The foundation of
reflexology is that different regions of our
feet correspond to different areas of the body. Manipulating the
specific parts of the feet, the belief is that ailments in other parts of the body can be addressed. This principle has been around for thousands of years in
China and elsewhere, where
reflexology has long been practiced. More recently, early in the 20th century, American physician
Dr. William Fitzgerald mapped out 10 zones of the body and keyed each zone to a region of the foot. The later finding of so-called
reflex points led to the use of the term reflexology to describe the managements designed to bring relief.
By gently probing the right foot, specialists of
reflexology (they can include
massage or
physical therapists,
podiatrists, and
chiropractors) seek to provide relief to the right side of the body, and vice versa for the left foot.
The origin of
reflexology is not known for sure. Feet have been molded by evolution to be highly sensitive to impulses, courtesy of the multiple thousands of nerve endings that are present. Advocates of
reflexology claim that the all-encompassing innervation of the feet is key to the flow of what is referred to as “
vital energy” throughout the body. A ready flow of this energy is beneficial, while blockage in the flow due to injury or illness is not.
Reflexology aims to restore the proper energy flow.
