By Laura Gordon
You stand on them, walk on them, run on them, dance on them, sit on them and even trip on them…your feet! For all they do to keep us upright and going, taking care of them is one way of saying thank you to them. Here’s an easy way to Treat Your Feet to their very own home spa!
First the basics
Remove all polish if you have any on your toes. Ladies, here’s a tip for any nails that take on a yellow color after removing the polish: use a cotton ball soaked with hydrogen peroxide. Leave the cotton ball on the nail for a few minutes then wipe off.
Next, trim your toenails. Their length should be no longer than the end of your toe and be straight across to avoid ingrown toenails. Filing straight across the nail instead of back and forth will keep the nails strong.
Now for the spa treatment
First give your feet a foot bath in a basin, bowl or tub large enough, if possible, to accommodate both feet otherwise do one at a time. You can add marbles or river rocks to the water for an additional soothing effect. Water temperature for relaxation purposes can be as hot as is comfortable for your feet. For each gallon of water in the foot bath add 1¼ cups Epsom salts, 1¼ cups salt, ¼ cup baking soda, ¼ cup cornstarch.
Have a bath towel handy, lean back and relax until the water cools and or your skin softens because the next step after drying your feet is using a pumice stone over the foot padding especially the heels to remove dead skin!
At last the foot massage
Follow the map below going from heel to toe.
By “walking” the thumb (bending and straightening the last – or distal – joint of the thumb) up the zones you are connecting with the life energy moving through the body. Be sure to use assured (medium to deep depending on tolerance) pressure.
When or if you come across a tender spot hold that point for up to 30 seconds. Doing that allows the energy block at that point to be released.
This technique can take from 10 minutes to 20.
Do this spa treatment for your feet tonight and tell us if your feet feel different when you step into the next day.
Resources:
http://www.ehow.com/how_5658633_make-scrub-treatment-dry-heels.html
http://voices.yahoo.com/diy-pedicure-treat-feet-spa-pedicure-at-3293712.html
I am going to do it!!! Adding Epsom salts to my grocery store list and thinking a bubble bath and foot massage are on my agenda for tonight. Perfect–a good way to start our week on Reflexology!
I love “treating” my feet! It feels wonderful after a long day on my feet. I had heard of using Epsom salts but I hadn’t heard about usng salt, baking soda and cornstarch before now. I will be trying these!
This. Sounds. AMazing. I can not wait to try this at home. I have very sore feet because I work as a server. Usually at the end of my shift I am exhausted, so this would be a perfect end to my day. Thanks for the idea!
I’m on my feet for my current job all day and they’re usually really sore and hurting by the end of the day. I try to massage out tender spots but I usually always wake up with sore feet. As a massage therapist, I know I’m going to be on my feet all day to and if I don’t take care of the aches and pains in my body, then I won’t be able to serve my clients as well. I’m definitely going to try this treatment, it looks great!
I use epsom salt all the time and love it!!!! I am now going to add the other salt, baking soda, and cornstarch to the mix. Thank you
Going to have to try the home spa treatment. Reads as easy enough to do. I like have my feet done just don’t like the cost, so something like this is great for me.
I am definitely eager to try this one. I have gotten pedicures before and I absolutely love them. I work on my feet and they can get pretty sore so a pedicure and a foot massage sounds like a great luxury.
ALL I HAVE TO SAY IS… GIRLS NIGHT!!! !!! !!! !!! !!! Yeah that sounds like a good time and thing to have a girls night with my sisters and mom!!! oh yes, I will diffidently have to ask them to do this monthly and eventually weekly.
I use to go really cheap on shoes. If my buddy had old shoes he didn’t want, I would where those for a while to avoid having to spend money on buying shoes. After too much pain in my feet, especially at work, my wife finally convinced me to invest in a good pair of tennis shoes. It was the first time I had spent over $20.00 for shoes and I discovered it was well worth it. I will never go cheap on shoes again!
This is something I am going to have to try! I made the mistake of buying heeled, pointed toe shoes for work and i’m on my feet all day! For sure doing this soon!
I have been told that for a man i have nice feet. Well thats because i take care of my feet, never walking outside barefoot, wearing smelly socks, ect. Men this blog isn’t just for the girls, we also have to take pride in taking care of are feet. This info is helpful in doing so. Who knows nasty feet could be a deal breaker for u one day.
I am so totally going to do this! It sounds amazing! My sister is going to love this one! The only thing I would add that wasn’t mentioned would be a big glass of wine. OR two. Yes this will be something I might have to try THIS weekend.
The only thing I would add would be a big glass of wine. This sounds amazing! I will definitely be doing this over the weekend. My mom and sisters are going to love this one.
I love doing foot treatments! I also find all of the pressure points in the foot to be fascinating. I like how the soles of our feet help with digestion. Who knew taking care of our feet could in turn take care of our whole body?!
Well, I did the the foot bath while adding the ingredients to it and it felt great. My mom had a foot bath gadget type of things that hose down your feet, with most of the ingredients in the list. Feels like I have a new pair of feet.
I love soaking my feet in epsom salt haven’t done that in awhile. Use to do that when I danced it felt great!
I’ve never really gone all out on the at home pedicures. I don’t like to do it myself. I will have to try this sometime, though.
I love my feet being worked on. one of the most amazing feelings in the world and so relaxing. i have a foot stone at home i use just to help relax my foot.
This is a great technique, I remember doing this in our class over reflexology. It is a great foot massage, I use techniques similar to this on my clients and they love it.
Fantastic blog and fabulous treatment! Tried this with my roommates and it was a huge hit! Also, I continue to be a big fan of epsom salt!
Wow I will have to try this at home! I love getting foot massages!
Well great to see that my comment was never put up there or just vanished. But as I was typing yesterday. I used my mom’s foot sprayer thing with some epsom salt, salt and baking soda,while my feet were getting prayed by some sort if pressure geyser thing in the foot bath gadget .Then I used some of my own essential oils and lightly massaged it on my feet. In the end I felt like I had pair new feet.
Great way to relieve daily stress. Also a good way to remove unwanted trash from your body. Research certain ways to add that to your treatment.
I cannot wait to try this! The only thing it’s missing is a big glass of wine to go with it! I talked to my sisters about having a girls night this weekend and doing this. 🙂
Wow that sounds relaxing and all the ingredients are available in my kitchen. Never thought a this technique would be so simple. Thank you so much for this information.
I work on my feet all day and night long and I have done this to my feet a time or two and it really does work. I just need to energy to do this at the end of my day.
Loved to learn about the different ways to relieve stress through my toes. Can’t wait to try these new and exciting techniques
This is a great technique this will really get your clients relaxed. If you dislike feet you can do this technique just to wash them so you don’t have to deal with germs. Getting to love the feet is one of the best way to make your client leave happy and will be a huge tip maker. Learn to love the feet and you will have a happy Massage career.