Lifestyle Choices

Your poor feet! Walking, running, dancing, jogging, basketball and pogo sticks, stiletto heels and pointy toes—do they ever get a rest from all the abuse they’re forced to take? The tips below will help get your feet looking—and feeling—their very best, day or night. You don’t have to visit a fancy beauty salon to benefit from these footwise suggestions.

1. For swollen feet that are really beat, soak in cool salt water for five minutes. Dry carefully and moisturize.
2. To step up circulation, soak feet for five minutes in shallow footbath or tub of warm water; switch to cool, and keep soaking for an additional five minutes. You’ll be ready to dance the night away.

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Every woman has two kinds of energy, male and female. Male energy is like the sun—invigorating, stimulating, creative, and powerful. The male postures in yoga call forth this dynamic energy and release it.

Female energy is recuperative, calming, nurturing, and gentle. The female postures are restoring to body, mind, and spirit. Yoga attempts to release male and female energies and ultimately to fuse them in union—to integrate the person.

The first four postures are male. They are done standing and they revitalize you. The last four are female and calming. In order to achieve the best balance and effect, it is best to do them in the order in which Geoffrey recommends them. (more…)

Wash them every day, making a rich lather and massaging it over the soles of the feet. With a loofah, gently rub the tops and soles of the feet, not forgetting the heels, to loosen the dead skin cells, and with a soft nail brush, gently brush the tips of the nails from side to side. Rinse them well in warm water and if there is any hard skin to remove, rub a pumice stone over it. Finally, rinse again in warm water and then splash with cold. Dry your feet thoroughly by wrapping them in a towel and gently rubbing and patting them, then rub dry carefully between and behind the toes until absolutely all the moisture is gone. This is important in order to protect them from infection. If your feet tend to sweat, give them a light rubdown with alcohol. If they ache, massage some cider vinegar into the soles to cool and refresh them, or make a hot and cold footbath—three minutes of hot followed by thirty seconds of cold—and end with a good friction rub with a soft towel. Finally, dust each foot with dusting powder. (more…)

One of the best things you can do for your feet is to walk barefoot. Wearing exercise sandals is the next best thing. When your feet are free of shoes and hose they relax and stretch; exercise sandals are designed to let the feet do this. They follow the natural contour of the foot, imitating and slightly exaggerating the effect of walking barefoot. This is great for toes as they grip and then relax from the gripper bar with every step. But exercise sandals are just that—meant for exercise, not all-day wearing. You can tire yourself and develop bulky muscles in the calves if you wear them too much. (more…)