Reflexology News | Foot Reflexology | Hand Reflexology | Ear Reflexology
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Reflexology News | Foot Reflexology | Hand Reflexology | Ear Reflexology
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Todd Alewine holds onto a client's comfort by the fingertips as a massage therapist. His hands lead him to precise pressure points on a person's palm, fingers and feet, which he can only feel in the similar field of reflexology. Success, he measures with his ears. "I consider it the highest praise when I hear someone snore on the table," Alewine said, smiling. Many of his colleagues purposely close their eyes to feel their way up and down a client's spine and the various muscle groups webbing a person's back. But Alewine, 38, has no choice. He is blind, yet motivated in the professional field that seems built for his senses. "He is the most handy-capable person I've ever met, sighted or unsighted," said Linda Goff, a client and co-worker of Alewine's at Hart Chiropractic Clinic. "It's unbelievable what he's accomplished." Alewine became the first blind reflexologist certified through the American Reflexology Certification Board on Dec. 1, after passing a three-part exam, said Adrianne Fahey, The certification followed Alewine's completing a 300-question written test, a 30-minute practical exam on a proctor's feet and documented work with 30 people. So far, nearly 1,100 men and women have passed the exam series and been certified since 1992, she said. With Alewine as the first successful blind candidate, Fahey envisions the field opening up to more people with visual disabilities. The emphasis of the profession on touch makes it a natural one for the blind, she said. "You can feel for these areas. You don't necessarily have to see them," Fahey said. "It's a manual thing that you do. It requires hands on. I don't think sight is that important."
That is what members of the Gainesville Lions Club and instructors with the Lake Lanier School of Massage thought when they sought out a blind student capable of studying reflexology, which matches pressure points with organs of the body during treatments. Inspired by a Catholic priest known to teach the profession to blind Tibetians, club member Carol Evans and teacher Kim Wells found Alewine to be their perfect local candidate. Already a student of massage - which focuses on hand strokes to soothe knotted muscles - Alewine's recall of technique and anatomy stood out even among his sighted peers. To teach him, Wells verbalized textbook material, physically guided Alewine's hands to mimic actual techniques and used specific methods of touch on his hands and feet so he could feel exactly how points on the body should be triggered. "He's got a memory that is photographical," Wells said. "He had been sighted at one time, so it was very easy for him to picture the anatomy. He is quick to pick up on things." No stranger to the classroom, Alewine earned a bachelor's degree in economics at Georgia State University before losing his sight from acute retinitis, an illness stemming from the chicken pox virus in his case. The Atlanta native gave up his federal job that kept him visually stimulated with many travels around the United States. But when he lost his vision permanently, the then 25-year-old continued recalling one particular sight he regularly witnessed in college. Alewine pictured a blind student, who he never met or talked to. She'd stride confidently with her cane around campus and even to the MARTA station, where she waited for the commuter train to take her wherever. The vision stayed with him. "She'd go all over the campus, totally confident," Alewine said. "When I went blind, I remembered her. She inspired me." That image kept him going through his many lessons on how to live, study and work with no sight. Today, he lives with his Seeing Eye dog, Hanna, in a home adjacent to his parents' residence near Hartwell, where he enjoys entertaining for friends. "I said to myself, 'If I live an average life span, I'll live another 50 years,' " Alewine said, of his outlook when he went blind. "'I can't just stop living. I have to go on.'" The positive outlook helped turn another negative event in his life into a personal accomplishment - and eventual business. A car accident wrenched his back more than six years ago. That led to his making chiropractic visits routine. When one of his doctors suggested Alewine learn massage therapy, he did and landed a part-time job in the doctor's office as a result. At the time of his studies at the Lake Lanier school, Alewine knew reflexology courses would be his next challenge. The growing field of touch therapy triggers organs through pressure applied to specific points on the body. The unsolicited scholarship offered to him by the Lions Club gave Alewine the $1,500 tuition needed to reach his next goal faster. Today, he offers both therapies at his home office and works part-time as an independent contractor for Dr. Anthony Klatt in Hartwell. "I went from being in a car accident to having a job," Alewine said. While modest women especially might feel more at ease since he can't see any part of their bodies, Alewine does not use that to draw more clients. He tells his clients to close the door for privacy, undress to their comfort level. Goff gave up on that some time ago, knowing he can't see her. She lay facedown and near motionless on the massage table, as Alewine frequently squeezed lotion from the bottle kept on his work belt. He moved his forearms and hands up and down the tense areas of her shoulders and back, methodically detailing his techniques. His textbook delivery suggested what his former teacher Wells views as her student's next challenge - teaching. Alewine, for now, is content to let events in his life naturally occur. "I love what I do," he said. "I find I'm also happier if I let things happen, instead of make things happen." A partial verse taken from Ecclesiastes and printed on his business card puts it another way: "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might." Source: Massage and reflexology profession finds 'handy-capable' Hart County man
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