Help! Different Foot Maps

[Beautiful Disaster]

Hello,
Ive just started at a new college to study Additional Reflexology which is a follow on from the VTCT Diploma in Reflexology.
I am very passionate about Reflexology, however i have just found out that i have been taught the Nichola Hall Foot map(western reflex and zone therapy style).... and My new current college have been studying A different foot map(British School of Reflexology )

Many things are in different places and i feel very sad, that my most passionate subject can have soooo many foot maps attached to it! How on earth can i make sense of the two foot maps?. I know many books have different foot maps and i have learnt to ignore them....but which one is right? Both colleges offer a the VTCT reflexology diploma.

Rachelx

 

[Fearless!]

There is no 'right' map. I have done reflexology courses in 3 countries - England, USA and Belgium. Each course worked with different 'maps', so I just got on with it. In the USA no two schools work the same! It all got very confusing. I worked following the map 'of the moment', but after all the 'tests' always reverted to the original, which I learnt under the guidance of a nurse who had trained in reflexology whilst working in Hong Kong throughout the 50's - way before it became 'flavour of the month' in the West, and started to require "certification".

 

[Ugly Betty]

Hello Hallos

Unfortunately all charts are different if you try to be scientific about it. Reflexology is an art, and a healing one at that. Doesn't it blow away the pretensions of so called diagnosis?!

I think the first thing to consider is the feet as a microcosm to the whole body. Second, the charts are just away of getting you to do the job - form creates function, energy follows thoughts. Part of the ideal of foot mapping is a mental construct, and this allows interaction with the client on many levels, physical, psychological, energetic etc. This interaction generates a kind of sympathetic resonance, allowing healing to occur.

Follow the chart that makes sense to you and gives you results. Personally I prefer Reflexology mixed with Chinese meridians and acupressure, but that is a personal choice. Some prefer chakra therapy techniques, others gentle, subtle, precision reflex type stuff. At the end of the day its about balance - homeostasis.

Best Wishes

Dave the Reflex Pixie

 

[PR731]

Hi Rachel.

It is a nightmare, I know as I teach it. There are far more foot maps than two out there.

I would agree in principle with both reiki pixie and Jabba The Hut. I, like Jabba have always used a map from when I was taught in the 60's, strangely enough also from a nurse. (Not the same one).

But I personally would contact VTCT and ask why they are using two different foot maps in their courses. Not very professional if you ask me, at least not without an explanation. But to be fair perhaps they are not aware of it.

 

[Mr.Lucky]

Hello Hallos

Since the last post I wrote, I have been thinking how the original Ingham chart stands up in clinical practice. I also like Inge Dougans chart as it bridges the gap between zone and meridian therapy (apart from the knee and hip reflexes which I reverse - to be more like the Ingham chart).

I originally learnt the Nicola Hall chart as my tutor studied at the Bayley School of Reflexology. I have looked carefully at the BSR/Ann Gillanders chart, and it seems to try to conform to the principle on the body map being an exact ratio on the foot. I not sure nature is that precise.

If you can get away with the Hall chart on the VTCT course, then carry on as usually. Mental confusion is not going to help the treatment, as mental clarity is important in developing sympathetic resonance with the client.

Best Wishes

Dave

 

[cuezgujhifvirqezw]

Hello Again and thankyou all for your replies....i think i just need to chill out and then i will get my head round it.(i was quite shocked to find that foot charts can be quite different....the other thing is i think there are quite a few differances...ie my chart has the eustachian tube and the parathyriods plus the heart is only on the right foot...ears and eyes run along the base of the toes..ie on top on the lung area the pituitary is in the center of the toe, the other foot map has the pituitary to the side of the big toe there is an extra reflex.... below the shoulder reflex(axilla) the eyes and ears are within the first two toes...there is a hypothalomus/thymus reflex and the heart reflex is on both feet.

Help i need to reprogram myself.

Love and sunshine
Rachelx

 

[idynaldk]

My dear Hallos

You are taking this tooooooooooooo seriously.

This is why I have described reflexology as an art.

For years I had the same problem and had to put up with clients asking me what is that point I'm working on and expecting some kind of diagnosis.

A lot of how reflexology works is by the interaction between the client and the practitioner. The feet (hands, face, ears etc) is just an interface to enable the stimulation of healing to occur. (Also from a energy meridian PoV, the further you work from the organ along the meridian, the more control you have in influencing change.)

