Reflexology for Beginners

By: David F. Vennels
Genre: Alternative Medicine/Reflexology/Massage
Publisher: Llewellyn
ISBN: 0-7387-0098-3
Price: $9.95 US, $14.95 CAN
Pages: 238, Paperback

This is the third "For Beginners" book of David F. Vennels' that I have read, and I am very impressed with his work! After all, when you look for a book for beginners, you expect to be able to easily follow, understand, and actually learn how to use the healing method! If you're interested in learning all about Reflexology, I highly recommend this book! Now let's take a look at it.

What is Reflexology?

"The practice of massaging points on the feet to relieve tension and treat illness." Oxford English Dictionary

David Vennels describes it quite a bit further, saying that the Reflexologist is seeking "...increase, decrease, or rebalance of a particular physical, mental, or emotional function."

How does it work?

By massaging pressure points of the foot, the Reflexologist is "stimulating the body's healing powers." It is believed that there are pressure points in the foot that correspond to various parts of the body via the nerve endings. If you've studied Traditional Chinese Medicine, you are aware of the meridians, and acupuncture or acupressure can be used to stimulate the flow of chi. Vennels says, "As most of the major energy pathways end or begin in the feet, so naturally reflexology will stimulate them in some way."

Learning Reflexology

Of course locating all these reflexes and pressure points and learning how to use Reflexology seems like a difficult task, especially if you've tried to learn all those meridians! Reflexology, in my opinion, is SO much simpler to learn and use! The only thing you need is a good chart of the foot, an explanation of how to stimulate the pressure points, and some practice. Reflexology for Beginners gives you all that and more!

For example:

The Head and Neck are represented by the toes

This includes the brain, mouth, nose, tonsils, neck, sinus, teeth, top of head, pituitary gland, Eustachian tube, pineal gland, temples, hypothalamus, mastoid, eyes, ears, cervical spine, lachrymal glands, upper lymph system, and the speech center.

The Thoracic Region is represented by the ball of the foot

This includes the respiratory and circulatory systems, the lungs, heart, esophagus, trachea, bronchi, thymus gland, thyroid, parathyroid, diaphragm, and solar plexus.

The Abdominal Area is represented by the arch of the foot

This includes the digestive system, the liver, gall bladder, stomach, pancreas, duodenum, spleen, kidney, adrenals, small intestine, Ileo-caecal valve, appendix, colon, rectum/anus, bladder, and ureter.

For a complete listing of article comments, questions, and other discussions related to T. Darlene Cheek's Holistic Therapy topic, please visit the Discussions page.