Reflexology

It is thought that a form of reflexology was used thousands of years ago, as a painting was found in an ancient tomb in Saqqara, Egypt in 2330 BC, showing people working on each others feet. Similar methods have since been used in Japan and India and the Cherokee Indians in North America have used a foot reflex therapy since the 17th Century – and are said to still use it in a healing ritual to this day. In the 1500’s the great Florentine sculptor, Cellini, is reported to have used strong pressure on his fingers and toes in order to relieve pain in his body with success. Later, a Dr William Fitzgerald wrote a book with Dr Edwin Bowers on their findings of zone therapy (published in 1917). It was discovered that if pressure was applied to some parts of the foot it induced anaesthesia in specific parts of the body. Dr Fitzgerald mapped the body into 10 energy zones (five to each side of the body). Zone one starts at the thumb, goes up the arm, shoulders, neck and brain, then down the body to the second toe (next to the big toe). The continued research by Eunice Ingham has helped create the reflexology as we know it today with the production of a book in 1938 called ‘Stories the Feet Can Tell’ including the foot mapping chart linking to organs and body parts.

There are 70,000 nerve endings on the sole of each foot and reflexologists believe that working on the reflex points on the foot we are able to balance the energy flow within the longitudinal zones of the body. Our lifestyles and pressures of daily life put many demands on our body – the foods we eat, additives and pesticides, the air pollution we breath in. Stress on the body can build up slowly and many people are not even aware of how stressed they are because their lifestyle has become a regular pattern of ‘keeping up’ – their speech becomes quickened, they get irritated more easily, have less patience, don’t eat properly and have more aches and pains, digestive disorders, weakened immune system, skin problems and frequent colds and infections. Reflexology treats the body as a ‘whole’ and not just one symptom, so that is can help you cope better and become more relaxed, thereby helping the body to help itself.

A full, free, consultation is given before any treatment is started. You will be asked to sit back on an electronic couch that will be raised or lowered for your comfort. I do not normally talk during the treatment, so that you are able to completely relax and enjoy the session. A little oil or powder is used and the treatment starts with a general foot massage to help you relax. After the treatment I will explain what ‘stories your feet have told’! Most people leave feeling calmer, more relaxed and positive.