Acupressure : Origin and Basis

Origin and Basis of  
Acupressure

What is the  origin and background of Reflexology?

There is no documented evidence as to where reflexology origined but we do have historical documents alluding to miraculous cures.

It seems to have been discovered 5,000 years ago in ancient India. It was practiced by Indian sages and holy man on sick people. This is why the belief has came about that it is a divine method of cure.

There is also information about other ancients practicing this method in China, Egypt and South America.

Dr William Fitzgerald, who was born in 1872, was responsible for reintroducing reflexology to the modern world. He graduated in medicine in 1895 from the University of Vienna.

When he practiced medicine in hospitals in Vienna, Paris and London, he used this method and achieved great results.

After much research, Dr. Fitzgerald and his assistant Dr Edwin Bowers MD wrote a book based on reflexology called Zone Therapy. Eunice Ingham (1889-1974) researched reflexology and published it.

She wrote two books; `Stories the Feet Can Tell’ in 1938 and `Stories the Feet Have Told’ in 1951. She developed charts and theories that from the basis of in modern Western reflexology.

In Britain the first person to introduce reflexology was Doreen Bailey who was a student of Eunice Ingham in the early 1960’s.

What is the basis of this method?

Acupressure, acupuncture and reflexology have the same basis for cure. In the human body there is a flow of bio-electricity even from the time it is a foetus. This bio-electricity is known as life’s Vital Force and only ceases to flow with death. This bio-electricity runs through our body like a current. It starts from the fingers of the right hand and runs through the body until it reaches the right foot and works in the same way on the left side of the body.

The channels this bio-electricity flows through are known as `meridian lines’ and acupressure and reflexology are both based on these energy channels. When these become blocked or don’t flow normally, disease and illnesses usually results.

Source : A Self Treatment Manual by Sagar Sagir.