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Adding a new dimension to reflexology
 
In this article on modern reflexology practice, lecturer and practitioner Lee Anthony Taylor MBRA MFFR suggests we start to think laterally when working with our patients
 
The reflexology community is at an important and exciting crossroads in the promotion of its therapy. As therapists, we have a new-found confidence in endorsing its marvellous health benefits to a sceptical or uninformed public. We have rediscovered reflexology in the 20th and 21st centuries, unfolding its secrets to a curious world. As a result, while there are no original ideas or methods to offer, there is a new and revitalised expression of old and familiar forms which have been practised in all corners of the world for centuries.
 
In my travels teaching reflexology all around the globe, I speak to patients and practitioners who share methods and practices which are as old as their civilisation; all independently developed many thousands of miles apart. How can it be that for thousands of years the Chinese, the Egyptians, the Asians, the Maori, the Aboriginals and the Native Americans have all used the same principles to practise reflexology? Who travelled the oceans during our ancient history spreading the gospel? All cultures have a legitimate claim as pioneers of the therapy, but it doesn't really matter who discovered it. We just need to recognise it has a worldwide appeal.
 
So, all things being equal, there is a universal truth to which reflexology, as an energy medicine, must conform - with no exceptions. The human body is an amazing and unique expression of energy made solid, but it is still pure energy nonetheless. Everything that is 'right' with our health demonstrates the free-flowing life force within us individually and collectively. Everything that is 'wrong' with our health shows the stagnation of that life force on a personal or global level.
Reflexology taps into the flow of that life force and attempts to maintain a steady stream or homeostasis. As reflexologists, we have unlimited capabilities to work with a patient's energy and redirect and balance it to restore good health. The methods we practise are secondary to the healing work that can be done as a result. No one method is better than any other, no one form provides the answers. Indeed, seen side by side, many methods contradict in certain aspects.
This can be bewildering for the practitioner or student but I would urge them to trust their intuition. All this demonstrates is that we all see the same thing from different perspectives. Even an original way of learning will have been slightly adapted over a course of time. Therapists may find that certain reflex points are found in different places to those originally thought. Consequently, as you can imagine, plotting all the points on one single chart would be totally unhelpful.
 
However, there is also some confusion with the many unexplained anomalies in the reflex charts which need to be cleared up and brought into this all-inclusive idea of where energy is located. The pituitary reflex is perhaps the most blatant example.
Anatomically, we have one pituitary situated in the midbrain. It lies across the midline that bisects the left from the right hand side of the body. We have one half in the left half of the brain and one half in the right. On the feet this is reflected without consistent reasoning since there is a clear gap between the left and right halves. In reality there is no gap and so the reflex should be located flush on the medial edge in the distal phalangeal dip.
 
(Even if the big toe represents the whole of zone one in zone theory terms there is still no credible explanation as to why it should be in the middle and not on the medial edge of the big toe. The middle of the pad of the big toe is also zone three and I would argue that the therapist will be targeting the outer edges of the thalamus and limbic system which help deal with strong emotions and the memory, as well as pain reception and inhibition.)
 
Next is the thyroid gland reflex. The thyroid is a butterfly-shaped gland in the throat above shoulder level (using the accepted transverse zone postulated by Marquadt). The reflex point on a number of established charts shows it to be below shoulder level on the ball of the foot and, again, only in zone one.
 
If you look at the anatomy and the zone charts, you can determine that the thyroid covers zones one and two both sides: in other words, the first and second toes above the shoulder level. So you will find the thyroid reflexes just above the neck of the first and second toe on both feet. This idea is especially useful in cases where the base of the second toe is inexplicably sore and the tenderness does not correlate with any other body part. Anything above the shoulder line in the body is either in the toes or on the necks of the toes.
 
When you feel grittiness or tenderness on the ball of the foot it may be worthwhile considering the thymus gland reflex. This much-misunderstood and frequently undervalued part of the body is integral to our immune wellbeing and may be a clear marker that the body is dealing with infection, elimination or detoxification at the time.
 
The solar plexus reflex, traditionally placed under the ball of the foot between zones two and three is actually the site of the 'bubbling spring' or K1 point. The "Solar Plexus Breathing Technique" redistributes vital kidney energy at the end of the treatment.
 
The solar plexus, or coeliac plexus, is a network or ganglion of nerves connected to the diaphragm, lungs, heart and stomach, found in the centre of the body under the base of the sternum, or xiphoid process. Its reflexes are therefore found centrally (without any gap) on the medial edge of zone one under the ball of the foot. It is still possible to perform the breathing technique and adjust your thumb position accordingly.
 
Working down the body we come to the external male reproductive system. This anomaly can be highlighted using an extension of zone theory. The arms, legs and head are all appendicular extensions from the main trunk (the torso), with all ten zones flowing from toes to fingers to the top of the head and back down. The only other appendicular extension from the main trunk is the penis, testes and scrotum. The energy flows up the legs of a man, descends into the gonads, rises up the centre of the body and continues to flow up to the arms, on to the head and, finally, descends back down to the feet via the trunk and gonads to complete the circuit.
 
