Friday, April 29, 2016

Celebrities Who Have Tried Reflexology- Jason Sudeikis, Conan O’Brien


Jason Sudeikis, Conan O’Brien
By Eric_Stangel,_Jason_Sudeikis* By Gage Skidmore , Conan O'Brien**

Jason Sudeikis (actor and former Saturday Night Live cast member) noted in a magazine interview that he and Conan O’Brien got reflexology done together. Jason then appeared on Conan’s television show on June 28, 2011 bringing with him two foot massagers who worked on the pair’s feet. (http://www.ew.com/article/2011/06/28/conan-obrien-jason-sudeikis-foot-massages)


*jpg: Rubenstein derivative work: Tabercil (Eric_Stangel,_Jason_Sudeikis.jpg) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons



** [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Sunday, April 17, 2016

Saving Reflexology in the UK

We were shocked to learn in June of 1985 that there were plans to eliminate reflexology as a practice in the United Kingdom. The reason was that according to the authorities was that no scientific basis for reflexology.

We gave up Thanksgiving dinner for this telegram . (Yes this was before the widespread of email or even faxes.) This telegram did the trick. Reflexology went on to become an important part of complementary and alternative medicine.


Friday, April 15, 2016

Reflexology Foot Maps to Maximise Your Massage | Explore DK

Reflexology Foot Maps to Maximise Your Massage | Explore DK DK calls it massage but we all know it is more than a foot massage.



But hey it is a free chart!!! And you can download a PDF of it for free.



Athletes Who Have Tried Reflexology- Sandy Lyle

By Flickr User Peter Allen


Golfer Sandy Lyle

Work on his feet by his Dutch girlfriend and golf tour masseuse Jolande Huurmand is credited with helping Australian golfer Sandi Lyle relax, sleep and win the Masters Golf Tournament.

“Jolande Huurman came to public attention a week ago when Lyle, leading the Masters, made an offhand remark in a press conference about ‘going back to the hotel and having my girlfriend tickle my feet.’ As it turned out, attention to his feet may have had a bearing on his Masters triumph. ‘The night before the last round at the Masters, he was restless, couldn't sleep, kept tossing and turning,’ Huurman said. ‘I massaged his feet, 20 minutes on each foot, looking for pressure points. It relaxed him completely and he slept like a baby.’”

“It is part of the massage treatments she performed in a five year stint on the European PGA Tour. … “During her time on the European tour, she said, she treated Jack Nicklaus, Seve Ballesteros, Bernhard Langer, Ian Woosnam and many others. ‘I’d concentrate on the pressure points, try to isolate the energy lines that run throughout the body. It would relax them completely,' she said. … “It got so many of them preferred the massage to going out and having beers to relax,' Huurman said.” (Apr. 17, 1988 Daily News (Sacramento, CA), “Lyle is finding success with companion”)

History Rediscovered- The Story of the Egyptian Pictograph

For a generation of reflexologists it is an iconic image of reflexology, the pictograph of hand and footwork from ancient Egypt. Hugely significant at the time of its discovery in 1980, it gave reflexologists roots in an ancient culture.

Reflexology was given its ancient roots by chance. The pictograph was discovered in 1980 when reflexologist Ed Case and his wife Ellen of Los Angles were on a tour of the Papyrus Museum in Cairo. The tour guide said, there’s something here you’ll be interested in. It was a papyrus rendering of the bas-relief carving found in the Tomb of the Physician, Ankhmahor in Saqqara, Egypt dating from 2300 B. C. E. 

(On a personal note, Kevin had a telephone conversation with Ed when he returned from his trip emphasizing the significance of his discovery. Ed died the next day.)

The familiar black and white silhouette pictograph was created by an artist commissioned by Ed’s friend and fellow reflexologist Jim Ingram. Ed and Jim were founding members of the Foot Reflexology Awareness Association of Los Angeles. The group promoted by providing reflexology samples at health fairs and the Police Olympics. Such promotion in a town where television and movie production is a major industry did not go unnoticed. The group is credited with garnering attention for reflexology on a national level as reflexology has made “appearances” in television programs and movies over the years starting in 1988 with the Roseanne show and Friends.

Thursday, April 14, 2016

Ancient Egyptian Footwork: Reflexology therapy, beauty tool or relaxing foot rub?

