It's April tomorrow and summer is not too far away (hopefully), so now is the time to pay attention to your feet and give them some TLC after a winter tucked away in socks and heavy shoes.  A few weeks of preening and pampering will bring them back to soft supple loveliness and here's how:

Help For Your Heels
If your heels to are cracked and dry, soak your feet in warm water then buff your heels with a pumice stone.  Dry your feet thoroughly, and rub on some cider vinegar before moisturising with vitamin E and jojoba cream (or whatever cream you have handy).  You’ll need to do this regularly for the best results.

For Tip Top Toes
Remove nail polish regularly because your toes need to have a chance to breathe.

Avoid Wet Sweaty Feet In Summer
Sprinkle some talcum powder (or specially formulated foot powder) in your shoes during the warmer weather to help keep them dry and slip free.

Revive Tired Feet
Give your feet a quick pick-me-up.  First dunk them in cold water for around 30 seconds, followed by steeping them in warm water for around 3 minutes.  Finish by wrapping both feel in a towel and lying with feet elevated for 20 minutes. This will improve the circulation in feet and legs.

Moisturise Your Feet
Use up extra body lotion by smoothing on the feet, or if you want to make your own use one tablespoon of malt vinegar and 5oz of plain yogurt.  Leave the mix on your feet for 5 minutes before rinsing off.

Easy Exfoliation
Take a trip to the beach, get of your socks and shoes and walk: the sand will exfoliate your feet naturally and leave them feeling much smoother than a pumice stone.

A little attention now and your feel with be soft and looking lovely, just ready to show off in your summer sandals.

And of course, if you really want to pamper your feet and the rest of your body, you could also book in for a treatment of Reflexology!

Retirement is that halcyon time when work has ended and we often feel that life is really begining.  It's a stage in life when our time is our own, we can slow down and relax a bit more and we're free to do whatever we want, whenever we want.

Many now see retirement as a time of change and the beginning of a new stage in life - a time to spend on new projects, travel and hobbies or perhaps continuing with work on a part-time basis or even starting a new business.  All of this needs energy and vitality and Reflexology can be the perfect support.

Reflexology can be applied vigorously or lightly depending on the needs of the client, so it's easily adapted to older clients with stiff or inflammed joints but equally can be a stimulating, vigorous treatment for more robust clients.

As a holistic treatment Reflexology works on a  physical, emotional and energetic level.  It's common, as people age, for them to feel that they can't do as much as they could when they were younger and that feeling can undermine confidence, especially if it's accompanied with health challenges.  One of the most common pieces of feedback I get from clients is that Reflexology helps them "cope better" - that feeling that they're going to be able to deal with whatever life throws at them.  I'd call that confidence!

Reflexology is an easy treatment to have - it only requires the removal of socks and shoes, so there's not a lot of fuss and bother and no stripping off - perfect for the more modest of us.

And it's relaxing.  

The benefits of relaxation - physical, mental, emotional and spiritual - are usually under-estimated.  Being relaxed:

• puts our body in a state of equilibrium and that can help reduce inflammation - particularly useful for joint pain
• helps to put our thoughts in perspective, so those anxieties begin to seem less important

And a Reflexology treatment is about connecting and caring: caring about ourselves and allowing ourself to be cared for.  Who doesn't need that!

If you'd like to treat your mother to a Reflexology treatment on Mother's Day just call Doris on 07724 197627.

I was surfing "biological age" recently and I came across this article in the Mail Online by Elizabeth Peyton-Jones about eating yourself younger.  Click on this link if you want to read the whole thing.

She suggests that the five ageing accelerators are:

1. Sluggish digestion
   
2. Inflammation
   
3. Oxidation
   
4. Hormone imbalance
   
5. Acidification
   

Digestion is important for the absorption of nutrients which helps keep skin, hair, nails, muscles and bones in top shape.  She says, "Around 70 per cent of the immune system is located in the gut, so if it's sluggish, immunity can be compromised.  And there's also a connection between gut and mood: the digestive system contains more neurons than the spinal cord and more neurotransmitters than the brain.  In fact, 90 per cent of the mood enhancing chemical serotonin is created in the bowels, so this so-called 'eliminative slowdown' influences mood and emotional wellbeing, too."  She suggests the food to help digestion is BEETROOT, because it is packed with essential minerals, vitamins A, B and C and it contains antioxidant and anti-inflammatory red pigment.

