Footreaders go toe to toe with therapists

by Paul Conneally | December 23, 2007 at 09:10 am

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2008 looks set to be a big year for feet as waiting lists for the latest foot therapy fad grow. After a slow start footreaders are shoehorning themselves into the forefront of must have alternative treatments for those who aspire to be one step ahead of the crowd when it comes to mind and body treatments.

It's a growing trend from individual consultations where bunions and verrucas reveal your innermost emotional and physical secrets to tupperware-like footreading house parties where you provide the drinks and snacks inviting friends around for an evening of serious footreading and good gossip.

The therapy is a new twist on the ancient art of reflexology and claims to be just as much a window on the soul as a weekly session on the analysts couch.

Footreader and reflexologist Jane Sheehan says on her website footreading.com:

"The
position and shape of the toes reveal our personality
and how we deal with emotions. At a glance, you
can tell if someone’s bossy, or talkative,
or tired and you can gain an insight into what’s
going on in their life"

2008 could be make or break for this new threapy especially in an already crowded alternative therapy marketplace at the start of what, economically at least, looks to be a bumpy footmarch of a year ahead.

Those in need of therapy but who don’t fancy spending hours on the couch can have their feet read instead. Devised in Israel, big in Germany and now taking off in LA, the Grinberg method is a combination of reflexology and counselling. “Everything from niggling headaches to deep-rooted childhood experiences reveal themselves in the feet,” says foot reader Victoria Oldham, who has a clinic in Switzerland and a waiting list at Triyoga in London (www.triyoga.co.uk). You are given breathing and stretching techniques designed to release emotional tension. If group therapy is more your thing, Jane Sheehan offers footreading parties for up eight people (www.footreading.com).