Sometimes the simple things in life make the most impact on overall quality and experience.
I know for me, if my feet aren’t happy, I have a hard time enjoying myself or even just focusing on anything else. Whether they are cold, or tired, achy or just plain uncomfortable, there’s a good chance that’s what I’m thinking about.
Our feet do a lot for us. They create the very base that hold us up against gravity, supporting our weight and carrying it with every step we take. Most of us guaranteed take this for granted. Not even paying much mind to it until we’ve injured ourselves or are wearing uncomfortable footwear.
Some people actually “hate” feel. Can you believe such a statement!? HATING feet. Personally, I think if those people only KNEW what a brilliant piece of engineering the human foot was, they’d change their mind before I could say the word “calcaneocuboid”.
The human foot has a total of 26 bones and 33 joints, and dozens of muscles, tendons and ligaments. The structure of it is essentially the shape of a tripod, and allows for weight bearing and shock absorption.
The feet really do have an important role in our lives, so I’m here today to tell you that the better you take care of them, the longer they will take care of you.
Here’s how:
1. Buy GOOD quality shoes.
There’s a few things the feet actually do NOT like.
This includes things like: tight shoes, no arch support, and materials that don’t breathe.
This is why I suggest to actually spend on a good pair of shoes. Shoes that support your arches well, have room for your toes, and have breathable material. If they can’t breathe, then they sweat, and when they sweat, they overheat and start to stink.
On top of this, have a few pair of shoes you can alternate between throughout the day. Or better yet, go barefoot when you can. This gives your feet variety and changes in environment. Something they will absolutely appreciate.
2. Treat them like you love them.
Even if you don’t LOVE feet, try your best to show your own feet some TLC.
Trim your nails, exfoliate with a pumice stone, moisturise and massage! Regular care goes a long way with your feet, believe me. As a massage therapist I see a LOT of feet. And I can definitely tell the difference between the people who take care of their feet, and the people who neglect them.
I find the best and easiest time to cater to your foot health care needs is right after a bath or shower. When the skin and nails are soft.
A pumice stone can be found in any health shop, or most certainly online. Regular exfoliation with one of those will keep your feet soft and the calluses at bay.
A tennis ball, golf ball, or other small hard ball is ideal for rolling the feet on to passively stretch them and even target sore, tight muscles in the feet.
For moisturising, I strongly recommend castor oil. Castor oil is a thicker oil that saturates deep and is very healing to any bone, joint or ligament tissue… which as we said, the foot has a LOT of. Castor oil is great for arthritic feet, as well as breaks, fractures, strains and sprains.
The feet tend to love peppermint, so treat yourself to a peppermint foot lotion or just add a few drops of peppermint essential oil to your castor oil. Then put some nice warm socks on. You won’t regret it!
3. Put them up!
Your feet are THE farthest appendages from your heart. This is why your toes are the first to go cold when you have poor circulation.
The feet also tend to have blood and lymph “pool” there, if the heart is having a hard time pumping. This is especially prevalent in overweight people and older people.
With this in mind, do your heart and your feet a favour, and put them up sometimes. And I don’t just mean on a stool. No, put them way up. Like above your heart, even up the wall!
This will help improve the circulation in your legs and feet, as well as take some pressure off of the heart. Don’t believe me? Try it! Keep them up for 5-10 minutes, take them down for a few minutes, and repeat. The more regularly you do this, the happier your legs and feet will be!
For more information like this, check out my book “Self-Care Solutions @ Work“. You’ll find information about the legs and feet, along with the rest of the body!
