How To Do A Foot Spa / Pada Abhyanga

Hi all,
I didn’t expect that I would get time till the end of this week to blog as we have a product release in office. But yesterday evening, I managed to draft a blog post. So here it is – How To Do A Foot Spa or Pada Abhyanga At Home. There are many medical benefits of this procedure. So read through the end and I hope you would benefit from it.

After coming back from my Coorg trip, I was feeling so tired and was just waiting for weekend to come so I can relax. I was sleeping almost entire day on Saturday, so I was awake in the night till 12 spending time on Insta, YouTube, Nykaa (yes, Nykaa is a good place to spend time, right? ????). There are so many YouTube videos that I have missed watching as am not getting time these days being super busy in office.

So at 11 pm in the night on Saturday, I was doing a foot soak after ages. I had got wet in the rain and in the river on my trip and had walked through lots of mud. So my foot needed a detox. Here am sharing the steps for doing a foot spa or in ayurvedic terms ‘Pada Abhyanga’.

Benefits of Pada Abhyanga / Foot Detox / Foot Spa:

* A foot detox can actually detox your entire body and pull out all the toxins. It helps in internal cleansing and detoxifying liver, kidneys and parasite cleansing.
* The nerves in our feet are connected to our entire body. Using a medicated foot oil and massaging your foot is going to benefit your entire body.
* The Charaka Samhita states that if a twig is dipped in oil and massaged vigorously every day, no force can break this twig – it can be only bent but not broken. Similarly a daily / frequent abhyanga adds strength, glow and nourishment to the body and gives it the strength to withstand disease, old age and delays ageing. For the best massages, people can check RMT : massage therapy
* Promotes sound sleep.
* Apart from directly affecting the health of the feet and ensuring there are no cracks, dry skin or stiffness around the toes and ankles, in the long term, a pada abhyanga improves clarity of vision, reduces fatigue, improves strength of feet and improves the circulation of blood in the body.

Steps to do Foot Detox or Pada Abhyanga:

1) Foot Soak & Cleanse:

I took a tub with warm water and added some bath salt. I used the Sand for Soapaholics Foot Soak. You can also try the Soulflower Lavender Bath Salt which is affordable and gives you nice sleep. Another option is Cosmic Twins Foot Soak which was so good as well. I also added few drops of Kama Ayurveda Lemon Essential Oil and Aroma Magic Rose Essential Oil for skin brightening. So these are modern readymade ways. If you want to go the natural way, add some rock salt, ginger slices, cloves and turmeric in warm water and you are good to go.

2) Foot Scrub:

Next, use a scrub to exfoliate your feet. I used Aroma Essentials Coffee Cinnamon Scrub. You can use any DIY scrub you like or even readymade scrubs. If you want to go the ayurvedic way, try some cleansing grains. I think Krya has one. Concentrate on scrubbing your heels and also above and below toes.

3) Foot Mask / Detox:

The next step is to use a mask. Mix Bentonite clay with apple cider vinegar. This is the best way to detox your feet. I skipped this step as I didn’t have both of these.

4) Foot Massage:

Finally, wipe your feet dry. At this step, you will notice how soft and sensitive your feet is. I then applied Mystic Naturals Hexaflower Body Oil. This is infused with 6 flowers ,so you can imagine how soothing the floral oil must be to your feet. Next I mixed Love Organically Neem Calendula Body Butter (as it’s anti-bacterial) and Rzizhi Cocoa Butter which is deeply nourishing and also infused with herbs and is perfect for foot massage. While applying these oils and butters, give your feet a good massage. Give gentle pressure on each finger of your toe and also on your ankle. There are videos on YouTube on how to do Pada Abhyanga or Foot reflexology. If you wish to do it the ayurvedic way, Krya has medicated Abhyanga oil and Omved also has ayurvedic Foot Oil.

5) Nail Care:

Once the soles of the feet are done, pay attention to the toe nails and the nail beds. Apply a good amount of oil / butter copiously ‘watering” the nails to ensure oil penetrates the cuticles and the nail bed. Have you seen old people having clawed nails? And deep cracks in foot? This method will address all these issues.

You can do this entire routine once a week, but the foot massage and nail care step can be done every night. Not only does it give sound sleep but it also prevents cracked heels, dead nails and gives you soft and beautiful foot. Moreover it can improve overall health of body. Once you cuddle into bed after massaging some butter / oil, your soles will feel warm and soft and you will fall asleep immediately.

I have been following foot masage for a long time actually as dryness in my feet prevent me from sleeping and I used to itch a lot as a kid. Now I don’t have any cracks or dry callous in my feet.

I have just given basic info about Pada Abhyanga. The actual process as per ayurveda is more detailed and involves using specific oils and doing at particular times.

Hope this post was informative and useful to you. Let me know in the comments.

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