What is Reflexology?

The History

There is no clear answer on where Reflexology originated from. However, there has been evidence to suggest that it dates as far back as 12,000 BC where a form of it was practiced by the Incas of South America. The teachings of this practice were passed down generation to generation through oral traditional methods and it is thought that this information eventually filtered to Native American Tribes.

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Fast forward to around 3000 BC, when early Sanskrit texts make reference to Ayurvedic medicine incorporating a form of reflexology that involved manipulating marma (energy) points to restore balance and harmony within the body. The technique that was used was called Padabhyanga – massage that stimulates nerve endings in the feet and hands.  Following this in 2700 BC the Chinese developed the Meridian Theory and Qi Energy. The theory describes a network of channels throughout the body that Qi and blood flow. By unblocking those channels through pressure points, Qi and blood can move more easily, thus the body can heal quicker and reach equilibrium. Over in Egypt, around 2500 BC, wall paintings in the tomb of the physician Ankmahor suggest that people practiced reflexology on the hands and feet as a method of healing.

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The theory of pressure points and its effects on other parts of the body was further investigated by Adamus and A’tatis in Vienna around the 1580s. The physicians wrote the first ever zone therapy book in 1582. This inspired the likes of English neurologist, Sir Henry Head and Sir Charles Sherrington in the late 1800s to carry out research around the nervous system and the links it has to the skin, internal organs and nerves in the body. In 1913 Dr William Fitzgerald from America discovered that by applying pressure to certain parts of the body could create an anaesthetic effect in corresponding areas. Through his travels in London and Vienna, he then went on to develop the zone therapy theory further by dividing the body up in to 10 equal vertical zones running from head to toe. He believed that stimulating energy in one part of a zone (through pressure), it would affect the whole of that zone.

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A few years later in 1919 a good friend and colleague of Dr Fitzgerald, Dr Joe Shelby Riley, practiced zone therapy on a lot of his patients, including his wife and assistant. He went onto expanding the theory further by incorporating horizontal zones and mapping out the reflex points on the hands and feet.  His assistant, Eunice Ingham, took zone therapy to another level in the 1930s and essentially developed the practice into what is today. Eunice is regarded as the ‘Mother of Reflexology’ for her pioneering research in identifying and mapping the reflex points that correspond to various organs and body systems. Eunice travelled around American and taught many aspiring therapists – during this time in the 1960s the term ‘Reflexology’ was born. One of Eunice’s most successful students was Doreen Bayly. She introduced Reflexology back into the UK and established the Bayly School of Reflexology in 1978. Another triumphant student was Hanne Marquardt who went onto expand Eunice’s ideas further by identifying three transverse zones on the feet that reflect the three parts of the body: the head/neck/shoulder area, the chest and upper abdomen and the lower abdominal pelvic area.

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Today there are over 5,000 members of the Association of Reflexology in the UK and internationally. Western practices of reflexology slightly differ to Eastern as it focusses on the lighter techniques developed by Eunice Ingham and Gladys Evans. Eastern techniques tend to be more vigorous with the use of knuckles and sometimes tools such as wooden sticks.