STEPPING OUT

by Jenny Sanders

I can’t seem to read anything these days without stumbling across the phrase, self-care.

This seems to cover everything from carving out fifteen minutes for a soak in the bath (pure bliss), to booking a curated weekend in some fancy spa to pamper, preen and pontificate and stretch in meditation classes, while eating little more than dust and apricots, but being waited on hand and foot (chance would be a fine thing); all for the price of a small house in London.

While I haven’t plunged into this high-end level of self care/indulgence/denial, I have recently discovered the joy of a simple pedicure.

Bear in mind that I have never been been a big fan of feet. Apart from for walking; obviously.

Anatomically and physiologically, they are amazing, yet simultaneously odd. They aren’t pretty, they’re often not all that hygienic, and the older we get the more peculiar their shape becomes. I know people who find feet so revolting that they simply won’t touch them; not even their own. I’m not sure where that phobia comes from. It’s especially odd, when I think about how cute and kissable baby feet always seem to be. Who hasn’t enjoyed playing, ‘this little piggy went to market’, with the most adorable, perfect micro-person’s trotters at one time or another? Is it, perhaps, because they are feet in miniature, and pretty much anything in miniature is more appealing. (That’s certainly true for the gas bill; maybe less true for a diamond…)

All this explains why I am advocating for prettying up our feet in whatever way possible. I can assure you, from recent experience, that there’s something very relaxing about plunging your feet into a bowl of bubbly hot/warm water and letting them soak for a while; especially after a long haul at the office/laptop/laboratory/ studio/gym/classroom/court/medical centre, or wherever you spend the majority of your working day.

I have always had very ticklish feet so, on my first visit, I was super concerned that I might simply kick some unfortunate beautician in the face should she go anywhere near my feet. Since that is precisely what I had booked for, it would have been a sad start to a very short session. By serious concentration and superhuman willpower, I have managed to overcome that eventuality; so far.

It can’t be the nicest job in the world, filing the dead skin from someone else’s feet but, much like cleaning the cooker, it could be immensely satisfying. I mean, at least you see the results fairly quickly. Perhaps the best thing about the procedure, especially if you are a non-feet-touching person, is that someone else gets to do that.

Not so very long ago, there was a popular fad of having your feet nibbled by Garra rufa – a species of fish who, apparently, enjoyed a diet of old skin. The theory was that they would remove all your rough/dead/calloused skin, leaving your extremities as smooth as those little baby tootsies we admire so much. This fashion hit the buffers in several countries when it was discovered that in reality, these fish were less keen on a diet of your old epidermis and were actually starving, to the point they would eat anything, including your old skin cells.

Animal cruelty has been flagged in many a beauty treatment in the past, alerting us to practices which we can’t condone and so we look for alternatives.

In truth, the whole fish thing never appealed to me very much. I much prefer the ministrations of a team of wonderful, trained, pedicure goddesses. They give themselves to the filing of nails and exfoliating of feet using a rough file (or, in extreme cases, the equivalent of an angle grinder) with flair and skill.

My feet took quite a battering when I hiked around the Isle of Wight with my two sisters last summer, one of whom was celebrating a significant birthday. The combination of blisters and bunions that made their unwelcome presence felt, compelled me to reassess my self-care in the foot department. Pedicures were promptly bumped up the priority list.

Hence, I found myself wriggling my toes in the pleasant foot bath provided by a salon in Cape Town prior to energetic exfoliating. Once I had been freshly scraped, I luxuriated further by reclining in my padded throne, and drifted off to my happy place while my tired pins were gently massaged. Creams and unguents were subsequently applied. The only stressful part of the process, I found, was choosing from the multitudinous colours which were on offer for painting my freshly buffed toenails. This dizzying range covered the spectrum and included metallics, glitters and glow-in-thedark luminescent shades. Something for everyone; although I can only assume that the latter is designed as an aid to light your way should nature call you in the middle of the night.

I was impressed by the painstaking care with which the ladies applied the nail varnish to every client’s toes. They certainly took a great deal more care than I have ever done in my home application sessions. My slap-dash technique of splurging colour semi-carelessly and hoping for the best was put severely to shame in their presence. Fine brushes were used to cover the smoothly-filed ends of my toenails and to painstakingly remove stray smears. Truly, a labour of love.