How much attention was paid to the feet in ancient Egypt? What exactly were Egyptians doing? And could it be that surviving artifacts of work on feet show we’re doing the same things today?

There are so many questions in time. At least five clues have survived from ancient times to provide some answers to such questions. Is reflexology among the earliest of medical practices? Did Egyptians practice reflexology? Provide manicures and pedicures? Give relaxing foot rubs? There is evidence for each.


Papyrus rendering of pictograph  from the Tomb of the Physician, Ankhmahor, Saqqara, 2323 B. C. E.

The Artifacts
Egyptologists study artifacts and their placement such as the location of pictographs in tombs and on temples to glean information about their meanings.

Bas-relief pictograph carvings and a report from an ancient historian provide illustrations of Ancient Egyptian footwork:

  • A pictograph carving from the Tomb of the Physician is disputed as representing therapy, a foot operation or a pedicure. 
  • A pictograph carving in the tomb of Ptah-hotep, a pharaoh’s official, noted as representing pedicure and manicure
• A pictograph carving of manicure and pedicure at tomb of Niankhkhnumin and Khnumhotep
  • A pictograph carving of “tending to feet” is included with others representing victory at the battle of Kadesh on one of the temples built by Rameses II
  • A historian’s account of Mark Anthony rubbing Cleopatra’s feet at dinner parties



Artifacts found in Saqqara, city of the dead


The stepped pyramid, tomb of Teti, First Pharaoh, Sixth Dynasty, 2323-2291 B. C. E., Photograph by Trudy Baker

Egyptian pyramids served as burial chambers of the pharaohs. Saqqara served as a testing ground for pyramid construction and burial ground of Egyptian pharaohs from the earliest organization of the civilizations of Egypt’s upper and lower Nile Valley, the First Dynasty in 2750 B. C. E. For over a thousand years, Saqqara was a necropolis, a city of the dead for pharaohs.

The grounds of Egyptian pyramids came to resemble graveyards with individual tombs for government officials, royal family members, and those who could afford the expense.

Three of the foot work artifacts are found in individual official’s tombs in Saqqara: Ankhmahor (Tomb of the Physician), Khentika and Ptah-hotep.

The Pictograph from the Tomb of the Physician

The pictograph and accompanying hieroglyphic from The Tomb of the Physician, Ankhmahor are the earliest known artifacts of reflexology, and some would argue, one of the earliest of any type of medical practice. 

The Tomb lies to the north of the pyramid of the pharaoh Teti in “Teti’s cemetery,” the graveyard of the pharaoh’s officials. Teti ruled from 2323 to 2291 B. C. E. as the First Pharaoh of Egypt’s Sixth Dynasty. The stepped pyramid is one of the earlier experiments in pyramid building perfected by ancient builders in the smooth sided pyramids at Giza.


Entrance to Ankmahor’s Tomb (Tomb of the Physician), Saqqara, Egypt, date: 2350 BCE, Photograph by Trudy Baker

In the entrance hall to the left are pictograph carvings of working on feet and hands. The placement of such carvings in an entrance typically signified the profession of the individual. The tomb is referred to as “Tomb of the Physician.” As an official to the pharaoh Teti, Ankhmahor’s titles include: “Vizier,” “First after the King,” “Overseer of the Great House.”

There are two series of pictographs with accompanying hieroglyphs. 

One appears to show therapy. It (half of which is shown below) depicts an “operator” and “patient” with the toe of the left foot being “treated.” The other half of this pictograph shows an “operator” and “patient” with the left hand being “treated.”

The hieroglyphs accompanying the pictograph read: “‘Make these give strength!’ To which the operator responds: ‘I will do thy pleasure, sovereign!’ This answer inscribed between the two operators, could also be valid for the one to the right, who treats the toe of a patient who is begging: ‘Do not cause pain!’”




Above this familiar pictograph is another pictograph of work on hands, The pictograph is virtually identical to a pictograph found in the Mastaba of Khentika clearly defined as manicure and pedicure. 

The hieroglyphs accompanying the second  Ankhm’ahor pictograph read: “… representing a patient whose two hands are being treated simultaneously by two operators flanking him The inscription giving the patient’s utterance is badly defaced (and virtually illegible) ‘ … by thy life!’ And the answer of the operator to the left is ‘I will make this agreeable, dear!’ This last inscription is … above a similar scene defined as manicure and pedicure in the Mastaba of Khentika.” (Badawy, Alexander, The Tomb of Nyhetep-Ptah and the Tomb of Ankhm’ahor at Saqqara,  University of California Press, 1978)

What is the pictograph in the Tomb of the Physician?
What is represented by the Egyptian pictograph of work on feet from the Tomb of the Physician? Ask four different Egyptologists and you get fourdifferent answers. Egyptologists have argued that the pictograph depicted therapy, reflexology, an operation, or a pedicure/manicure.

