Warm Feet Warm the Heart

We talked about many things so I want to make sure you understand the most important thing that we talked about. That is keeping your feet warm. I like smart wool socks. Smart wool is a brand-name and you can buy it anywhere.

If you are not a sports person and you are not young, it's likely that you are cold in the core of your body.  You could be sweaty or feel heat on the surface of your body, and still core of your body could be very cold. Especially if you tend to be the person who thinks and feels a lot, by using your brain, you accelerate the concentration of energy in the upper body.

A foot soak is the easiest and most effective way to warm your whole body. It is much better than a hot bath because you can heat your feet for 20 to 30 minutes without tiring your entire body as you would in a bathtub.

The second good effect of heating your feet is most of your problems arise because there's too much energy in your upper body. Head shoulder back ache because of excess tension there. Heating your feet adds energy to your lower body. Other activities such as walking have the same effect.

Your body works best when your feet are warm. This is true on a physical level as well. The heart is made to send blood away from it. It does not have the strength to pull blood up the body against the pull of gravity. The blood veins have little gateways inside them that help them to use muscle movement to send the blood up towards the heart. but just like the lymph (the blood of your immune system), it relies on your muscle movement to move fluid against gravity.  It is as if your muscles were squeezing the blood and lymph up against the pull of gravity.  If your feet are cold, the blood veins shrink and the blood moves more slowly through them.

You need the following things to make a foot soaking tub:
Any plastic bucket that is easy to carry.
A large garbage bag
A drying cloth that is long enough to tie around the calves of your two legs
Optional: a thermal bottle to add hot water if needed later.

Put the bucket inside the garbage bag. Fill the bucket with hot water. For elderly people, make sure the water is not too hot. If your tap water is not hot enough, you will need to add water from a teakettle. I would carry a small amount of water to the place where you plan to sit, and add the hotter water later.

The garbage bag will prevent the water from spilling, but more important, it will keep warmth inside the garbage bag. Even in a cold room, I'm amazed how long the water stays hot if you use a garbage bag.

Sit in a comfortable place, and put your feet in the water the water only needs to cover the tops of your feet. If you add water later of course it will become deeper and that doesn't matter.

I don't add anything to the water. The purpose is mainly to heat your feet. if you look on the net there are many suggestions for what you could add to the water. I do this footbath very often so simple is better for me.