BRANDON — Want to get away without leaving Brandon? Lindy Brown has just the thing — reflexology.
This ancient art and science of manipulating the foot to stimulate different parts of the body and release tension has been around since ancient Egypt, and now it’s here in Brandon. A former pharmacy technician and LPN, Brown apprenticed with Middlebury Reflexologist Katherine Windham after hearing her speak at a women’s club meeting in her hometown of Orwell.
“I had always been interested in it, and the first treatment I had, oh my goodness, I was so de-stressed when I left her office,” Brown said. “Katherine was interested in training someone and I apprenticed with her for several months.”
Brown soon realized that reflexology was her calling and started creating a business called “Reflexology for the Sole.” It opened for clients earlier this spring and held a formal ribbon cutting in May.
“I decided it was going to be more than just working on friends and family members,” she said. “I wanted to make it a business and I needed a school name behind me.”
Brown enrolled at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Lenox, Mass., for a weeklong intensive reflexology training.
When deciding where to open her office, Brown said Brandon was a logical choice.
“I knew Orwell was too small to support me,” Brown said. “I chose Brandon thinking that it’s a nice, little community and people can easily travel from Middlebury, Rutland and elsewhere.”
Brown has set up shop in the Ayrshire Building at the top of Union Street in Brandon. She leases a suite of rooms on the second floor, and has decorated in such a way that anyone who enters immediately feels calm. That’s before the soothing foot soak and 45-minute reflexology session. Even the light is relaxing as Brown draws the shades and puts on very calming New Age music.
But before you think this is one of those touchy-feeling women’s spa therapies, Brown says think again.
“I don’t want people to think reflexology is a girly thing,” Brown said clearly. “It’s for men, teenagers, older folks, everybody. Anyone who wants to relax.”
Reflexology has shown to improve circulation, reduce stress, and lower blood pressure. It is also purported to cleanse the body of toxins, balance emotions and work as a preventative health care measure. Trained reflexologists use their hands to apply pressure to the feet in order to channel and circulate healing energy to all parts of the body.
While reflexology dates back to 2330 B.C. in ancient Egypt, American Eunice Ingham is credited with creating the now-recognizable map of feet detailing the organs and body parts associated with different parts of the foot. Often referred to as “The Grandmother of Reflexology,” Ingham, a physical therapist born in 1884 and who died in 1974, originated, researched and developed reflexology as it is known today. Reflexology has grown to international proportions under the direction of her nephew Dwight Byers, considered today’s leading authority.
A native of St. Johnsbury, Brown also maintains an office there as well, where she conducts reflexology sessions three days a month. She also travels the state at the invitation of different organizations to talk about the art and science of reflexology.
“I guess you could say I’m spreading the gospel of reflexology,” she said with a smile. “It makes me feel good to see people feeling better. It makes me feel even better when they re-book, and just about everyone does.”
Brown charges $45 an hour, a reasonable rate considering many reflexologists typically charge as much as $85.
“I kept the price purposely low,” Brown said. “I’d rather be busy and I want more people to be able to afford it.”
Brown offers sessions by appointment only. Gift certificates are also available, and there are punch cards for 10 sessions and the 11th session is free.
So, what is Brown’s target population? She doesn’t have one.
“Reflexology would help everybody,” Brown said resolutely. “I know it sounds like a line, but it’s true. It’s definitely preventative.”
To make an appointment, contact Lindy Brown at 802-282-3538 or via e-mail at [email protected]. The office is located at 4 Union St. in Brandon, entrance on the Union Street side, second floor. Follow the footprints.