Russian Reflexology Foot Chart

Mildred Carter's Foot Reflex Chart

Copyright 1998 Stirling Enterprises
This reiterative picture of the reflexes is said to be a reflection of the human body upon the plantar and dorsal aspect of the feet, hands and ears. This reflective mirror image of the bones, muscles and organs is the outgrowth of Zone Therapy as originally taught by the USA pioneers ... Drs. William Fitzgerald, Joseph Riley, Eunice Ingham, Clement Wittman and many others dating back to the early 1900's.

Freelance Reflexologist Doug Cross of Collinsville,
Mississippi demonstrates thumb-walk technique
that helped restore him back to good health.
This was done in conjunction with
Ehret's Mucusless Diet Healing System.
His nonstop self-help sessions sometimes
lasted eight hours or more a day. Here he
works on his spine as shown
on Bernardin's chart.

Each point on the foot, hand or ear was always associated with the body parts within the Zone of its alignment. Fitzgerald identified ten Zones which followed parallel lines vertically through the body. Hence a reflex in the Zone of a specific finger or toe would affect any organ or tissue group within that Zone from the toe all the way to the brain.. This was the system taught by Eunice Ingham Stopfel across the USA and learned by her student Zachary Brinkerhoff back in 1967.

"Reflexology meridians connect all the organs and glands in the body and culminate in the feet and hands. By applying pressure with the fingers or a blunt object with approximately 10-15 lbs. of force you may send a surge of energy to the corresponding area. Pressure may be applied for as long or with as much force as is comfortable," stated Dr. Saran.

A good question has been raised by skeptics regarding the vast variation of specific point locations. "If these charts are accurate representation of the body ... then how can there be five divergent points for the heart reflex?"

Seventy years ago the medical anatomy charts were likewise very divergent in their organ location. If a surgeon was asked about this contradiction he would point out that any of the charts might be the correct one, depending on the individual patient. Imagine a heart on the right side instead of the left? This deviation has occurred as have other organs within the abdominal cavity.

The Feet of Vishnu reflect images that show the influence of reflex stimulus covering every phase of life: political, religious, familial, social and personal. (Courtesy of the Reflexology Association of Australia.)

Eventually the medical people got together in an effort to coordinate the human anatomy charts for the sake of their credibility. The result? Individual anatomy will still differ from the standardized charts and this observation is just an accepted reality among medical professionals. Likewise, if reflexology schools got together and made one standardized chart, there would always be exceptions to the rule of formal reflex point location.

Foot Worker in India removes crystal formations from the plantar aspect of the foot by lancing skin and using vacuum to pull the "rocks" out of the feet. Toni Wilbanks has stated that it is similar to a good reflex treatment.

The INSTITUTE advises students to study all the reiterative charts in order to be aware of the various reflex point locations for each organ. The practitioner or teacher who creates his own chart is working from his intuitive experience; and there tends to be a tendency for practitioners to select the best point from their experience to go into their chart. But their best heart point may be in a different location than an other's However, either point may be viable depending on the type of problem reflected from the heart.

Heart Chart created by Kate McCormick.

Therefore the INSTITUTE advises on the importance of openness in the mind of the reflexology practitioner towards all the possible points for any given organ or body part. Why? If someone comes into your clinic with a serious heart fibrillation and your favorite reflex point isn't doing any good ... you better be open to try another point ... or else put your emergency defibrillator machine hanging on the wall into action. How much better for a reflexologist to use the tools of his trade to defibrillate the heart. An experienced reflexologist will reach for the foot, hand or ear first ... not the medical defibrillator.

"Disease is not an entity, but a fluctuating condition of the patients body, a battle between the substance of disease and the natural self-healing tendency of the body."
---Hippocrates.

When Donna M. Bean of Gwinnett County, Georgia, decided to train with Modern Institute and become a Reflexologist ... she ran into governmental regulations that required a reflexologist become licensed as a Massage Therapist. Here is her story:

Reflexologist
Donna M. Bean, PR

I was asked to write my story about overcoming ill conceived governmental reflexology regulations in order to inspire others to follow their heart when confronted with such barriers. I want to let people know that just because someone says something, or the government makes a law, that doesn’t mean you can’t change it. So, here’s my recent experience with such rules and regulations.

Well, as most of you know, I have been trying to get a business license in Gwinnett County for Reflexology. When I first called the county I was told I needed a certification, three letters of recommendation from registered voters in the county I live in, and I had to complete the application for the license. I thought, "NO PROBLEM!!"

After completion of my 350 hour reflexology training course I got the required letters and filled out the application ... then off to the business license department I went. When I got there I was told that I had to have a National Certification, so the clerk gave me the number to call in order to get that "certification".

Dr. Wittman's Chart of dorsum. "This is the best chart of reflex points we have ever seen," stated the two Japanese men as they translate from English.

