Roots of Reflexology are found in India, Egypt, & Asia
While reflexology is a new idea to many people in the US, it has an ancient history. About 5000 years ago, the people of ancient India integrated life, health, and spirituality in the religious expressions of Hinduism, one of the oldest known religions in the world. Special attention was given to the feet and hands as a healing and a spiritual practice.
This pictograph, dating back to 2500 BCE, or 4500 years ago, shows two practitioners pressing the hands and feet of two other persons and was discovered on the tomb of a physician.
Oral history and documents from ancient China trace foot-work to 4000 years ago, when a comprehensive health system of healing was developed under Emperor Huang.
Europe and United States
Chinese culture was introduced to the west and with it came some of the practices of healing. William H. Fitzgerald, MD (1872-1942) is credited with introducing zone therapy to American medical professionals and laypersons. Zone therapy uses the same vital energy points as documented in India, Egypt and Asia and culminated in a body of knowledge that became more codified and structured into scientific patterns.
Eunice Ingham, and Dr. Joe Shelby Riley (MD, MS, DO, ND) pioneered, documented, and further refined zone therapy and compression therapy techniques. The testimonials were collected and published in Stories the Feet Can Tell (1938). Ingham began teaching classes across the country in the 1940s and called the techniques and procedures reflexology. Studying under Ingham, Mildred Carter contributed to the awareness, growth, and development of reflexology in the United states.
“Contemporary holistic reflexology views the body as a whole organism. Correct technique applied to the reflexes of the feet (or hands, ears, face) affect the entire body- helping it to achieve homeostasis and through homeostasis, better health. Working the reflexes on the feet and hands affects the whole person-physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.”
~ Paula S. Stone