Understanding the Soul of Foot Massage by Lee Dobbins

Foot Massage or Reflexology as it is sometimes known has it origins in China and has been around for more than 3,000 years and is normally used to help prevent or cure many different ailments that affect us.

However there is some possible evidence (cave drawings in Egypt) that foot massage dates as far back as Ancient Egyptian times.

The principles of foot massage involves the meridian network which connects all the tissues, organs and cells in a persons body and each organ in the body is connected to a specific area (reflex point) on the foot through the 300 nerves that run around the body. A Reflexologist (Foot Masseur) is trained to place pressure on these different meridians (energy lines) in either the sole or side of a person’s foot and determine what is causing their particular illness and then carrying out the necessary treatment to rectify it.

By applying pressure to these reflex points on a person’s foot a Reflexologist is able to stimulate the activity of a person’s internal organs as well as improve both the circulation of blood and lymph’s around the body.

Although in the modern Western world the foot is merely seen as a part of the human body comprising of bones, ligaments and joints and is therefore not seen as being essential to western medicine.

Yet over the last few years foot massages (reflexology) has grown in popularity and is generally now accepted as an alternative form of health treatment. Many people who enjoy a foot massage believe it can not only cure colds and minor ailments but can also help in the treatment of more serious ailments as well such as liver dysfunction, problems with constipation, skin allergies and also chronic headaches.

As with most Oriental medical techniques with are now readily available reflexology (foot massage) is an holistic treatment and it concentrates rather on treating the person as a whole rather than just the symptoms of one particular kind of ailment.

Whilst many Western medicines offer a person the chance of a speedy recovery from whatever ails them, with reflexology the recovery is slow and gradual. It is therefore important that any one undertaking this form of treatment will need to have several visits to their Reflexologist in order to strengthen their body and bring it back into balance.

The cost of each session of reflexology can differ quite substantially from as little as $40 up to as much as $100 (so be prepared to spend a little money as the course of treatment can soon add up).

However for many people the cost for good health is well worth the money spent on having a session of foot massage (reflexology). When in fact they could have spent just as much money on either prescription Western drugs or having to have invasive surgery to treat the problem.