Nicola Hall - Hand Reflexology for Practitioners

As a highly respected practitioner and advocate for complementary medicine, Nicola Hall is one of the most influential experts in the world of reflexology. Having benefited from her gentle but effective treatment of a long-standing sports injury, I can thoroughly recommend her deep knowledge and passion for her subject. These emerge in her vividly-written, thought-provoking book, which makes clear how hand reflexology, though less widely used than treatments of the feet, has a highly effective role to play in treating and alleviating a variety of conditions. Although aimed at the practitioner, the book is full of insights that will fascinate the general reader and help to strip away some of the myths and misapprehensions surrounding this ancient and accessible therapy.

Sally Jones, Journalist and Broadcaster

HAND

REFLEXOLOGY

for Practitioners

by the same author

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What it is, how it works, and what it can do for you: Revised Edition

Nicola Hall

ISBN 978 1 84819 137 2

eISBN 978 0 85701 108 4

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HAND

REFLEXOLOGY

for Practitioners

REFLEX AREAS, CONDITIONS AND TREATMENTS

NICOLA HALL

Foreword by Matthew Williams

LONDON AND PHILADELPHIA

Hand chart on page 188 is reproduced with kind permission from Lynne Booth.

First published in 2016

by Singing Dragon

an imprint of Jessica Kingsley Publishers

73 Collier Street

London N1 9BE, UK

and

400 Market Street, Suite 400

Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA

www.singingdragon.com

Copyright Nicola Hall 2016

Foreword copyright Matthew Williams 2016

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form (including photocopying or storing it in any medium by electronic means and whether or not transiently or incidentally to some other use of this publication) without the written permission of the copyright owner except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 or under the terms of a licence issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, Saffron House, 610 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Applications for the copyright owners written permission to reproduce any part of this publication should be addressed to the publisher.

Warning: The doing of an unauthorised act in relation to a copyright work may result in both a civil claim for damages and criminal prosecution.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Hall, Nicola (Reflexologist), author.

A practitioners guide to hand reflexology / Nicola Hall ; foreword by Matthew Williams.

p. ; cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-84819-280-5 (alk. paper) -- ISBN 978-1-84819-247-8 (alk. paper)

I. Title.

[DNLM: 1. Massage--methods. 2. Hand. WB 537]

RM721

615.822--dc23

2015036380

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 1 84819 280 5

eISBN 978 0 85701 227 2

Contents

Foreword

The growth of complementary and alternative medicine, or integrated healthcare as it is now often called, has been driven over the past 30 years by patients who have wanted individual, patient-centred care that looks holistically at them as human beings rather than a group of conditions.

The demand for this type of care has come about because of the inability of conventional medicine to help with a range of common conditions, often long-term and chronic conditions where orthodox drugs and treatments have little success. Patients have increasingly sought non-invasive treatments with little or no side effects in preference to pharmaceutical drugs and surgical interventions.

Government and policymakers have been slow to catch up with the modern demands of patients, but groups such as the Parliamentary Group for Integrated Healthcare have driven the agenda centrally, whilst organisations around the UK, such as the British Reflexology Association, have worked to improve standards and professionalism among practitioners, provide patient choice and enable patients to access the kind of patient-centred care that modern healthcare demands.

I recall the Parliamentary Group for Integrated Healthcare hosting an exhibition at Westminster many years ago, and we decided that the therapy we would showcase was reflexology, because it was non-invasive, gentle and easy for Parliamentarians not familiar with complementary therapies to engage with. Reflexology was well received by all those who experienced it, which is not surprising because the philosophy behind reflexology epitomises why complementary therapies are so successful it treats not just the symptoms, but the causes of the symptoms.

I have known Nicola Hall for almost 20 years. Since she trained in 1977 she has written eight or nine books on reflexology and is Director of the Bayly School of Reflexology, which was the first reflexology training school to be established in Great Britain in 1978. Nicola trained with the founder, the late Doreen Bayly, and is now regarded as a leading figure in the reflexology world and an important contributor to the development of complementary healthcare more widely. She previously had a clinic in London, is chairman of The British Reflexology Association and continues to be a valued member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Integrated Healthcare.

Nicola is well-respected throughout the field of integrated healthcare, far beyond the practice of reflexology. I have no doubts that with her vast knowledge, experience and professionalism, this book will prove to be a valuable publication for anyone wanting to learn about hand reflexology.

Matthew Williams

Manager, Parliamentary Group for Integrated Healthcare

Director, Integrated Healthcare Partnership

United Kingdom

Acknowledgements

I express special thanks to those who have contributed to this book by helping with the text on some of the different approaches to hand reflexology and hand treatments. These professionals include Philippe Mathon, Lynne Booth and Jong Baik, all of whom have made significant contributions to the practice of reflexology. Their details can be found in the Resources at the end of the book. I also give special thanks to Debbie Androlia for taking the photographs of a treatment session and to Maureen Androlia for acting as the client receiving treatment. Finally, I thank Nathalie Clarke of Pace Print and Design, Worcester UK, for her help in redesigning the hand chart on pages 33 and 44.