glands of the body to be merely a coincidence.
Today's methods are based on the work of Dr. William Fitzgerald an American ear, nose and throat surgeon, who studied the art of "pressure therapy in Europe and pioneered "Zone Therapy" in the USA. He noted that pressure on specific parts of the body could have an anaesthetizing effect on a related area. Developing this theory, he divided the body into ten equal and vertical zones, ending in the fingers and toes. He concluded that pressure on one part of a zone could affect everything else within that zone. Thus, reflex areas on the feet and hands are linked to other areas and organs of the body within the same zone. A colleague of Pavlov, V. M. Bechterev coined the term "Reflexology" in 1917.
In the 1930's, Eunice Ingham, a therapist, further developed and refined the zone therapy into what is now known as Foot Reflexology. She observed that congestion or tension in any part of the foot mirrors congestion or tension in a corresponding part of the body. The points on the foot represent reflex areas that correspond to parts of the body. The feet can be seen as a map of the body with the right foot representing the right hand side of the body and the left foot the left side. Reflex areas are found on the soles, the top and sides of the feet. The skilled application of pressure to specific points on the feet by a trained Reflexologist can restore balance to the body, consequently improving overall function and the body's ability to effectively respond to illness and stress.
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