Pictograph as Therapy
At least three Egyptian scholars credit and defend a therapeutic aspect to the work displayed in the pictograph.

  • “… The most well-known is that of Ankhmahor, who held the titles of vizier, 'first after the king' and Overseer of the Great House. This tomb is also known as the Tomb of the Physician, as his bas-reliefs depict a foot operation and a circumcision in addition to the usual scenes of daily life and funerary themes.” (Siliotti, Alberto, Guide to the Pyramids of Egypt, Barnes and Noble, 1997, p. 121)

  • “In the same ancient Empire tomb that displays the operation of circumcision, some reliefs illustrate care given to the hands and feet, and it has been suggested that they represent manicure and pedicure (see below), in spite of the fact that the hand of the practitioner, applied to the shoulder in one figure and to the knee in another, rule out this possibility, and strongly suggest some form of massage or manipulation.” (Ghalioungui, p. and ElDawakhly, Z., Health and Healing in Ancient Egypt, The Egyptian Organization for Authorship and Translation, pp. 25-26)

  • As further indication that the Tomb is that of a medical practitioner some Egyptologists argue that Ankmahor would be identified by the title of manicurist and pedicurist. After all manicurists and pedicurists in other tombs are identified by this title. See below. “But nothing in Ankhmahor's tomb indicates that the men depicted at work bore such honorable titles. Should further proof be needed, we could find it, according to Prof. Clamminess of Copenhagen, in the position of the arm of the manipulator.” Egyptians followed two particular positions when representing the arm in profile. “That both positions are shown in different persons of the same scene shows that the second position is not merely the result of an artistic convention designed no to mask the distant arm. ... The position adopted by the manipulator on these scenes is thus a correct rendering of the (massage) movement.” (Ghalioungui, p. and ElDawakhly, Z., Health and Healing in Ancient Egypt, The Egyptian Organization for Authorship and Translation, pp. 25-26)

Pictograph as Reflexology
In his book Ancient Egyptian Medicine, Dr. John F. Nunn is the first Egyptologist to label the pictograph in Ankhmahor’s Tomb of the Physician in Saqara as reflexology. Previously, Egyptologists had argued that the pictograph depicted therapy, an operation, or a pedicure/manicure. “Alternatively, it has been suggested that these scenes represent a form of reflexology and current illustration of this type of treatment certainly look remarkably like these tomb reliefs (pictographs from Ankhmahor's Tomb and Khentika's Tomb at Saqqara memorializing two viziers to Teti, 6th dynasty (2345-2040)).”

Dr. Nunn notes of the work on feet and hands depicted in Ankhmahor's tomb, “It is again inconceivable that the Egyptians had not discovered the beneficial and pleasurable effects of manipulation and massage... Figure 6.14 shows the remarkable scenes in the tombs of Ankh-ma-hor and Khentika, which appear to represent manipulation of fingers and toes. This could be manicure and pedicure, but the words of the patients and therapists shown in the figure suggest very strongly that a therapeutic effect is intended. Alternatively, it has been suggested that these scenes represent a form of reflexology and current illustration of this type of treatment certainly look remarkably like these tomb reliefs (pictographs from Ankhmahor's Tomb and Khentika's Tomb at Saqqara memorializing two viziers to Teti, 6th dynasty (2345-2040)).” (p. 133)

Dr. Nunn adds to the mystery of the pictograph. In his discussion of “The Healers” which includes types of medical practice and the names of known physicians, he notes that Ankhmahor was not a physician but a ka-priest and vizier to the pharaoh Teti.

