In this cold and dark time of year, I want to put in a plea for our legs and feet.
I have clients of all ages who arrive in my practice warmly dressed. A jumper, a nice warm coat and a scarf, maybe a hat...
and then... Those legs and feet are hardly covered at all.
Men, women and children are all guilty of the most heinous neglect of their poor nether parts.
It is not new. When I was at school, we wore short white socks in the summer and they were replaced by thicker knee length socks (grey) in winter. Beyond that, bare leg under a serge skirt all the way to the thick blue knickers. And the wind blew straight up the gap. We learned to ignore the discomfort.
We have taught ourselves to ignore the complaint from our cold feet as we dash around, chased by wolves we have imagined for ourselves – wolves called “too much to do” or “I’ll think about it later.”
Life is already hard for our legs. The overemphasis on our intellectual activity draws our energy into the top of our bodies. Often we are not moving as much as our bodies need, so we don’t renew the circulation in our legs and feet. We sit on chairs rather than squatting which would use our legs more actively. Poor old legs!
It is really important that we allow life and vitality to reach our legs and feet, so that we can live deeply in these beautiful bodies that we so easily take for granted.
When a child is born, it takes time to fully inhabit the body. But if the child has shut off sensation from the legs because they are constantly cold, it makes this impossible to fully achieve.
As our children are being called upon to engage with thought processes at an early age, it is even more crucial that their legs are warm.
If we shut off from the cold in our feet, we shut off from all our feelings. What if the heartlessness our world is suffering from is all as a result of cold legs and feet? How can we honour the beautiful earth we walk on if our feet are shut down?
I have heard some stunning excuses for not wrapping our feet up warmly:
“My shoes are too small to wear more socks.”
“I don’t like the look of socks”
I feel so sorry for those neglected legs and feet.
Cold feet will affect your digestion and your sleep, two vital processes for our life, comfort and health
So here are three simple things to do that will help:
One.
Hot and cold foot baths: This needs to be the last thing you do before going to bed.
The way I do it is to run a bath with some hot water in it, as hot as you can comfortably enjoy. I walk up and down in the bath until my feet are really warm. Then I step into a bowl of cold water for a slow count of ten. Back to the hot until those feet have warmed up again and then into the cold they go. Finish with hot again and then put on some warm socks and go straight to bed.
In the absence of a bath it is just as effective to use two bowls of water.
Do this for a few consecutive days and you will be amazed at the results in terms of better sleep and feet that seem to stay warm all the time.
Sometimes they feel too hot for a while, but they soon get used to being warm.
Two
Copper ointment.
Weleda (www.weleda.co.uk) make copper ointment which is great for warming the feet. Put it on very sparingly and with a very light touch. You are not massaging your feet, just spreading the copper over them. Then put on a pair of socks. Again, do this before bed. But do make sure you are not too fond of your socks. This really is copper and it turns everything green.
If you have any underlying health problems, give Weleda a ring and talk to their pharmacist about the product before you use it.
Three
Wear enough clothes from the waist down. Leggings under trousers, thick socks, silk long johns.
WEAR ENOUGH CLOTHES FOR GOODNESS SAKE! FOR THE SAKE OF YOUR FEET!
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