I am a reflexology specialist based in Ash Vale. I did my reflexology diploma training in Northern Ireland at the Sheila Nugent school of reflexology (formerly the Chrysalis school of reflexology) qualifying in June 2011. I also completed an advanced qualification in Reflexology there, which covers pregnancy care and cancer care.
I had the most amazing and knowledgeable tutor and I am thankful for the opportunity of being trained by Sheila Nugent. Sheila was trained by Jane Vukovic, Jane was trained by Doreen Bayley. It was Doreen Bayley who brought reflexology to the UK in the 1960s. Doreen Bayley was a student of Eunice Ingham who in the 1930s in the USA developed the reflexology we know today. This training line makes me a 5th generation Ingham method reflexologist!
I have spend 126 classroom hours learning and developing my trade: 70 of those hours were for my reflexology diploma. On top of those classroom hours I also had to complete and document 40 mandatory case studies for my diploma. I also had home work and practice treatments.
I was so keen to learn about reflexology that I badgered anyone and everyone to let me treat their feet while I was training - family, friends, work colleagues or neighbours!
Once I qualified with my diploma I then went on to gain my advanced reflexology certificate. Further developing my skills at later dates with hot stone reflexology, hand reflexology, visual reflexology, foot reading and facial reflexology.
Reflexology practitioners understand that reflexology helps release stress, which in turn helps the body heal and regenerate itself.
One theory is that reflexology works with the central nervous system. This theory builds on research done in the 1890s by Sir Henry Head and Sir Charles Sherrington, who began to show through their research that a neurological relationship exists between the skin and the internal organs, and that the whole nervous system adjusts to a stimulus.
According to the theory, the reflexologist's application of pressure to feet, hands, or ears sends a calming message from the peripheral nerves in these extremities to the central nervous system, which in turn signals the body to adjust the tension level. This enhances overall relaxation, brings internal organs and their systems into a state of optimum functioning, and increases blood supply (which brings additional oxygen and nutrients to cells and enhances waste removal). It positively affects the circulatory, respiratory, endocrine and immune systems in the body.
Another theory holds that there is a "vital energy" in the human body. If stress is not addressed, it leads to congestion of energy, which in turn causes bodily inefficiencies, which can lead to illness. According to this theory, reflexology helps keep the energy flowing.
Dr Fitzgerald from Boston USA, an ear nose and throat surgeon developed the concept of zone therapy and claimed to ease certain symptoms and to bring on numbness by applying clamps to the fingers or toes so that he could operate.
What about zone theory?
The recognition of reflexology as a specific type of treatment began with Zone Theory, in which the body is divided into 10 vertical zones. Each zone corresponds to fingers and toes all the way up to the top of the head. For example, if you are standing up with your hands on your thighs (palms facing down) the thumbs and great toe would be zone 1. On either side of the body, the index finger and second toe would be zone 2, etc. The zones are similar to, but not the same as meridians found in Chinese medicine. However, there are some correlations with some meridians and the location of organs on the feet and ankles.
In 1913 Dr Joe Riley who learnt zone therapy from Dr Fitzgerald refined the method and began to locate points of the feet. He and his wife ran a holistic centres in Washington and Florida. They employed a physiotherapist called Eunice Ingham who pioneered the reflex points on the hand and feet, she also mapped the organs onto the hands and feet. Eunice called her method reflexology!
In reflexology theory, every organ, valve, muscle, etc. that lies within a zone can be accessed via a point or area on the feet or hands. For example, working between toes 2 and 3, or fingers 2 and 3, the eye point is found. These pathways between pressure points and other parts of the body are thought to be connected via the nervous system.