A physician is depicted by pictograph in Ankmahor’s Tomb, Ankh, an individual whose pictograph indicates that he was a physician. In “Notes on ten selected pharaonic doctors,” Dr. Nunn discusses the possibility that Ankh was a friend or physical to Ankhmahor, represented to provide medical care in his afterlife:
 “We have no knowledge of Ankh’s tomb. He is, however, an example of the many doctors known to posterity only because of mention in a relief on the wall of someone else’s tomb, in this case a tomb of exceptional interest from the medical point of view. Ankh is seen bearing four ducks as offerings in the funerary procession of the tomb owner Ankh-ma-hor. In front of him in his title and name, swne per aa Ankh. As court physician he might well have been a personal friend of Ankh-ma-hor, or perhaps he was his doctor (or both). Those represented in reliefs were believed to be accessible to the tomb owner in the hereafter, and there might be distinct advantage in having your own doctor with you in the afterworld.” An illustration accompanies the discussion: “(A) Relief of the physician of the great house (i. e. palace) Ankh as an offering bearer in the tomb of Ankh-ma-hor (6th Dynasty, Saqqara)” (p. 126)

Some argue that Ankhmahor’s tomb in Saqqara has been mislabeled as the Tomb of the Physician. Many agree that the inclusion of pictographs representing medical practices of the time provides invaluable insights of the times. Nunn notes that “... Ankhmahor possessed many important titles but none of direct relevance to medicine. Nevertheless, his tomb contains no fewer than seven items of medical interest to us today. (List includes the physician Ankh, circumcision, “manipulation of toes and fingers,” “hydrocele,” “achonodroplasiac” dwarfs, obesity, gynaecomastia)... We are fortunate that Ankh-ma-hor should have chosen to display this remarkable concentration of items of medical interest. There is evidence he went to great trouble in the planning, supervision and even the alteration of the reliefs in his tomb.” (p. 126)

Pictograph as foot operation
“It (Ankhmahor's Tomb) is popularly known as the ‘Physician's Tomb’ because although Ankhmahor was not himself a physician his monument contains some interesting scenes of medical practices... Another relief shows a foot operation being performed - sited (sic) by many reflexologists as proof of ancient alternative therapies practiced (sic) on the hands and feet." (http://www.egyptsites.co.ul/lower/saqqara/tombs/ankhmahor.html)

Both pictographs in Ankhmahor’s Tomb as pedicure and manicure

A Danish Egyptologist labels an illustration of the well-known pictograph of work on feet and hands as pedicure and manicure work.[2] One scholar declares that there is an instrument held in the working hands depicted in the pictograph thus supporting the pedicure/manicure theory. Another scholar notes that pictographs of work on feet and hands are common throughout the pyramids of Egypt’s Old Kingdom. He reports that the commonly held belief among Egyptologists is that all depict pedicure and manicure work. (Reeder's Egypt Page, the Internet)


Photo credit Trudy Baker


Pictoglyph of manicure and pedicure at tomb of Ptah-hotep
Ghalioungui and ElDawakhly note that at the time of pharaohs "... in his tomb in Saqqara, Ptah-Hotep is having his fingers and toes manicured." Ptah-Hotep was the vizier and judge supervising the pyramids of recently dead pharaohs. He served as an official for pharaohs Djedkare Isei and Unas, the eighth and ninth pharaohs of the Fifth Dynasty (2450-2321 B. C.).

Another Egyptologist notes, “The chapel of Ptah-Hotep (’s tomb) in particular contains another series of lovely painted bas-reliefs, once more with offering scenes where original details can be noted (such as that the whippets under the owner's chair, and that of the servant who massages his legs).”

Pictoglyph of manicure and pedicure in the tomb of Niankhkhnumin and Khnumhotep
Providers of such services held a special place in the culture of the times. Tombs were built for only a few private individuals. Pictographs carved into the left die of entry to the tomb of Niankhkhnumin and Khnumhotep read “Royal confidant … in work manicurist Palace Chief Manicurist … King’s Acquaintance Niankhkhnumin”. The right side reads the same but includes the name Khnumhotep. The Tomb in Saqqara dates from the time of the sixth king of the Fifth Dynasty. (2400 B. C. E.)

Tending to Feet, Battle of Kadesh
Pharaoh Ramesses II lead some 20,000 soldiers in 1275 B. C. E. on a long march from Egypt to Kadesh, a town close to what is now the border of Lebanon and Syria. The goal was to secure the territory for Egyptian domination from the Hittite Empire. Ramesses would claim victory in the battle and document the victory with the building of temples in his name.  “Tending” to the feet of foot soldiers during the long trek is shown among pictographs celebrating the victory on the wall of a temple. Ramesses II ruled Egypt from 1279-1213 B. C. E. as the Third Pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty.

