You are sitting at the feet of the receiver, with your foot reflex chart nearby. You have warmed up both feet, and are now preparing to begin reflexing the feet. Look at those feet and see the doorway to the entire body. The nerves are the wires that run into the main column, where cables connect to the mainframe. Within the mainframe are many mailboxes, each with a certain address.

Following the input wires, mail is picked up and the delivery process begins. The mail is carried away along the output wires to the designated addresses. The message being delivered is essentially the same to all addresses: “Please function at your best level and be in a homeostatic state. Thank you.” The act of reflexology provides that message. The continued application of pressure to the feet is a constant reminder for the entire body to wake up and smell the coffee.

The nervous system has many parts, most of which are affected by reflexology. As you reflex an area on the foot, you are directly stimulating the sensory nervous system. This message is then relayed to the autonomic nervous system through the spine, on to the brain, and back out the spine to the autonomic nervous system. Both sections of the autonomic system are affected.

The spinal cord reflex also plays an important role in homeostasis. This quick automatic response has no brain thought involved. The spinal cord is a roadway for sensory nerves to the brain, and motor nerves to the body. There are times when the information is exchanged only in the spinal cord, involving activity between a sensory and a motor neuron. This response is called a reflex.

Reflexology elicits a reflex response when pressure is applied to the reflex points. Sensory and motor receptors receive information via the nerve pathways from the feet. Whatever may be needed at the time, the reflex response will be activated, releasing chemical and physical results. The feet receive and integrate information throughout the body, working with the nervous system toward homeostasis.