by Sharon Falsetto

Created on: July 11, 2008   Last Updated: January 06, 2009

What is reflexology?

Reflexology is an ancient practice which has grown in popularity in recent years. In basic terms, it has been described as a massage, but it is in reality a lot more than that. It is a practice which involves either the feet, hands or ears and the simple techniques are now expanding to involve a lot of off-shoots' including vertical reflexology, baby and maternity reflexology and cranio-sacral reflexology, all based on the principles of basic reflexology but aimed at more specific ailments or groups. To understand what reflexology is all about, the origins of the practice should firstly be looked at.

Origins of reflexology

The modern way of practising reflexology varies from that practised many centuries ago. That being said, some form of reflexology' has been used, in one form or another, by many people throughout the ages.

The Chinese are thought to have been amongst the first to have developed the practice of reflexology. Both acupuncture and acupressure are similar to that of reflexology and practised by the Chinese for many years. It is also believed that primitive African and Indian tribes were aware of reflexology. The most famous and earliest known recording of the practice of reflexology is to be found in Egypt on the tomb of Ankhmahor in Saqqara, Egypt. It clearly shows pictures of reflexology' being practised as far back as 2330 BC.

The more modern approach to reflexology, commonly known as zone therapy', was developed by an American, Dr William Fitzgerald, at the beginning of the 20th century. Dr Fitzgerald was an ear, nose and throat specialist. Through a series of tests and experiments, he found the energy link' between corresponding parts of the body to the feet and hands, each within a series of zones'. Energy flows within these zones can be linked to a part of the body within the same zone. Blockages occurring in a particular part of the body could be cleared by applying pressure to the same zone to which it is situated in.

Dr Fitzgerald's work was at first viewed with scepticism by his medical counterpoints but eventually a few of them, Dr Edwin Bower and Dr Joe and Elizabeth Riley amongst them, developed his work further and wrote about it. Eunice Ingham, a student of Dr Riley, brought the practice of reflexology to mainstream attention in the 1930's, after developing zone therapy' further to what we today know as reflexology. She concentrated on using the reflex areas in the feet to relate to other parts of the body.

Doreen

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