Did you know that there are over 7,000 nerve endings in the feet?

Reflexology works with these nerve endings by massaging reflex zones on the feet that correspond to every area of our bodies, using warmth, pressure and movement to send messages to the brain to relax the organs, glands, muscles and bones. A state of relaxation can bring greater connection, efficiency and resiliency to every living tissue in the body.

Hieroglyphic evidence of reflexology reaches back to the Egyptians. Various methods of working with the feet to improve health were also practiced in India and China.

Vladimir Bekhterev, a Russian neurologist and psychologist, coined the term “reflexology” in the late 1800s.

In the early 1900s, Dr. William H. Fitzgerald was introduced to Reflex Therapy while traveling, and brought it back to the United States. His “Zone Theory” proposed that pressure on zones on the bottom of the foot relieved pain, similar to acupuncture’s method of stimulation at distant sites and corresponding responses in actual locations.

Eunice Ingham, a physical therapist and colleague of Fitzgerald, was intrigued by the concept of Zone Therapy. She developed her foot reflex theory in the early 1930s, which proposed that our feet mirrored our bodies, and zones for all of the organs, glands, muscles and bones could be found and stimulated on the feet.

Gloria Zimet further refined and developed the Reflexolo-chi ^TM system, which accesses the body’s vital energy, or chi, by melding with the skin of the foot in a gentle, connected massage that releases blockages to energy pathways and re-balances the entire body system. This melding technique differs from the traditional thumb or finger rocking method used in traditional reflexology. I use this gentle melding technique in my practice.