Learn how to treat your body and your feet through the ancient wisdom of herbal foot soaks.

• Winter is the season of kidney and urinary bladder systems in Chinese medicine. The kidneys are strongly connected with our reproduction.
• The feet contain ¼ of all the bones in the body. They are where the leg yin (Kidney, Liver, Spleen) channels begin and where the leg yang (Gallbladder, Stomach, Urinary Bladder) channels end. That’s 6 meridians that reach the feet, each of which has more than 60 acupuncture points.
• The kidney channel starts on the sole of the foot, so be sure to warm shoes that cover your entire feet and thick socks. Avoid walking barefoot on cold concrete and tiles.
• How to use a foot soak:
  • Book a consultation with a Chinese medicine herbalist
  • 1 bag of herbs will last 7 days.
  • Put herbs in a large pot, add as much water as you can (up to 8L). ·
  • Cover the pot and bring the herbs to boil.
  • Turn down the flame and simmer slowly for 20-25 minutes.
  • Remove pot.
  • Pour liquid into a “foot soak” bucket (aka anything that you can put boiling hot water and your feet in) and wait until you can put your feet in the water. You want it to be warm but not uncomfortable hot.
  • Soak feet before bed, for 20 minutes or until you break a sweat*, then remove your feet.
  • After using soak, dry the skin and keep it warm (please no barefoot walking on cold floor!).
• The soak can be used once a day up to 7 days. No need to boil again, reheat the liquid to a sufficiently warm temperature.
  Sweating a little bit is a good sign of unblocking energy pathways, but too much sweating isn’t ideal as it consumes too much energy. It may take longer to sweat for those with blockages or an insufficient supply of energy. This should change over time when soaking regularly.
  *Please don’t soak after drinking alcohol or when feeling fatigued.

DIY foot soaks:

• Epsom salts:
  Add about 1½ cups of epsom salts to warm water. Alleviates constipation, reduces fatigue, improves sleep
• Ginger & white wine:
  Ginger slices (50g), Chinese white wine (50ml)
  Directions: Boil the ginger in water for a few minutes. Then add ginger water and wine to hot water in a bucket. Especially good for those with cold extremities in winter.
• Ginger & dandelion:
  Ginger (50g), dandelion (50g)
  Directions: Boil ingredients in water. Add to hot water in a basin.
  This soak helps relieve symptoms of flu, fever or headache.
• Motherwort, chrysanthemum, skullcap root & fleeceflower stem:
  These herbs together activate blood circulation, warms the uterus and may relieves painful menstruation.

You can find Nick Conquest @ Gardenvale Chinese Medicine

You can find Jane Ferguson @ Acupuncture Fitzroy

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