It is a bit like three grandfather clocks in a room with their pendulums swinging differently. In time (pardon the pun) all of the clocks will swing in sync with each other.

Brain waves do the same thing. When a healing practitioner goes into a centred/relaxated state of mind (alpha waves or even theta waves) so does the client. I believe this has been scientifically proven.

Sometimes we invest so much time and energy into something, and when someone comes up with a opposing idea, it can be psychologically painful.

If you read my first post to you carefully, what I am saying is my way of trying to understand this reflex chart problem, and this has allowed me to development a more comprehensive theory - hence the term sympathetic resonance.

Charts to Reflexology, is like Symbols are to Reiki, but that's a conversation for another time.

Cheers

Dave

 

[beastt.. :P]

Hello Dave,
Thanks for your reply.......I have had time to reflect on all that as been said...... and i have taken on board what you have said...and i do feel im alittle out of my depth at the moment.....soooooooooo MUCH to learn etc,etc.

Love and sunshine

Rachel

 

[Rosy]

They might seem different but they are basically the same. A lot of them have been drawn by hand originally so they will be differences. Its like buying the same two items from a supermarket. They have different labels but taste the same.

 

[Dakota Kakawatay]

OOps that should have read 'from two DIFFERENTsupermarkets'

 

[littlebit1349]

The problem is that what hallos was saying, if I am right, is that the labels are the same but the content and taste are different.

 

[ffcboluh]

I think Hallos' problem is greater than hand drawn charts.

For example:

BSR chart has the eye reflex in zone 2 on the 2nd toe, and the ear reflex in zone 3 on the 3rd toe.

On the Nicola Hall chart, the eyes are zone 2&3 and the ears 4&5, both reflexes below the toes.

Have a look at the positioning of the heart and thyroid reflexes, different places.

This is more than just copy error or even copyright.

Yet each reflexologist claims success in the method and chart they use.

Why? Because of sympathetic resonance of course!

Cheers

Reiki Pixie

 

[The It Girl]

Hi All

Just to add some more confusion. I trained VTCT Dip 3 in R and followed the Renee Tanner method (prob from Ingham originally). Have just been on a 3 day advanced intro to Chi Reflexology which uses acupressure points and meridians and is very gentle but powerful - sympathetic resonance! The maps are completely the other way around ie the sole of the foot is the front and the top of the foot is the back (Yin and Yang theory). Makes sense to me and I have only just graduated in June with VTCT! As Reiki Pixie points out so many different symbols in Reiki depending which type you are studying and practising eg Reiki Seichem etc. I suppose if you have learnt one method then stick with it but go with the flow and respond to the needs of the client.

 

[Thinker]

Hello Holisticman,
Thanks for your reply....and im glad you found chi reflexology course to be worth while. Im trying not to worry about all these different foot maps for the moment....and focusing on the intent to heal etc.

Love and sunshine
Rachelx

 

[Vladimir Tod!!!!!!!!]

hi, i to found maps confusing , i trained with Jan Williamson who basically said they are just a very basic guide ,but everybody is an individual ,so therefor the reflexes are likely to be different on everyone you treat , so we had to learn each reflex by touch ,as they tend to have a unique feel to them ..(after lots of banging my head on wall , and thinking Jan was as daft as a brush) i am now , getting to grips with things and finding by touch alone ..nothings easy is it....just go with it ,experience , intent, and intuition will see you okay..anyway if you think of it the feet are relativey small even if you just rub them you will make a difference, as touch alone is one of the best forms of healing you can get.

 

[XMS]

Hi ya Pincher

That is an excellent description of what I mean by sympathetic resonance.

Cheers

Reiki Pixie

 

[gabriela]

Hi Hallos,

I say forget the charts and follow your instincts. I used the chart I was given in training as a guide, but as you progress you will find every client is different and you will have a feel for the correct placing of reflexes.

So, try not to get too confused. You will be correct whatever you do as reflexes overlap and you will cover the whole foot in a treatment.

All the best

Maggie

 

[I can haz your soul]

Hello Maggie
Thanks for your reply. Yes im alittle more chilled about the different foot maps now.

Just learning hand reflexology....and i just cant seem to remember the routine....mind gone blank....im sure i will get there in the end.
Rachelx