Reflexology Lessons from the Berlin Wall – Bill Flocco

Shortly after the Berlin wall came down in 1989 I started teaching Integrated Foot Hand Ear Reflexology classes in Berlin, Germany. Many deep and richly rewarding experiences followed during the next 20 years of teaching in Central, Northern and Southern Germany. One such highlight came via the Berlin Wall. It still impacts my life almost 25 years later.

During the Beginning Foot Hand Ear Reflexology Workshop in as parsely yet tastefully appointed yoga studio in West Berlin, most of the students were from more affluent and free West Berlin. One student was from East Berlin, the part of divided Germany that for decades had been under totalitarian control, behind the Berlin Wall.There were visual and behavioral difference between students from West and East Berlin. West Berliners were like Reflexology students in any free country where I’ve taught;smiling, playful, obviously excited about learning. They also had brightness in their eye and vibrant skin tones. East Berliners seldom smiled, seemed withdrawn, subdued. The eyes seemed sullen, cautious, skin tones lacked color.

Part of my teaching style is to use approaches that empower students to explore new ways of healing and helping themselves, and others. During one such skill I asked students to do, everyone from West Berlin did so right away, but not the student from East Berlin. My associate and translator explained to me that people who had been under totalitarian rule behind the Berlin Wall for so many years, were afraid to take risks, afraid to make mistakes. Stepping out of line / doing something wrong,under the East Berlin Regime could get someone in serious trouble. With a gentle voice, I encouraged the student to give it a try, assured and reassured her that anything she did would be alright, that it was desirable to try new approaches. So she did. I was pleased for her, but gave it little more thought, as there was the entire class to focus on for two full days of instruction.

What this short story is about happened at the very end of the hands-on workshop. After reviewing what knowledge and skills had been learned during the two days, and giving everyone their Certificates of Attendance, two of the students, one from West Berlin the other from East Berlin, stood up, came to where I was, started speaking,talking to the class and to me, then quietly reached into a bag they were carrying.

I’m rarely at a loss for words, but the symbolism of what they gave me struck deep, and still does to this day almost 25 years later. Turns out, after class the previous day, the two students, one from the West the other from the East, went to get the gift, and in class gave me a rather large piece of the Berlin Wall.

I was profoundly moved that this gift came from the free and the newly free. Not only was this a symbol of an entire people being prevented from freedom to risk, to grow, to thrive, but also, a symbol of the walls all of us have in our lives, be they external obstacles or personal walls within ourselves.

To this day, when facing new challenges or any of my own personal inner walls, I look over at this gift, the gift of the Berlin Wall, and am reminded that, walls can and do come down.

May you dear reader, be able to have the courage and confidence to face your own walls and know that with persistence, they indeed, can come down.

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7 PRINCIPLES OF INTEGRATION

After the first four days (28 Hours) of our Beginning Foot Hand Ear Reflexology Class, a large amount of time is spent, hands-on, learning a variety of ways of Integrating Foot Hand Ear Reflexology into the same Reflexology Session, depending on clients needs. We go extensively into the 7 Principles of Integrating Foot Hand Ear Reflexology

7 Principles of Integrating Foot Hand Ear Reflexology

Principle # 1
Working with any one Reflexology map – Feet, Hands, or Ears – provides good results.

Principle # 2
Working with any two Reflexology maps – Feet, Hands, Ears – during the same session, provides better results.

Principle # 3
Working with all three Reflexology maps – Feet, Hands, and Ears – during the same session,
provides even better results.

Principle # 4
Working with all three Reflexology maps – Feet, Hands, Ears – during the same session, applying the Principles of Integration, provides best results.

Principle # 5
Knowing which is 1st, 2nd, & 3rd in effectiveness – Feet, Hands, Ears – especially when there is pain in the related part of the body, and work on all three during each session.

Priority Reflexing – General Patterns
Priority Reflexing – Specific Patterns

Principle # 6
Repeat Reflexing during the same session.

Principle # 7
Combine Somatic (Body) Reflexes from all three – Feet, Hands, and Ears – as well as appropriate Master Points & Functional Points on the Ears.

