Reflexology History, Theory and Benefits

in this section we're going to discuss reflexology history vary and benefits reflexology has a very long history it gets its roots from ancient Egypt China and Japan in Egypt there were pictographs in the physicians tomb showing a form of healing art that looks like reflexology we often think of reflexology as having its roots in China because it's very similar to acupuncture in theory there's also what we would call a reiteration theory where different parts of the body are a microcosm of the whole so therefore you can reach every part of the body through the palms of the hands through the soles of the feet on the ears and you can do diagnosis in Chinese medicine by looking at the tongue so that also represents the whole body there's also been evidence in Japan from the physicians temple at 690 ad that there was a form of healing being done that also looked like early reflexology it was brought to Europe in the late 1800s you know we believe that it was through the missionaries or Marco Polo that these healing arts from the east came into Europe there was evidence that it was used in Russia in the 1800s and in Austria later on and later it was brought to the United States by dr. William Fitzgerald who studied in Europe he brought the work in a form that he called a zone therapy and in zone therapy he described ten longitudinal zones that run through the body ten in the head and then they branch off into the hands with his own one being the thumb in the big toe being Zone one two three four five as we go through the fingers out to the little finger and the little toe Eunice Ingham who worked with colleagues of dr. Fitzgerald's chart at the foot in relationship to the body she took zone therapy and through trial and error found out where it was on the feet and on the hands and made charts Dwight buyers who was Eunice's nephew received reflexology from the time he was a little child and he claims that Eunice cured his asthma so he became very excited about reflexology and he started to do reflexology and work with Eunice and later on he opened the National Institute of reflexology in the mid-70s and Dwight is who I studied with in the 70s and got certified by how does reflexology were basically reflexology is thought to work through the energy pathways this is the primary theory of how it works in the hands and the feet as you know by the description of reflexology our mirror of the whole body all parts of the body can be reached do the hands in the feet and through these energy pathways or what Fitzgerald called zones that's the most common theory of how it works it's very akin to acupuncture there's also another theory that believes that it works through the nerve endings in the hands the three nerve stimulation we can send a message to different parts of the body kind of like an electrical circuit board there's also an energy balance theory which claims that as you work the feet in the hands you're releasing energy blockages and you're allowing the energy to flow properly and flow smoothly and this is very much in alignment with Chinese medicine there's another theory which we would call the somatic theory and that's the idea that your issues are psychological emotional issues or your physical issues are stored in your body your issues are in your tissues so in this way when we work the body we're releasing any stuck energy that's in the body releasing any blockages and helping the body heal and come into balance so those are the four most common theories reflexology has many benefits but I'm gonna go through the common benefits and the ones that are agreed upon for most reflexology relieves tension and stress and that's huge because it's believed that at least 85% of all calm and health conditions are due to stress reflexology is also believed to improve circulation which increases oxygen and nutrition to the cells of the body leading to better health so when you release tension in the body you're improving the nerve and blood supply just by having it more easy flow through the body there's less tension to impede the nerves and the blood and reflexology ultimately helps the body to normalize and to restore balance so I will see you in the next section