Nonthreatening. Gentle, yet robust. Relaxing and therapeutic. These are the words clients use to describe reflexology, a therapy deep in tradition, but “new” in the realm of Western medicine. Reflexology is a therapy that uses gentle pressure on a client’s feet to stimulate the body’s own healing process. While most commonly associated with the feet,  reflexology is also effective when performed on the hands and ears.

In foot reflexology, the therapist uses body maps that correspond to various points on the feet (see page 8) and applies pressure to those points with the goal of improving function in the body’s corresponding systems and organs, and  providing balance to the body overall. According to the Reflexology Association of America, “These techniques stimulate the complex neural pathways linking body systems, supporting the body’s efforts to function optimally.”1 Using “micromovement techniques,” like thumb or finger walking, reflexology is different than massage, reports the University of Minnesota’s Center for Spirituality and Healing (CSH). “Where massage therapists work from the outside in, reflexology practitioners see themselves as working from the inside out.”2

FROM PAIN RELIEF TO STRESS RELIEF

Used in hospitals throughout Europe, and considered a form of health care in China, reflexology continues to find advancement here in the West with each new research inquiry.

According to Diana Thompson, a leader in the field of massage and bodywork, reflexology is more than just…(To read ‘the rest of the story’, please click here BS Spring-2019