Short Ayurvedic Foot Massage Tutorial

This track talks you through a short Ayurvedic self-massage for the feet. There are many benefits to oiling the body every day - it is great for the joints and the skin and also helps to calm the mind and boost immunity. You will need some warm oil to do this treatment for yourself, so place a bottle or cup of oil into a bowl of hot water to warm the oil before you begin.

I'll walk you through some simple massage techniques to release tension from the feet. This tutorial is a part of my course "Energise Your Day: Ayurvedic Morning Routines For Busy People" so if you enjoy this track, you might enjoy listening to the whole course.

Music by Denis Pavlov Music
Photo by Eva Michalkova

Transcript

Hello and welcome to this short guided Ayurvedic foot massage tutorial.

You're going to need some warm oil to do this massage.

So if you don't already have that,

Pause the recording to warm up your oil.

Make sure you're using a massage oil that you like and that you enjoy using on your body.

If you know your Ayurvedic constitution,

You might like to choose an oil that's best suited for you.

You can use sesame or almond oil for vata,

Sunflower or olive oil for pitta,

Or sesame or mustard oil for kapha.

But the most important thing is that it's an oil that you like and that you've warmed it up enough to feel warm against your skin.

And when you're ready,

Let's begin.

Choose whichever foot you want to massage first and now take some warm oil and cover your chosen foot in oil.

Spread the oil over the whole of your foot and gently begin to massage the oil into your foot.

Now we'll move on to some friction strokes.

Vigorously rub your foot,

Rubbing your hands all over the foot until you feel the feeling of heat under your hands.

The heat created by this friction opens the skin of the feet to better receive the oil.

Now bring your thumbs onto the sole of your foot,

Take your thumbs right down to the heel and slowly move your thumbs up the centre of the sole of your foot.

And then open the thumbs one to each side and move down the outsides of the soles of the feet.

Do this several times,

Massaging up the centre of the foot and down the sides.

And now bring your thumb to the ball of the foot and make some sweeping movements from side to side along the ball of the foot,

Underneath the toes.

Now take hold of your big toe and make some circles with your big toe,

First moving in an anti-clockwise direction and then in a clockwise direction.

Repeat this with each of the toes,

Making some circles clockwise and then some circles anti-clockwise.

And now massage the top of your foot.

You might like to make some figure of eight shapes over the top of your foot.

And now just rub your hands all over the whole of the foot to finish that side.

We'll move on to the other foot,

So take some more oil into your hands and cover the foot with oil.

Then begin your friction,

Rubbing the foot vigorously to create heat.

And now bring your thumbs to the heel and push your thumbs up the centre of the foot and open them out to move them down the sides of this whole of the foot.

Move your thumb to the ball of the foot and sweep your thumb from side to side along the ball of the foot,

Beneath the toes.

Now take the big toe,

Make some anti-clockwise circles with the big toe.

And some clockwise circles.

And circle each of the toes,

First anti-clockwise and then clockwise.

Now massage the top of your foot,

Making some figure of eight shapes if that feels good for you.

And rub the whole of the foot to finish.

And now just take three long deep breaths to feel the effects of that massage on your