The History of ReflexologyReflexology has been used since ancient times in India , Egypt and China . In the Physician's tomb at Saqqara in Egypt there is a frieze on its wall believed to illustrate a reflexology treatment taking place. This tomb is thought to have been built between 3000 and 2250 B.C. Native American Indians of the Cherokee tribe in New England still practice a form of reflexology today that is passed down from generation to generation.
Dr William Fitzgerald, an ENT surgeon, is credited with being its modern day forefather when he found he could dull pain in one part of the body by applying pressure on another. In 1913 he published his article on "Zone Therapy" as he called it. His work was developed by Dr Jo Shelby Riley and his wife Elizabeth and a student of theirs, Eunice Ingham. It was Eunice that gave the therapy its present name of reflexology and she concentrated on applying the treatment primarily to the feet rather than other parts of the body. Eunice Ingham died in 1974. In England , Renee Tanner, a very experienced reflexologist, opened her first school in 1973. Renee felt that reflexology should not hurt and she developed her own technique based on a sound understanding of Anatomy, Physiology and Pathology plus over eleven thousand case studies. Renee has published a book on her routine now in its 5th edition. She is also Chair of the International Federation of Reflexologists and a founder member of the British Complementary Medicine Association. It is this technique that Anne was taught. |
Anne Matthias Dip C.O.T., Dip Reflex (B.S.R.) IEB
Member of the Association of Reflexologists
Feet Forward Reflexology
Upton St Leonards, Gloucester, UK
Tel. 01452 614214
Mobile 07825 623147
Copyright © Feet Forward Reflecology 2013
Member of the Association of Reflexologists
Feet Forward Reflexology
Upton St Leonards, Gloucester, UK
Tel. 01452 614214
Mobile 07825 623147
Copyright © Feet Forward Reflecology 2013