Anthony and Cleopatra
Roman emperor Octavian complained of Mark Anthony’s “pathetic enslavement to her (Cleopatra) -- he even massaged her feet at dinner parties.” Cleopatra, born in 69 B. C. E., ruled Egypt during the Greco-Roman Period from 51-30 B. C. E.

The statement adds an intriguing piece of information to a topic of interest to many reflexologists. 

Celebrities Who Have Tried Reflexology- Dr. Oz and Oprah


                                             photo by Alan Light                                                    By David Shankbone

Dr. Oz and Oprah
Reflexology was mentioned and demonstrated on Oprah’s feet during two guest appearances by Dr. Methmet Oz on the Oprah Winfrey Show before he became host of his own television show.

May 21, 2007 
Dr. Mehmet Oz applied reflexology to Oprah Winfrey’s feet during an episode of her show. While working on Oprah he commented reflexology was great at easing tension. Oprah replied “That's why reflexology is so great.” She responded to Dr. Oz's footwork with eye rolls and sighs of pleasure. 

Dr. Oz went on to state, “Every patient that I operate on at New York Presbyterian Hospital gets a reflexology type treatment ...

January 7, 2008
When Oprah speaks the world Googles. At least that’s our conclusion when Dr. Methmet Oz worked on Oprah Winfrey’s feet in an appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show. 

Web hits at our site www.reflexology-research.com literally more than doubled over night (Jan 6 2008: 21835; Jan 7 2008: 47055). Visits to out blog tripled.

While Dr. Oz did not mention reflexology, Oprah did, saying reflexology was so good.

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Healing through the Feet


Traveling hundreds of miles to visit a healer who worked with feet was not all that unusual in the 1930s. One such healer, originally trained as a “boot and brace” man in his native Germany drew people to his work in Colorado Springs, Colorado.numerous ailments

Dr. Locke was well known for his work. The story was told of him sitting in the town square, seated in a chair and swiveling from person to person to apply his Locke Break. His work is mentioned by Dr. William Fitzgerald in his book Zone Therapy. Dr. Fitzgerald notes, “His work relieves pressure in the posterior tibial nerve. His theory is that numerous ailments such rheumatism, so-called arthritis, sciatica and the like are the indirect result of faulty foot posture which causes pressure in the poterior tibial nerve and starts a vicious chain of symptoms in other parts of the body. He proceeds on the hypothesis that correct posture, relief of strain or pressure will permit Nature to effect her own cure.”

He also notes that Dr. Locke was trained in Scotland where a patient is not permitted to walk “until the strength of his feet and legs have been built up by massage or other means. He has gone them one better and I’ve a suspicion that he may be years ahead of the the whole medical profession. Anyhow, let’s run down and see him.”

The following is written by newspaper man Ernie Pyle who would go on to become famous for his reports from the front about the common soldier. He died in battle in the South Pacific during WWII.

“In this reprint of a column written in the 1930's, columnist Ernie Pyle writes about his experience at the Williamsburg, Ontario site of the work of Dr. Locke, “the famous Canadian doctor who seemed to work miracles by twisting feet.”

“For three quarters of an hour I stood and watched the treatments of Dr. Locke. It was, in a way, one of the most fantastic rites I ever witnessed.' In those 45 minutes he treated about 85 people. Each paid him a dollar. He did not speak to more than 10 of them. Often a treatment was over in five seconds. With one exception, no person received more than 30 seconds of the doctor's time. … 

“Dr. Locke treated patients in an outdoor pavilion next to his small white house on a cross street off the highway. By 9:00 a couple of hundred patients were waiting around the pavilion. …

“There were no preliminaries. Dr. Locke said nothing. He took the first extended foot on his knee. He did no exploratory feeling around. Quickly he placed his thumb on the inside, pressed, gave the foot a twist, then bent the toes down and pushed hard. He reached for the other foot and did the same. It was over. … 

“Williamsburg had become a mecca after Rex Beach wrote about Dr. Locke’s treatment in Cosmopolitan magazine some six years before my visit. … 

“People had come by the scores of thousands. … I asked Dr. Locke to explain to me in simple language what he did. He said that most muscular ailments came from fallen arches or flat feet. A fallen arch is a foot bone that has slipped out of place, thus creating pressure on certain nerves. What Dr. Locke did was work this bone back in place relieving the pressure.”
Nov. 6, 1980, The Santa Fe Reporter (New Mexico), p. 23, "Ernie Pyle's America, The Miracle of Twisting Feet" by Ernie Pyle

Celebrities Who Have Used Reflexology- Dr. Oz

By David Berkowitz 

Dr. Oz

Before his fame as a television host, reflexology piqued Dr. Oz’s interest in alternative practices and provided motivation to form the Complementary Care Cardiac Care Unit at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City. As detailed in his book Healing from the Heart, he tried reflexology when patient Kory was not doing well following a heart operation.