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Reflexology For Neck Pain & Range of Motion

A Burbank, California housewife we will call Merl, had a neck so stiff she had to turn her whole body to look either side.After three Reflexology Sessions and some Self-Help Reflexology, Merl regained full range-of-motion of her neck for the first time in twelve years. 

This case of relief of pain and stiffness from Reflexology is dramatic only regarding the length of time Merl suffered. It is quite common for people to report relief of neck pain within a few sessions of Reflexology.


The Flocco Method – Integrating Foot Hand Ear Reflexology is based on the principle that in each of these three places – ears, hands and feet – you have a complete pressure map in a shape of the human body. When you put pressure with you fingers and thumbs on these Reflexology Maps, it is something like going to a wall and turning the light switch. Although you are touching the light switch on the wall, the effect is seen on the light in the ceiling. So too, by properly reflexing the appropriate parts of the ears, hands and feet for the neck, relief of pain, stress, and range-of-motion issues, is often reported.

Over thirty years of working with feet, hands, and ears has shown that each is better for pain in different parts of the body.

Where to reflex first is called Priority Reflexing. For neck pain, go to the neck reflexes in the ears first, found above the ear lobes at the base of the hard cartilage, called the inner ridge. Hold between the pads of your fingers and thumbs with firm nurturing pressure.

Where to reflex first, second, and third is called Progression Reflexing . After reflexing the neck reflexes on the ears, progress to neck reflexes in the feet, located in the two-thirds of the toes closest to the feet, especially around the big toes.

Third progress to the neck reflexes in the hands, found in the two thirds of the fingers closest to the hands, especially around the thumbs.

Start with lighter pressure between the softer surface tissues and harder deeper tissues, until the deeper tissue softens and invites you to work deeper.

Remember the importance of drinking extra water to flush out any toxins released while reflexing. For serious health conditions also remember the value of your primary health care provider.

And as you have seen with the Flocco Method – Integrating Foot Hand Ear Reflexology relief can literally be at your fingertips, and, you can use it anytime and anywhere.

Until we chat again in our next article, like Merl,you too can learn how to give relief of neck pain through Reflexology.


BILL FLOCCO is Founder Director of The American Academy of Reflexology.

Teaching The Integration of Foot Hand Ear Reflexology Since 1982.

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Reflexology For Emphysema

A 55-year-old lady suffering from emphysema experiences dramatic relief from her symptoms and greater ease of breathing.

Emphysema is surprisingly prevalent among people who smoke pipes, cigars or cigarettes, those who live or work in highly polluted areas, such as around spores, herbicides and pesticides, factories with high air contaminants, or people who live in especially polluted urban centers.
Emphysema results from the breaking down of the little air pockets in the lungs, called alveoli, causing larger spaces. Lungs lose the capacity to take natural fluids or mucus up to the throat and out. As this condition worsens, people with emphysema develop a cough, because of the fluid build up in the lungs, the result of the lungs inability to expel the fluids naturally.

Reflexology is the natural health science of applying finger and thumb pressure, using specific techniques, to points found in the feet, hands and outer ears that correspond to reflex maps resembling a shape of the human body. By placing specific finger and thumb pressure on the lung reflexes of the feet, hands and ears, in a surprising number of cases people report relief of their lung related tensions and discomforts.

For Reflexology for emphysema, first go to your feet, lung reflexes are located, primarily, in the grooves on the top of your feet. Place the tip of your thumb or index finger in each groove, and apply gentle pressure.
For Reflexology for emphysema, second go to your hands, lung reflexes are located, primarily, in the grooves on the back of your hands. As in the feet, place the tip of your thumb or index finger in each groove, and apply gentle pressure.

For Reflexology for emphysema, third go to your ears, lung reflexes are located in the lower valley, the recessed area near your ear canal, merely by placing the tip of your index fingers against the part of the ear in the lower valley. In effect, you will be gently applying pressure directly against the head bone.

It is recommend that you reflex each of these areas for 5 to 10 minutes, once or twice a day.

When you work on your lung reflexes, if you find tenderness in your feet, hands or ears, look at this tenderness as a gift and spend more time working on tender areas. Frequently, the result is that people report feeling better in the related part of the body.

It is often recommended to drink an extra glass or two of water to help flush toxins out of the body. If conditions persist, it might be wise to see your primary health care provider.


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