Reflexology
The ancient healing art of reflexology has been known and practiced for many thousands of years in places such as India, China and Egypt. Chinese immigrants arriving on the West Coast introduced it to America in the early 1900's.
Reflexology is a technique of applying steady pressure and manipulating the feet, and sometimes the hands, to improve energy flow and free blockages in the nervous system. Reflexology helps rejuvenate mental, emotional and physiological health by stimulating the circulatory and nervous systems, thus eliminating tension, improving circulation, and stimulating the body's natural healing processes. In western reflexology only the therapist's hands are used. In the Oriental style, implements or tools are used and the finger pressure is much heavier.
Reflexology is sometimes called “zone therapy”, because it is based on the theory that certain areas in the feet and hands are connected (via nerve pathways) to particular body parts, organs and glands. These areas, or zones, serve as kind of a mini-map of the entire body. By manipulating the zone, changes can be effected in the corresponding body part.