“… Kory’s vitals were playing the ominous notes of Beethoven’s Fifth (on monitors at his hospital bedside). He looked as if her were about to die. … 
Suddenly I remembered my father-in-law’s notions about lymphatics and foot massage. If it works for dogs (research showed influence on the lymphatic system from working on dogs’ paws), I thought, maybe it’ll work for humans. 
So I moved around to the foot of Kory’s bed, and uncovered his feet, and without a word of explanation started to rub and squeeze them. Everybody stared—the other doctors, nurses, the whole team—wondering what on earth I was doing. 

But in a few minutes Kory’s blood flows started rising from 21. liters per minute to 2.3 then up to 2.5, up and up. Whenever I quit squeezing, the blood flow would drop; when I started again they’d rise. So I kept it up for about forty-five minutes, squeezing, rubbing, kneading the soles of his feet, miking the lymphatics until his flows stayed up at a healthy level. Kory had just needed to be jump-started toward recovery.… 

“Can I prove my amateur reflexology caused his turnaround? No, not on the basis of one case. But unless the trials we do in the future on reflexology prove otherwise, I believe what happened to Kory was not a coincidence.” (Oz, Mehmet, Healing from the Heart, Dutton, New York, 1998, pp 108-109)

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Proof of Ancient Roots for Reflexology

Looking back in time, it’s easy to picture the need for a barefoot society—ancient Egyptians went barefoot— to pay attention to feet. But, what is it about the scenes of footwork from ancient Egypt that so captures the attention and imaginations of reflexologists? It could be any one of a number of things.

Seeing foot work depicted from ancient times and spanning thousands of years of Egyptian culture links reflexologists to a timeless tradition.

For a generations of reflexologists it is an iconic image of reflexology, the pictograph of hand and footwork from ancient Egypt. Hugely significant at the time of its discovery in 1980, it and other images from ancient Egypt give reflexology roots in ancient times.

“The past is not dead. In fact, it's not even past.” William Faulkner
So much of what is represented by foot work artifacts from ancient Egypt speak to reflexologists and reflexology use today.

• Roman emperor Octavian complained of Mark Anthony’s “pathetic enslavement to her (Cleopatra) -- he even massaged her feet at dinner parties.” For reflexologists, however, the scene creates a picture of one person reaching out to another, especially a loved one.

• To reflexologists who often find themselves fighting the battle of tired feet on behalf of foot sore clients, a pictograph of foot work commemorating the battle of Kadesh during the rule of Rameses II conjures up the image of a moment in ancient times on some dusty path when a foot sore soldier needed help. Reflexologists are frequently visited by foot sore clients seeking relief.

• Words attributed to the figures in the pictograph sound familiar to today’s practicing reflexologists: “Do not let it be painful” and “I do as you say.” A discussion of comfort level with the client is a part of the reflexologist’s service.

The enduring mystery of foot work in Egypt / Link to ancient medicine
What exactly were the ancient Egyptians doing? Does the work on feet depicted in pictographs illustrate a therapy, a foot operation, a pedicure? There are arguments to support each and any viewpoint. Each new comment or book on the subject seems to add another layer of mystery.

Among clues to the meaning of pictographs are their locations in tombs. Pictographs of footwork are located in The Tomb of the Physician. They are located in the entry hall the site indicating the profession of the tomb’s owners. 

What is meant by the hieroglyphs?
The hieroglyphs accompanying the foot work pictographs in The Tomb of the Physician have long been accepted to read, “Do not let it be painful” and “I do as you say.” Yet graduate students who spent months studying the Tomb have a different take.

“In one scene the right hand is treated; in the other, the toe of the left foot. The inscriptions do not elucidate the procedure: “Make these give strength!” To which the operator responds: “I will do to thy pleasure, sovereign!” This answer inscribed between the two operators could also be valid for the one to the right, who treats the toe of a patient who is begging: “Do not cause pain to these!”

