Reflexology let your feet do the talking

Reflexology is perhaps one of the more established complementary therapies. It is the modern name for a therapy that has been known and used successfully in many countries of the Ancient World. First recorded in Egypt about 2330 BC, Dr William Fitzgerald in the United States rediscovered the therapy in the late 1890s, calling it zone therapy.

In the 1930s, Eunice Ingham, a therapist, further developed and refined the zone therapy into what is now known as reflexology. She observed that congestion or tension in any part of the foot mirrors congestion or tension in a corresponding part of the body. Thus, when you treat the big toes there is a related effect in the head, and treating the whole foot can have a relaxing and healing effect on the whole body.

Doreen Bayley having trained with Eunice Ingham, and Dwight Byers, Eunice Ingham’s nephew, introduced reflexology to Britain in the 1960s and it has gone from strength to strength, now recognised in the West as an established branch of complementary medicine and a simple non-invasive and natural way to optimum health.

Reflexology is associated with the manipulation of the feet and based on the principle that there are reflex points on the feet that correspond to every organ, gland and part of the body. However, hand reflexology is also practiced although not as widely in the UK. The hands are not as sensitive as the feet and the reflex points are much deeper, but a hand reflexology treatment can be extremely beneficial.

Benefits of Reflexology
High levels of stress can often lead to a wide range of health problems and reflexology is an effective method of reducing the physical and emotional stresses and anxieties of today’s society.

It brings balance and harmony to all body systems and can calm or stimulate according to the needs of the body.

A few of the more common conditions that may be helped by reflexology are:

• Anxiety • Back Pain • Circulatory Problems • Constipation • Digestive Problems • Fatigue • Fluid Retention • Headaches
• Hormonal Imbalance • Insomnia • Leg cramps • Pre-menstrual tension • Sinusitis • Stress

Promoting and encouraging total body relaxation and restful sleep, reflexology generally gives a wonderful sense of
well-being.

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