Signs of inflammation are digestive gas, bloating, loose stools, runny nose or eyes.  As we age our natural inflammatory response - the response that helps us heal and fight off infection - can become overactive, leaving activated immune cells circulating in the body.  Foods that can trigger inflammation are: red meat, sugar, white flour and some dairy products.  The best anti-inflammatory suggested in the article is turmeric: "Aim for one teaspoon of dried turmeric or a thumb-sized piece of fresh root every day".  But watch out as it can stain hands and clothes.

Oxidation is another process which accelerates ageing.  Increasing the level of anti-oxidents which reduce the level of free radicals has been heavily emphasised over the past few years as a way to protect against cancer.  There are indications that this may have been over-emphasised, but anti-oxidents are still important to robust health.  Elizabeth Peyton-Jones suggests that the best antioxidant are red beans: kidney, pinto or aduki beans.

Hormone imbalances can have a dramatic effect on ageing including: weight gain, wrinkles, headaches, muscle weakness, fatigue, dry skin, thinning hair, brittle nails, cellulite, sagging skin, poor memory.  The article suggests that key hormone balancers are: pumpkin seeds, asparagus, unrefined whole grains, nuts (especially brazil nuts) and the best of them all if garlic - aim to eat one clove a day.

Acidification is chronic acidity of the body and can lead to premature ageing.  Acid producing foods include: red mean, coffee, cheese, cereal,and sugary drinks and snacks.  Too much acid and the body pulls calcium and magnesium from bones, and iodine from soft tissue: this can lead to osteoporosis, fatigue and depression, weight gain and diabetes.  But acid foods may not be acid forming, for example, citrus fruits are acidic, but have an alkalising effect on the body. Elizabeth Payton-Jones suggests that the best alkaliser is lemon and we should start our day with a drink of lemon juice in warm water - but use a straw, so acid doesn't harm tooth enamel.

And she suggests that the five most ageing foods are:

1. Sugar
   
2. Salt
   
3. Cow's milk
   
4. Meat 
   
5. Bad fats
   

No surprise there then!

Well, Reflexology might not make you younger, but I'd like to suggest that the gentle rebalancing and detox that seems to accompany a Reflexology treatment would be a perfect supplement to a nutritional approach to ageing well.

Vouchers are available, so why not treat your mother for Mother's Day!

It's Mother's Day on Sunday 30th of March, so I thought I'd have a theme for the blogs this month: Ageing Well.

Of course, we're all ageing every minute, but getting older is both better and worse than it was twenty years ago.

Gone are early retirement ages and decent pension pots (for most people anyway). And over 55's are likely to have a heavier burden than ever before - looking after grandchildren and their own elderly parents or relations. But medicine is much better able to keep us alive for longer and there is much more support for the elderly in the community (although always room for improvement).

Looking at some of the literature for ageing well, there's a strong emphasis on keeping fit and healthy, but fit and healthy are not necessarily the same thing.  Good health is much more than fitness - good health is the result of a complex combination of mental, physical, emotional and genetic qualities.

As we get older the changes can be much more challenging - family moving away, loss of parents and other loved ones, declining health, trying to keep up to date with technology, or fear of the future.

The relaxing effect of a reflexology treatment can help put things in perspective and provide a listening ear.  Often it's the job of the over 55's to listen to the trials and tribulations of others - family, friends, the stranger at the bus stop.  So having a listening ear during a reflexology treatment can be the only time some of older folks are heard.

Health is about eating well, sleeping well, breathing well, having a good posture, having an effective stress management strategy and supporting an active and robust immune system.  Reflexology can help with most of these: the relaxing effects of reflexology helps to deepen breathing and release tight muscles allowing posture to improve and it also helps to improve resilience to stress.  Many clients find the quality of their sleep improves after regular reflexology treatments - again perhaps because of the relaxation effect.  And that relaxed state allows your body to do it's repair and renewal work, so it helps support a more robust immune response.

Reflexology can improve well-being and restore balance to mind, body and emotions - something that we all deserve, but especially well-deserved by Mums in this Mother's Day month.

So if you want to treat your mum this Mother's Day, ditch the flowers and chocolates and get something really useful - a Reflexology voucher.