Toe Color Therapy

As we approach winter, the time between nail salon visits for a pedicure stretches a little more as the ladies ditch the sandals and open shoes for warmer, closed shoes. For the winter, most people's toes go into hiding.  I used to be like that too, until yoga came into my life. Now I have to keep the toes trimmed and pretty through the winters too, mostly because if my toenails aren't kept short. it's painful to roll over them when transitioning from upward facing dog to downward facing dog pose in a vinyasa. And since yoga is a practice that is done barefoot, everyone in the studio (well...at least my immediate mat neighbors) can see my feet and I can see theirs. In yoga, we don't have sneakers or special gear to show off as in other sports, so you see a lot of nicely pained toes on those mats. I don't think I've even seen any guy yogis with grubby feet, either.

Most of all, I have to stare a lot at my own feet, especially in my favorite forward folding poses like Uttanasana,  Paschimottanasana, and such poses. Oh, those folds are so tension releasing I can hold them forever. Click on the links for easy instructions if you want to try.

So, I need to keep the little piggies groomed, and today, I decided to keep these points in mind when I got my pedicure. I figured if I'm going to stare at my toes all the time, might as well put some 'happy' in the colors and designs, in the spirit of color psychology.

Luckily the nail technician at the salon had a bit of a sense of humor (if that's at all possible with these serious nail gals) and she accepted my request.

This took me back to past years when I used to paint seashells with these awesome nail art pens. It was a creative and contagious hobby that everyone who watched me do it, ended up with several painted shells of their own creations. I missed that.  It was a creative and calming activity that everyone enjoyed, young and old. I think I need some more of those pens and should start using them on my toes to bring back some of that fun.

The best part was my 4-year-old's reaction when he noticed, "Mama, that's so cool. Rainbow toes." Then he proceeded to chase my toes around like a kitten going after a ball of yarn.

Look out for future "Toady zynes" which I may start featuring on the Broo regularly. If anyone out there has any ideas or suggestions, please bring them on.

Namaste!