The comments on “doing thy pleasure” and “not causing pain” are self explanatory. But what could be the meaning of “Make these give strength!”? Could “these” be the feet? The paragraph quoted above begins with: “As a result of walking barefoot, minor accidents and ailments requiring surgery must certainly have been common.”

Foot work spans thousands of years of an ancient culture
It could be said that work on feet for a purpose dates from the earliest times of recorded human history as shown by ancient Egyptian artifacts. Not only that but foot work was practiced throughout ancient times. 

2323-2291 B. C.; Teti. First Pharaoh, Sixth Dynasty
Work on hands and feet is depicted in bas relief carvings at the entrance to the tomb of pharaoh Teti official Ankmahor. The placement of such carvings in an entrance typically signified the profession of the individual. The tomb is referred to as "Tomb of the Physician”

1279-1213 B. C.; Ramesses II; Third Pharaoh, Nineteenth Dynasty
A pictograph of work on feet of "tending" to the feet of foot soldiers on a military campaign involving a long march during the battle of Qadesh during the reign of Ramesses II. The battle is well known because it was commemorated by Ramesses in the building of at least eight temples that have survived.

69-30 B. C. E.; Cleopatra; Greco-Roman Period
Mark Anthony reported to “massage her (Cleopatra's) feet at dinner parties.”

Today
Mohammed elAwany of Egypt’s Vision Travel and Tours notes that individuals who continue the ancient footwork practice may be found in some remote Egyptian villages.

Monday, April 11, 2016

Celebrities Who Have Tried Reflexology- Tracy Nelson

By Grnfsndgrl

Tracy Nelson, Actress
Actress Tray Nelson took a different path to recovery from cancer including use of reflexology.  “Tracy said, ‘I never lost my will to live. I have always wanted to live life to its fullest - that's why I'm still here. I took control of what was happening to me. I questioned my life and I questioned my doctors. You can cure yourself. It's your responsibility. I really believe that.’”

“Actress Tracy Nelson, daughter of Ricky Nelson and star of the television show “Father Dowling Mysteries,” discusses her recovery from cancer crediting “reflexology” as one form of "alternative medicine" she used as well as traditional medicine.  (Oct., 1989 Redbook, pp. 76, 80, 82, "Talking with Tracy Nelson; My Husband Healed Me with Love" by Jeanne Wol)

Sunday, April 10, 2016

'It's too easy for kids to be inactive these days' - Independent.ie

'It's too easy for kids to be inactive these days' - Independent.ie



"It's so important to educate children about the benefits of staying fit and healthy," the boxer tells Review. "It's too easy these days for young people to be inactive. So, the key is to make exercise fun and interesting and, as a result, encourage them to build exercise into their daily routine."

Celebrities Who Have Tried Reflexology- Ann Romney


Ann Romney
Jeri and Ann Romney
By freddthompson (Flickr) 




Ann Romney, wife of 2012 presidential candidate Mitt Romney, notes in her 2015 book that reflexology among other alternative practices to improve her energy levels as she was seeking to respond to her multiple sclerosis.

