If we stopped to consider what we expect our feet to do in a day, we would probably take better care of them. The truth is though, we probably all take them for granted until things start to go wrong. Foot pain is awful and so anything we can do to protect ourselves from that has got to be good.
When we massage our feet, we touch energy centers that revitalize parts of our body. This is called reflexology. Whilst we won’t get too involved in that today, it suffices to say that reflex points can be easily overstimulated. Never give them more than about two minutes of attention at a time. Far better to come and massage the point again tomorrow than to overstimulate it by doing too much at once.
Remember that vegetables are the enemy of luxury furnishings, leaving greasy stains. Make sure you put a towel beneath you on the couch.
It makes sense to start a foot massage from below the knee, so you can massage the muscles and tendons that attach to the foot.
So, oil up your hands and work from the knee, backwards and forwards in long, smoothing strokes, down to the ankle and back. If you are looking to do the liver detox, don’t forget to focus on the acupressure points that might feel sore down where the seams of your trousers would be.
Repeat about six times, using your fingers like a claw to dig deep into the calf muscle.
Listen to your fingers for places that feel sensitive and sore.
Rotate your ankle clockwise three times, then anticlockwise for three.
Smoothe your oil into the top of your feet. Working from the toes, we are going to massage the top of your foot.
Give each toe a good tug and rotate. Try to lift it out of the joint a little.
Now work your oil into the sides and top of bottom of each toe, again, listening to your fingers as you go.
Will your index finger, now massage down along each of the metatarsals, the bones that make up your foot.
Now, again, if you are doing the liver detox, feel for any sensitivity in the acupressure point that sits just between your big toe and the next one on each foot. It is on the top of your foot.
Turning the foot over, gently work in circles across the foot, gradually working across the foot in lines until you reach the heel.
Don’t forget to give the sides of your feet some love, and your heels.
Last, brace yourself.
Take your thumb and forefinger and gradually pinch the Achilles tendons that join the back of your leg to your foot.
Pinch down it, carefully, because it can be extremely sensitive.
Sensitivity is tension, so loosening it off with massage will really help, but do it gradually over a series of days.
Use up the rest of your oil massaging and stroking in as long as it feels nice.
Oil choices:
Relaxing and creaky joints
Lavender, chamomile, juniper, black pepper, ginger, copaiba.
Refreshing and cooling