OH BOY!! When I called I discovered that I had to complete a 500 hour course in Massage Therapy or bodywork, and then send them $250.00 just to be able to sit and take a test. The county was going to make me become Nationally Certified in Massage Therapy to get a license to practice as reflexologist.

At first I said okay, no problem. So I continued my reflexology studies and completed requirements for my 500 Professional Certification with Modern Institute of Reflexology (MIR), which is the 500 hour course that the National Certification Board required.

Created by Kate McCormick

.
After reading the test center’s booklet and Website, it said that you have to have in-class hours. OH NO!! MIR's courses were home study. So I called the center, "Are you sure it’s in-class hours???" They said, "No, the certification from MIR would do".

Great!! I continued to talk with the gentleman asking questions. I asked, “How much of the test would be on Massage Therapy??” The answer was, about half. Another question was, “What would happen if I didn’t pass?”. The answer? You can pay $250.00 to take it again, but you can only take the test three times ($250 each time). I thought to myself for a moment and told the gentleman okay, and hung up the phone.

Lateral view of dorsum reflexes by Steve Saran, DR.

Okay, I was going to have to do some major studying. This bothered me for a couple of weeks, but I could not quit thinking about my problem and ways around this law that my county had. So, I phoned the President of Modern Institute of Reflexology, Zachary K. Brinkerhoff, III, and he told me to hang tough and have faith and fight it. Then I spoke with family, friends and massage therapists who said, “that’s just crazy ... Reflexology and Massage are different."

I asked myself if this was God’s way of testing me (to see if this is really what I wanted to do) or was I going to give-in or just give up and do something else. My answer to Him was "YES, this is what I am going to do!! It feels right." With all the pain I had been through with my legs (ankles and knees) ... I knew what it felt like to hurt. Now I know how to help other people. I felt like this was the reason that I was here ... reflexology is what I am supposed to do. I have always been told that if something is hard to get ... don’t give up ... it will just make getting it feel so much better and worth it.

Note Dr. Wittman's divergent breast reflex point.

I decided to call every government license agency for Georgia and found that I didn’t have to get a state license. So my question to myself was ... why should I have to get one from my county. There’s got to be another way. So I called the county and asked them what to do next. The clerk told me to send the application back in and the Board would deny it. Then they would send it back to me with the Appeal Process. That process would start when I sent a Letter of Appeal along with $500 dollars for the appeal.

So I said, “YOU’RE KIDDING”. The guy I was speaking with (and had been speaking with since the beginning of the mess) said I could write a letter asking them to waive the fee and send it with the Letter of Appeal. The Board could either waive the fee or make me pay, but they would decide after reading the letters.

So, I wrote a nice little letter asking them to waive it, and of course they did. I also sent in a Letter of Appeal along with that letter. When I called to make sure they got the letter, they said they would set up the process and make an appointment for me to go before the members of the Gwinnett County Board to let me have my say.

I made up my mind … the County was in for a fight. I was not going to give up and I WASN’T going to pay anyone any money to take a test that I wasn’t qualified to pass. I was going to set a precedent for Gwinnett County. I was going to get my license for Reflexology and I didn’t care how many appeals I was going to have to go through. I was going to win.

"My Chocolate Lab begs to have his ear reflex points worked with the DRUMmer," said Donna.

So, along with the Letter of Appeal and a request for waiver, I sent letters from everyone who had written recommendation letters to the reflexology school and the county ... along with letters from my Chiropractor and Nurses who are my patients. I also included a letter from my orthopedic doctor stating that I was not physically able to be a massage therapist. I also sent in the name and address of every association in the United States for reflexology and made sure to include their phone numbers. I didn’t stop there ... but also included the history of reflexology and how it has evolved over the years. This data showed how it can benefit individuals. Then I added information from a couple of Websites that I had downloaded during my studies. I gave them so much data on reflexology they were probably choking on it.

A week later they left two messages on my cell phone asking me to call them. I was expecting they wanted to make an appointment time for my appeal to the Board. So I called them back. Since I had sent them all that information, the gentleman said they had decided to do some further checking on reflexology. After doing their research the Board had decided that I was right. Reflexology and Massage Therapy are not the same. I was informed that they were going to separate Reflexology from Massage Therapy and put it in a separate classification. That meant I didn’t have to go in front of the board members to fight my case.

This mirror image foot reflexology chart was created by

Kate McCormick for the Victorian School of Reflexology,
Melbourne, Australia.
So, today I went to pick up my business license – REFLEXOLOGY FOR THE SOLE!!!!!

I want to thank everyone who was there by my side and those who stood with me in spirit!! I got my answer ... this is what God wants me to do.

Thanks and God Bless!

Donna M. Bean
1-678-442-8951
Certified Professional Reflexologist
reflexology4thesole@hotmail.com
donnam_bean@hotmail.com

Russian Reflexology Foot Chart