Saturday, April 9, 2016

fMRI Research Foot Reflexology


fMRI Research Foot Reflexology
by Barbara & Kevin Kunz
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) studies provide illustration of some of reflexology’s basic tenets. In three separate studies, Hong Kong researchers explored with fMRI what happens in the brain when pressure or technique is applied to specifc reflex areas of the left foot. Their finding: the specific parts of the brain activated by such work correlates with reflexology’s theory and intended use.
In one study, reflexology applied to a specific part of the foot activated the reflected area. Specifically technique stimulation applied to the inner lateral corner of the left great toe activated the right temporal lobe, the part of the brain related to the reflex area to see if this would activate the part of the brain reflected by this reflex area, the right temporal lobe.
In another study, reflexology technique stimulation of the eye reflex area activated a region of the brain matching acupupoint stimulation of stroke patients with vision defects but not the visual part of the brain.
In a third study, reflexology pressure work was compared to electro-acupuncutre work. This study is discussed in detail in below. The above-mentioned studies will be detailed in the future.
The studies were presented at the NeuroImage Meeting, the Annual Meeting of the Organization of Human Brain Mapping, 2005 and 2006. The researchers found that the“fMRI is a useful to investigate the central neural pathway of reflexology” The researchers, Annie M. Tang, Geng Li, Chan C.C., Edward Yang, K.K.K. Wong and R. Li are with the University of Hong Kong.
During the study“Comparison of Foot Reflexology and Electro-Acupuncture: An fMRI study,” the researchers used fMRI to compare what happens in the brain when pressure is applied to foot reflexology’s adrenal gland reflex area and what happens when electrical stimulation is applied to acupuncture’s K1 point, both located in approximately the same area of the foot. What they found was that the areas of the brain activated by both “were mostly localized at insula region....The stimulated reflex zone and acupoint is the treatment point for psychological anxiety, inflammation and asthma according to Reflexology and Chinese medicine. The activation in insula demonstrated that massage (reflexology) or acupuncture stimuli at the point may probably regulate emotional and pain effects. Our results are consistent with the results in psychological asthma. Also, our results indicate that massage (reflexology) has the same function as acupuncture....” Annie M. Tang, Geng Li, Edward S. Yang, “Comparison of Foot Reflexology and Electro-Acupuncture: An fMRI study,” The Jockey Club MRI Centre, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong 474 TH-PM; Presented at Twelfth Annual Meeting of the Organization for Human Brain Mapping; NeuroImage 31 (2006) 237
The insula is associated with emotions, pain and visceral functions as well as integration of homeostatic information. According to Dr. Martin Paulus, a psychiatrist at the University of California, San Diego, the mind and body are integrated in the insula.”The insula itself is a sort of receiving zone that reads the physiological state of the entire body and then generates subjective feelings that can bring about actions like eating, that keep the body in a state of internal balance.” (Blakeslee, Sandra, “A Small Part of the Brain, and its Profound Effects,” New York Times.com February 6, 2007)
The fMRI study showed that reflexology stimuli activates other areas of the brain, one of which receives information about sensory information such as pressure to the feet. This area is the somatosensory cortex, the homunculus or the “little man,” a representation of the body projected onto the brain. Reflexologists view the reflexology chart as a representation of the body projected onto the foot. The fMRI study thus shows that stimuli applied to the representation of the body on the foot communicates with the representation of the body in the brain. (Kunz and Kunz have long contended that the foot reflexology chart is one of several “homunculi” of the body. At least five parts of the brain are organized as a homunulus.)
The implications of the fMRI study are many. Among them is an understanding of other recent studies. For one, reflexology work was found to improve pain tolerance and pain threshold. (Carol Samuel “The effects on reflexology on pain threshold and tolerance in an ice-pain experiment on healthy human subject,” May 13, 2007, International Congress on Complementary Medical Research (Conference)) 
The fMRI study has found a direct correlation between pressure to a single reflex area of the foot and one of the brain’s processing areas for pain, the insula. This same area of the brain helps integrate homeostatic responses and may help explain results obtained in other research studies that link reflexology to changes in the body’s viscera. 
Austrian researchers, for example, found improved blood flow to the kidneys after reflexology technique was applied to the kidney reflex area. In another study, Austrian researchers found the same results with an intestine reflex areas and blood flow to the intestines. Further research has demonstrated a change in blood sugar level (pancreas function) as well as functions of the heart.
Such results support a contention by Barbara and Kevin Kunz that reflexology’s stimulation of pressure to the feet, by definition, communicates with and creates change in the body’s homostasis. The rationale is that in order to walk the body must see itself and fuel itself. The fMRI study demonstrates an actual mechanism with the body to explain such a theory.
Tang Annie M., Li Geng., Chan C.C., Wong K.K.K., Li R. and Edward Yang Brain Activation at Temporal Lobe Induced by Foot Reflexology: an fMRI Study, 11th Annual NeuroImage Meeting. 2005, 1445. (Publication No. :102229) www.humanbrainmapping.org
Tang M.Y., Li G., Chan C.C., Wong K.K.K., Li R. and Yang E.S., Vision Related Reflex Zone at the Feet: An fMRI Study, 11th Annual NeuroImage Meeting. 2005, 1431. (Publication No. : 102226)
Annie M. Tang, Geng Li, Edward S. Yang, “Comparison of Foot Reflexology and Electro- Acupuncture: An fMRI study,” The Jockey Club MRI Centre, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong 474 TH-PM; Presented at Twelfth Annual Meeting of the Organization for Human Brain Mapping www.humanbrainmapping.org; NeuroImage 31 (2006) 237