Refuge in Reflexology:
Healing from the Feet Up

By Nadia Lerner,  Staff Writer

Finding work was paramount. Sponsored by several families from Stamford's Jewish community, Breslav, her mom, then-3-year-old daughter Marsha and now ex-husband settled into a local apartment. Also granted a loan by Jewish Family Service, Breslav was intent on paying it back.

Although she freelanced on a few film-editing jobs, it wasn't enough to make a living. Her subsequent jobs, part time and without benefits, included counter clerk at a frozen yogurt parlor, security guard and saleswoman at Macy's. During the first five years, the family had no health insurance. There was just enough money to pay the rent and put food on the table.

"Those small jobs were so that I would never be sitting home. I didn't want to be on public assistance," she says.

Slowly, she climbed the ladder. She learned quickly and had no trouble being promoted. A bank teller job led to customer service work and later, a couple of managerial-level positions.

During this time, Breslav experienced her first reflexology session. "I loved it," she says of the therapeutic foot massage with ancient roots in India, China and Egypt. This treatment is based on the principle of reflex points in the feet linked to corresponding body organs. In addition to relaxing the body, it is believed the therapy can relieve various ailments: hypertension, allergies, headaches/migraines, arthritis, asthma, insomnia, depression and anxiety.

The practitioner who administered the therapy offered to instruct her. Breslav accepted, and later advanced her knowledge through weekend sessions at the International Institute of Reflexology in New York City. After 1 1/2 years of study, she became a certified reflexologist. Reflexology, she says, became her refuge.

"People who do reflexology do it from their heart. They love it. You can't just do it technically on somebody's body and spend an hour with that person. You've got to love it."

At the time, she was working as director of support services at an international medical management company in Stamford. Still, paying the bills was key. She had to stay the course.

Paradoxically, the medical management company began to crumble and faced the possibility of bankruptcy. Realizing she might soon be out of a job, Breslav applied for work at the U.S. headquarters of Swiss Bank in Stamford (now UBS), where she received an attractive offer. While the position held promise, she was captivated by the idea of becoming a full-time reflexologist. She had to make a decision.

While driving one day toward an intersection, Breslav was suddenly embraced by the bright sun. She felt it was a signal: "I thought, 'I've got to do healing, and I'm going to succeed. Finally, I am going to do what I am on this Earth to do.' " She called Swiss Bank and declined the job offer.

"I want to say that I was not frightened," she adds, "but it wouldn't be true."

Through inquiries, Breslav learned no one in the area practiced reflexology full time. People advised her against going into the profession. A former boss warned that reflexology was not well known in the area. Also, because the procedure was then not covered by insurance, he cautioned clients would be unwilling to pay out-of-pocket. (For the most part, lack of insurance coverage is still the case.)

Despite the warnings, Breslav opened her practice in 1998 and began seeing clients in her home. Through networking, she established connections with a holistic OB-GYN and a couple of chiropractors who wanted to include reflexology as an adjunct to their practices. "Before I knew, two years had passed, and I was able to make a living," she says. "My practice grew to full time, and it was very rewarding. People would come to me, see results and tell their family and friends."

After several years of practice, Breslav attended an international conference where Swiss priest and well-known reflexologist The Rev. Josef Eugster delivered the keynote speech. She developed a friendship with Eugster, who works as a missionary in Taiwan.

His style of reflexology, based on traditional Chinese medicine, was different from the one she had learned in the United States. In America, the style is more for relaxation, she says. When you relax the body, you help the person through distress and bring the body back to balance.

Breslav decided to study with him in Taiwan, where she remained for three weeks. His method focuses on energy pathways called meridians that run through the entire body. "The system is very complicated. I had access to knowledge accumulated over 5,000 years. It was there, one on one with master and student," she says.

Once home, Breslav combined her style with that of Eugster. (She has also studied sound healing, nutrition, healing energy, aromatherapy, energy psychology and reiki, in which she is certified.) Subsequently, she invited Eugster to the United States to help her establish the nonprofit Father Josef's Method of Reflexology. The organization was launched in the year 2000.

Twice yearly, Breslav and Eugster conduct two-day workshops nationwide promoting reflexology to the public and teaching his method to certified practitioners. Each participant receives continuing education credit. In addition, Breslav lectures and teaches a two-night course on reflexology at Norwalk Community College. "I think Irina is a very gifted and talented healer," says her husband, Nicholas Lepore. "She seems to step outside of herself and really offers some wonderful treatments. I can say that firsthand. I have experienced it."

Her daughter Marsha, a TV and film production major at the University of Miami, never doubted her mom would make it. "But I expected it to take time," she writes in an e-mail. "I believe in doing what needs to be done to succeed. She did just that."

For more information, 968-6824; www.IBhealing.com; www.fjmreflexology.com.  Copyright © 2007, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc.  Published March 2, 2007