Happy Feet Happy Life.
Our feet tend to be the most overworked part of our body and at they same time they often receive the least amount of care. Throughout my life, I have had the pleasure of wearing many different hats during my many journeys, yet the only constant link has been my feet. I’m lucky to report that my feet have always carried me to exactly where I need to be.
Along the way I acquired multiple foot regimens. Some of these serve me well to this day, while others I do not miss. For instance, I use a simple yoga technique daily: I lift my feet up in the air above my head every night before bed to allow the blood to drain down my legs, decrease swelling from the day, and let my feet begin to rejuvenate as I fall asleep. This allows me to have a more restful sleep, and when I wake up, my feet feel much happier. However, I do not miss having to plunge my feet into a bucket of ice water every night after work to keep inflammation down from a long day of rehearsals. Now I reserve this technique for times of injury as a more severe therapy.
Like all things in life, there will be ebbs and flows within one’s self-care. I believe that a big part of health has more to do with each individual’s needs and/or constitution. Learning to listen to what our bodies are trying to tell us is an important part of addressing these different conditions. This philosophy stems from my Ayurveda roots, and I will have much more to share on this topic in other blog posts soon.
Today, I would like to share some knowledge about the more structured systems of foot care which I find to have tremendous health benefits for those who use it. In case you love facts and history as I do: Did you know that the Egyptians had footwork drawn in their Hieroglyphics? This dates all the way back to 2300 BC—almost 5,000 years ago! This is just one documentation of foot care being used as a modality to help us live better. Other cultures such as Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Indian, Native American and African all have beautiful ancient techniques designed as foot care regimens.
My current favorite footwork modality happens to be Reflexology. If you are not familiar with this technique, it can be thought of as fingers and thumbs walking on your foot. Reflexology is a touch therapy that applies pressure to reflex points on the feet, hands, or ears. The reflex points correspond to organs, glands and other parts of the body, and there are two schools of thought on why it works.
The first is that life-energy passes through the body via energy pathways called meridians or zones. The pressure applied allows obstructions in this energy to be removed so that it can flow freely again. The second concept considers our nerve connections. We have thousands of nerve endings in our hands and feet. The pressure applied stimulates the nerve allowing it to induce its own balance throughout the body. There is also the lymphatic theory where the pressure applied encourages lymph activity. This theory is currently bigger in Europe. No matter which theory speaks to you, I encourage you to give Reflexology a try.
I will leave you with this fun take home nugget from my friend Sara Gray a licensed barefoot massage therapist, “The toes are a tool. I strengthen my toes and all the muscles in between my metatarsals by picking up tumbled stones. Strengthening your toes can help with balance issues and foot pain.”
