Client Forms

Intake

HIPAA

Cancellation Policy

 

Prior to working on minors we require this form to be completed:

Parental/Legal Guardian Authorization

Subscribe to our mailing list

Upcoming Reflexology Class Dates

Intro May 20-21, 2023
Intro September 16-17, 2023
2023 Class List

Reflexology Classes

Sign Up For Classes
Seattle Reflexology & Massage Center

4 weeks ago

Seattle Reflexology & Massage Center
In 2006 or so I ran across a 1976 newspaper clipping of Muhammed Ali receiving reflexology from Richard Minarik in an antique store in Snohomish, WA. I of course bought and framed it.Today I was looking at it and wondering if the reflexologist still lived. I did a bunch of research and finally found the answer in a blog post by "EcoIdeaMan" Paul A. Reinicke (link and text are included below).I loved this quote by Muhammed Ali in the blog: “If there’s one person in this world greater than me, it is Richard Minarik. … Throughout my career I have met the most respected people in the world: kings, queens, presidents, and other leaders of the world. In my eyes and wisdom, this foot man, Richard Minarik stands out above them all. He is a super extraordinary human being. I met Rich right after my first fight with Ken Norton in California.”The author of the blog has copies of a document Minarik was distributing in NYC entitled “Introducing: Dr. Richard Minarik, N.D. / Foot Reflexologist”. It includes a list of some of the other famous people Minarik worked on - Ronald Reagan, Jackie Onassis, Barbara Eden, Jayne Mansfield, boxers Michael Spinks and Gerry Cooney, Miss Universe Margarette Gardner, New York Mets players Darryl Strawberry, Gary Carter, Jesse Orosco, George Foster and Keith Hernandez... HIPAA obviously didn't exist back then!I enjoyed this quote from the blog author about his experience receiving reflexology from Dr. Minarik: "I don’t believe in reflexology from a scientific perspective (I think it works, but for entirely different reasons than its practitioners believe). I don’t necessarily subscribe, for example, to the notion that it has anything to do with “breaking up calcium deposits on the nerve endings in the feet,” as Minarik writes in the booklet. But whatever the proper scientific explanation for its efficacy actually is, it [sustained excitation of the nerve endings in the feet] does work."The full blog post from 6/5/2016 is available at www.ecoideaman.com/music-miscellaneous/ or you can read it here:"6/5/2016Just days ago, the world received word that the world champion boxer Muhammad Ali lost his final match. He lost that bout to the only opponent impossible to overcome: the grim reaper. As the Associated Press points out, Ali was once “perhaps the most recognized person in the world.” And perhaps still is. Personally, I don’t think I would ever consciously wish to become famous. As the historian Leo Braudy once noted, “Lurking behind every chance to be made whole by fame is the axeman of further dismemberment.”Why am I writing about Muhammad Ali? Because we share something in common. Did we both knock out George Foreman? No, not quite. In fact, I can relate to a sentiment I once heard expressed by a caller to a radio program (I’m either paraphrasing or quoting): “If society had evolved to the point where I would think that by now it should have, then we wouldn’t still be paying people to beat each other up.” Furthermore, I care as much about sports, in general, as I care about whether the groundhog sees its shadow. I’m just far more interested in other things. So what then do I have in common with the great Muhammad Ali? Let me explain.More than a couple decades ago, a man describing himself as a “foot reflexologist,” Dr. Richard Minarik, N.D. (“Naturopathic Doctor”), distributed booklets titled “Introducing: Dr. Richard Minarik, N.D. / Foot Reflexologist” to establishments such as health food stores and the like, as a means of advertising his services. I still have three (including two that featured former New York State governor Mario Cuomo, who had denied that he was ever a client). They are made of high-quality paper, twenty pages in all, and include almost a dozen photos and testimonials of people whose names you might recognize. There is a photo of Ali receiving treatment by Minarik, and what appears to be a signed letter from Ali (I’ll get back to that). The next page begins with this at the top:”Was Ken Norton’s electrofying 58 second knockout of Duane Bobick a coincidence?” Further down the page, above a photo of Norton receiving a treatment by Minarik, it states “Despite all my training my legs always felt like lead, now they feel light as feathers, in fact my whole body feels brand new. There was no way I could have destroyed Bobick the way I did in one round, had I not the good fortune to meet Rich Minarik.”The next page in the booklet begins with the heading “President Ronald Reagan thanks foot reflexologist Richard Minarik for curing spasms and cramps in his legs.” Below the photo and text it reads “Photo and Article from The Washington Post.” The next page features testimonials from the hosts (David Hartman and “Ms Desault”) of the TV show “Good Morning America” and its Executive Producer. Then there are the first two of a total of eight testimonials from local residents, including one from a New Jersey resident. The next page has the heading “America’s most popular disc jockey Ted Brown of WNEW radio gets chronic low back pain cured with foot reflexology treatment.” The next page includes a copy of what appears to be an article that was published in the Star (there is no date), titled “Jackie Onassis’ neck pains are cured thanks to foot massage.” Besides helping Onassis, the article states “Minarik has also treated actress Barbara Eden and the late Jayne Mansfield.”Are you still with me? The next page features Michael Spinks, and the caption below the accompanying photo reads “Michael Spinks gets a foot reflexology treatment from Richard Minarek one hour before he goes into the ring to battle Larry Holmes for the Heavyweight Championship.” It then points out that Spinks won that championship bout. It quotes Spinks as stating “Richard Minarik has been one of the biggest assets in