With this in mind the gonad reflexes occupy all ten zones, five on the left and five on the right hand side of the body, accessed on the sole of the foot in the whole of the heel. This assertion can be backed up by looking at relative degrees of sensation within the sensory homunculus. The penis, in particular, is one of the most sensitive parts of the male body with an incredibly intricate nerve supply. The most sensitive part for these reflexes would be in the centre of the pad of each heel.
 
An addition can be made to the female reproductive system as well. The Fallopian tube can be accessed on the sole of the foot since the ovary reflexes are primarily located in the centre of the pad of the heel. The tube can be traced across to the uterus on the medial edge and this route has been especially useful in all my subfertility work. Reflexes found on the lateral side are secondary access points which help by working in another plane or dimension to the primary points.
 
The final anomaly to address is that of the elbow, arm, knee and leg reflex leading to the hands and feet themselves. Many of my students ask me "Where are the foot reflexes on the feet?" A good question! It is helpful to first look at the limbs and, again, apply zone theory to show how energy moves through the body. Let me take the example of the knee and this will illustrate how the elbow, arm and leg also correspond.
 
On all charts, the ten zones run up the legs from the feet and join the torso. There are five zones on the left hand side and five zones on the right hand side. All the zones pass through the knee on their journey up to the rest of the body and so it is logical to state that the knee reflex should be reflected in all five zones across the dorsum of each foot. The elbow tucks in just next to the knee and the human shape is reflected in a foetal position. The feet reflexes are found by working down from the knee reflex on the dorsum back towards the ankle bone. The arm reflex bends back up towards the toes from the styloid process notch which we know signifies the elbow reflex. There is a 'magic' reflex point within the feet reflexes (or the hand reflexes found on the feet) as this is truly holographic. Find the feet reflexes on the feet and you will find every other reflex instantly because all the reflexes are found on the feet! An instant treatment! It's also worth remembering that the feet reflexes are treated every time you work the feet.
 
Once there is consensus over the location of reflex points we can move on to exploring the idea of the holographic reflex principle. This states that, in reflexology terms, every reflex point contains every other reflex point within it, e.g. the sacro-iliac joint reflex is the seat of every other reflex point in the human body, and so on. Now extend and apply that concept to all reflexes you know of and you will see the complexity of this interlaced structure.
 
And how do we know that the holographic reflex principle is at work in our practice? Because of the variations in location of reflexes that occur from time to time for practitioners. I have found that by adopting a more 'open' approach to locating reflexes that I have been able to give precise and reasoned forms of explanation as to which body systems are out of balance. The more open the approach, the more precise the diagnostic capability of the reflex work. It makes all the reflexology techniques I teach and employ more powerful and effective as a result. This, coupled with my belief that we are not healers but that we simply facilitate the healing process, allows me to direct the energy to where the patient's true reflex location is found.
 
So, we are being invited to broaden the horizon, change our spatial awareness. At the moment we are only looking at reflexology work in certain ways: from the plantar side up through to the dorsum and vice versa. We are not truly taking advantage of the invaluable information we can access from deep within the body when working in the coronal plane; in other words, in the direction of a sword through the side of the body and out of the other end. I have found consistently that this work allows the therapist into the deepest recesses of the human body to move the patient out of stagnation. Admittedly, we do find some points such as the spinal reflexes, the bladder, and the uterus/prostate on the medial edge. Similarly we can locate and work with the shoulder, arm, elbow, knee, hip and reproductive reflexes from the lateral edge. But a vast amount of additional information, stored centrally within the body, can be detected by thinking laterally.
 
Let me give you an example. The contours of the medial aspect of the foot in particular provide vital clues as to the location of key body systems such as the endocrine glands.
 
If you look at the inside of the foot you will recognise the bony arch and its correspondence with the spine. Look closer and feel the bumps from the tip of the toe to the back of the heel and there is a real Aladdin's cave of information to be mined.
 
There are dips and areas of hardness all the way along the flat axis of the medial edge. Wherever there is a dip you will find an endocrine gland, for instance, pineal, pituitary/ hypothalamus, thyroid, parathyroid, thymus, heart, solar plexus, pancreas, adrenal, kidney and gonads. These dips are sites of protection for both the gland and its chakra-related energy. All of them have some intersection through the midline or are paired.
 
So, it is fair to state that the heart, pancreas, adrenal, kidney and gonad reflexes can also be accessed through the side of the foot, in the coronal plane, either medially or laterally since the energy will flow in all directions to wherever it is needed. This is reflexology working within the coronal plane. Every reflex point accessed through the dorsum or the plantar aspect can also be reached through the coronal plane - with dramatic and powerful results as you will see from the case studies.
 
I would argue that reflexologists are in need of some consistency of approach. The paradox is that the more disciplined we become in ironing out the anomalies, the freer we become to fully experience the messages coming from our patients.
 
This extra dimension allows us to see the body as a series of interconnecting parts, which takes us much closer to the holistic principle than charts allow us to be at present. Pain and tenderness radiate out in three dimensions, and the beauty of working with the feet (and the hands) is that, by accessing all the points through this additional plane, a therapist can get to the 'core' of the issue and help liberate the patient's stagnation, restoring that person to full health.
 
© LEE ANTHONY TAYLOR
For more details on Lee Anthony Taylor's work and a list of his Effective Reflexology™ modules
log on to www.effective-reflexology.com or call 00 44 (0)1562 66764
 
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