It is my humble opinion as I've written in the past in various other contexts, that the feet are the soldiers of the body. Oh, what battles we send them forth to fight for us, how many miles they tread, boxed into too tight-coats of armor in the form of high heels, sandals which cause blisters, boots too narrow in front and sports shoes falling apart after three uses.
We speak in the abstract about how "far we've come" and seeing someone "around the next bend," or "taking the road less travelled" and so on and so forth. Yet, here in the real world, our feet soldier on, actually walking those "baby steps" toward recovery or courage, literally "moving on" if that is what the commander-in -chief, otherwise known as our minds, tells them to do!
Yet we largely ignore the wonderful contribution our feet make to our lives, as if we shouldn't admire, soothe, or care for them the way we do with, say, our hair. And what does our hair do for us? It sits upon our heads or falls out with absolutely no sense of loyalty whatsoever, asking only to be admired, primped, fluffed and stroked or enhanced and modified like some Hollywood diva. Oh, the insensitivity of the commander-in-chief, to kick off shoes and tuck feet away while spending hours and hours admiring silly, foolish, self-absorbed "hair." It's so unfair.
Your feet hold you up, bring you where you need to go, ground you, stabilize you and keep you balanced when upright. As such, they are critically important and the state of the health of your feet will affect every single aspect of your health, including your emotional and psychological health. After all, what does "walking tall" mean other than confidence, pride in oneself and who one really is, stability and faith in oneself and one's life? Well, you need healthy feet for those things.
Your feet can also indicate areas of problematic systems in your overall system, including diabetes, arthritis, and heart problems. The reflexology school of thought points to crucial areas of the feet which correspond to other parts of the body (heart, lungs, liver, pancreas) and that massages and placing pressure on these areas of the feet can positively affect the corresponding areas of your body.
Traditional Western medicine knows that issues with one's feet can often be indicative of other health issues. The 26 bones, 33 joints, 107 ligaments and 19 muscles that comprise our feet are exquisitely sensitive and in use so often they frequently act as messengers as well as soldiers.
Taking time to soak your feet in warm or even hot water, using epsom salts in the water to add to the relaxation of your muscles, getting regular foot massages or massaging your feet on your own, taking care of the nails and toes of your feet (you can get professional pedicures or do them yourself) - some feel this type of massage can also drain lymph from your system and leave you less toxic than before, so that healing and caring for your feet may actually act as a de-tox treatment.
Your feet, back, shoulders, legs, and mentality will all feel differently about life, more energized, more grounded, and you may even be lighter on your feet if you treat them with the same respect as you would treat, you know, your hair.
For more on feet and overall health, please follow this link: http://www.foot.com/info/info_foot_facts.jsp
Aimee Boyle writes regularly for EmpowHER. Please visit and comment on her blog at http://straightandnarrow.yolasite.com