my boxing career. I met him in Las Vegas 3 years ago, and he has treated me before each fight ever since.” Further down, he states “I believe that Foot Reflexology is the best treatment an athlete can get whether it be for aches, pains or for just added energy and stamina.”Next, there is a testimonial from “the new Miss Universe,” Margarette Gardner. Then there are photos of New York Mets Darryl Strawberry and Gary Carter receiving treatments. Another page includes a testimonial from boxer Gerry Cooney. The next-to-last page is titled “New York Mets Superstars,” and states (above the accompanying photo) “Jesse Orosco, Darryl Strawberry, George Foster, Gary Carter and Keith Hernandez, relax after a Reflexology Treatment from Richard Minarik during the start of the 1986 season.” The back page of the booklet is basically an ad for his patented “Acupresser,” which he invites you to come and try “completely free of charge,” with office hours available seven days a week.Now back to the Muhammud [as spelled in the booklet] Ali testimonial. I can’t include all thirty-one sentences here, but I’ll quote some parts of it. He starts by stating “If there’s one person in this world greater than me, it is Richard Minarik. … Throughout my career I have met the most respected people in the world: kings, queens, presidents, and other leaders of the world. In my eyes and wisdom, this foot man, Richard Minarik stands out above them all. He is a super extraordinary human being. I met Rich right after my first fight with Ken Norton in California.”Curiously, the testimonial refers to “Budini Brown” as his trainer and not an assistant trainer (and cornerman) and misspells his name (it is Drew Bundini Brown, according to Wikipedia). Ali states at one point “I felt energy in my body like I never felt before.” He states Minarik has treated him before every fight since he first met him, and was even with him in Zaire, Africa, and Ali gives Minarik “all the credit for my stunning knockout of George Foreman which shocked the world.”He further states that he calls Minarik “super human not only because of what he did for me, but because of what he has done for all my friends and family that he has treated,” and concludes the testimonial with “I recommend Richard Minarik to anyone who is ailing or who wants to get rejuvenated. He’s the greatest!”Wow! And a forty-five minute treatment from this man who worked on world champions, a former president, and so forth, could be had for only $20 (I still have one of the original coupons). It took a few years for me to finally get around to making an appointment; but I eventually did. And was I ever glad I did! It was just exactly like Spinks described. My legs felt like feathers. I remember saying to myself as I left, “Wow! I feel like I can run the New York City Marathon!” That’s exactly how it felt.So that’s what I have in common with Muhammad Ali: Richard Minarik!Let me quickly add that Richard Minarik is no longer in practice. It appears he passed away in 2009. I’ll also point out that whenever I’ve tried to substantiate any of the material in the booklet (using Google), it’s usually amounted to a surreal experience, because I can hardly find any information at all to substantiate any of the claims. Based on my own experience with him on that one occasion, and seeing all the corroborating photos in the booklet, I don’t really doubt any of it. But considering how glowing the testimonials are, you would think there would be some traces of evidence left behind on the internet that the man existed and had the accomplishments that he had. Just about the only corroborating evidence I could find on the internet is a slightly different photo very similar to the one in the booklet showing him treating Muhammad Ali (AP Wire Photo, 1976), and the published piece relating to Jackie Onassis, which evidently also appeared in the San Antonio Express (August 8, 1976, page 153), but with a different photo of Minarik than the one that accompanied the Star article.In conclusion, I’ve for years wanted to attempt to see if I could track down a close relative of his, to suggest that they consider putting all of the material contained in that booklet up onto the internet (create a simple, low-budget website), as a tribute to the man and the work that he did and believed in. I don’t believe in reflexology from a scientific perspective (I think it works, but for entirely different reasons than its practitioners believe). I don’t necessarily subscribe, for example, to the notion that it has anything to do with “breaking up calcium deposits on the nerve endings in the feet,” as Minarik writes in the booklet. But whatever the proper scientific explanation for its efficacy actually is, it [sustained excitation of the nerve endings in the feet] does work. One of the machines that he had used on me (on both my hands and my feet), was truly unique (I haven’t seen anything like that on the market). The “Acupresser” (which he also demonstrated on me throughout the treatment), I probably wouldn’t recommend (but in fairness, I don’t know how my experience would have been different without his having used it).[Incidentally, in my opinion, I think the closest that you can come to actually receiving a treatment by the late Richard Minarik, would be by using the very powerful foot massager sold at medmassager.com.]" ... See MoreSee Less

Photo

View on Facebook
· Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email

Seattle Reflexology & Massage Center

2 months ago

Seattle Reflexology & Massage Center
Resource information.This article gives history, mapping and reflexology around the world.www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4624523/ ... See MoreSee Less

Photo

View on Facebook
· Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email

our phone

206.284.8389

our address

P.O. Box 22
Clinton, WA 98236
This school is licensed under Chapter 28C.10RCW.
Inquiries or complaints regarding this private vocational school may be made to: Workforce Board,
128-10th Ave. SW, Box 43105, Olympia, WA 98504 - Phone: 360-709-4600 - Web: wtb.wa.gov

© Copyright Seattle Reflexology & Massage Center - Website by Quality Webmaster Service