Having spent two months living in flip flops, revelling in the warm temperatures of a southern hemisphere summer, my feet have been open to the kind elements. The pedicures there are distinctly cheaper and more accessible than those of my home country and, since my feet were regularly on display, it seemed prudent to make them rather more presentable for the general public. I took full advantage of the opportunity to indulge in a couple of sessions.

Returning north of the equator has involved a plummet in temperature and the need to seek out shoes or boots again. Imprisoning my feet within the confines of such footwear feels awkward and claustrophobic. However, on the upside, I do get to enjoy slipping them into the welcome caress of sheepskin slippers where they nestle very comfortably. These treasures were gifted to me last year, but have no place in an African summer.

Now however, with spring just around the corner, I can truly put my best foot/feet forward and anticipate releasing my newly pampered tootsies again before very long. You might like to give a pedicure a try yourself. Your feet will thank you.

Turning Lead Into Gold: An Introduction to the Five Phases of Energy by Eileen Rolland

First off, I would like to make it clear that we will not be turning actual lead into actual gold. We will focus, instead, on getting rid of the ‘lead’ – that heavy weight that drags you down and hinders your progress, physically and emotionally.

To do this, we need to look at our understanding of health and what that means to us. Different cultures have different approaches when it comes to this subject and Traditional Chinese Medicine is one such approach. This introduction will look at the basics of something called Five Element Theory, or, more accurately, The Five Phases of Energy.

In ancient China, scholars observed the natural world including people, animals, plants, and the cosmos, and identified five basic ways in which energy manifested itself. They associated these with familiar and natural elements from their environment, each of which relates to the way that particular energy flows. The theory is that all phenomena in the universe corresponds in nature to one of these elements. Still with me? Here’s a brief explanation.

Wood energy flows upward and outward, like a tree, although the term ‘wood’ refers to vegetation generally. Wood is about beginnings.

You can bring Wood energy into your environment by having a plant in your room, or a wooden ornament, for example. The colour green is also a representation of Wood.

Fire energy is expansive and ‘all consuming’. It can flow in two directions, upward as well as downward. One way Fire can be represented is with a candle or fireplace. Fire is associated with the colour red.

Earth energy is balancing. In the body, it helps to keep all the other energies in proportion. It can be represented by crystals, stones or even the plant mentioned earlier as it is in soil. It is associated with the colours brown or yellow.

Metal energy is condensing/contracting. It can be represented by anything made of metal; an ornament, candlestick or wind chime, for example. Metal is associated with the colour white.

Water energy spirals downward and finds its own level. It can be represented by a fountain or water feature in your garden or by an oil burner using water with a few drops of essential oil, in your home. Living plants also have water. It is associated with the colour blue and sometimes black.

Food relies on water and fire. Production relies on metal and wood. Earth gives birth to everything.’ (Quote taken from A Collection of Ancient Works)

Each element promotes the existence of, or ‘gives rise to’ another and this process is represented by the blue circle, reading in a clockwise direction. Each element also controls or ‘diminishes’ another and this action is represented by the red lines, reading in the direction of the arrows. So, for example, Wood would promote Fire (next in the circle) but diminish Earth (indicated by the arrow).

There are lots of other associations with these elements - time of year; time of life; organs; emotions; tastes ... But more of that later. Let’s take things one at a time.

You might be familiar with the concept of meridians where the channel for an organ starts in one place on the body and ends in a another.

We all have energy running through our body. It’s what makes us ‘alive’. This energy runs through channels or meridians to feed the various organs and other tissues in the body

But these lines only indicate where the energy for that particular organ is closest to the surface of the body and can be manipulated by acupuncture, using needles, or by acupressure, using hands/fingers to press on a given acupoint. The channels actually run deeper into the body, circulate and criss-cross at various points to nourish every part.

That’s why, if you go for an acupuncture treatment, the needles might be placed in areas that are distant from the site of the problem.

I mentioned that each element relates to a time of year. In the coming months, I will give more detail for each of them. April will be about Wood as it is related to spring. Then Fire will be in June (summer); Earth in August (late summer); Metal in October (autumn/fall); and Water in December (winter).

In this series of articles, we will look at each element more closely. We will focus on the pair of organs, the sense organ, the tissue, the sound, the emotions and the food associated with each, and give a brief indication of what happens when the energy is out of balance.

Thinking of starting a new project? Wait till I tell you about Wood energy!

Eileen Rolland is a former complimentary therapist. When not writing, she teaches Qigong and Tai Chi.