Just realised how we are crazy about face serums and masks but we totally forget about our feet. It’s crazy. They help us everywhere, support our weight, absorb all the beatings and still, we treat them like an afterthought. And if you want to hear it like it is, ditching your feet is the sneakiest little way to sabotage your entire body. Cracked heels, foot funk and strange toe itchiness are not small potatoes. They are signals. Your body has been persistently calling your name for weeks, maybe months.
I learned this the hard way. During one of my monsoons, I continued to neglect proper foot care due to the fact that, as usual, who has time? Two weeks in, I had this unpleasant fungal patch near my heel that made me swear off chemical foot creams forever. Burned intensely. That’s when I stumbled back into Padabhyanga, the Ayurvedic ritual that should have never gone out of style. It’s not just a massage. It’s basically medicine disguised as comfort.
The Practice of Padabhyanga
Padabhyanga is an ancient foot therapy where you use warm herbal oils to massage the feet before bed. The heat extracts weariness through the muscles, increases the blood flow, and instructs your nerves to cool off the devil. The vital points Ayurveda keeps talking about connect to organs, nerves, and even your gut. When you press or massage them, you are pampering your skin and switching on your body’s repair mode. I swear, after just a week of nightly foot oiling, I was sleeping better and waking up lighter. That can’t be a coincidence.
Marma Points and Prana Flow
Then there is the marma, these 107 centers of energy that tend to be mythical until you discover that every martial artist in ancient South India knew the exact location of these centers. They were used by the Kalaripayattu fighters to heal and to strike. A marma in a leg alone is 11, and when you rub some oil into the marma points, but not too hard, just enough to make it feel good, you are unblocking prana, and Ayurveda never talks of prana. With a full day of work on my feet, it is like sticking an oil needle in a charger when I touch those points.
Snehan Therapy: Apricot and Coconut.
Now, let's talk about oils. The dream team, apricot and coconut. Apicot kernel oil is a hug to the Vata types. It’s slightly sweet, slips into the skin fast, and brings that deep nourishment that tired, dry soles crave. Plus, it smells soft and clean, not synthetic or “fancy perfume” fake. Coconut oil, meanwhile, is your Pitta pacifier that is cool, soothing, anti-inflammatory, perfect for summer nights or after walking barefoot all day. Together, they nail that Snehan time, which basically means saturating your tissues with pure, dosha-balancing moisture instead of lab junk filled with mineral oils and silicones. You know the kind that promises deep repair but somehow leaves your skin thirstier?
Snehan therapy is a big deal in Ayurveda. It’s the first step before deep detox. Oils soften the body, draw out toxins, and quiet the mind. Apricot does that beautifully because it is vitamin-rich, light, and non-sticky. Coconut cools the heat and smooths cracked heels like nothing else. Sometimes I even mix the two, warm them up a bit, and use them before bed. It’s part ritual, part rebellion against everything fast and fake in skincare.
Oak Tree Naturals Ritual
That’s actually how we created Oak Tree Naturals’ Apricot Oil to fit right into these rituals, without the nonsense. It’s clean, cold-pressed, and behaves exactly how an Ayurvedic Snehan oil should. Massage it into your soles, heels, marma points, and don’t rush it. Let it be slow. Then, seal all that goodness with our Foot Cream. It’s buttery, herbal, and keeps the oil locked in while healing cracks and rough skin. Honestly, the combo feels like your feet just drank water after a drought.
We have always said skincare isn’t just about glow, it’s about grounding. Padabhyanga proves it. You start with your feet, and somehow everything else in life feels a little more balanced. Maybe that’s what Ayurveda was trying to teach us all along, starting from the ground up.
Anyway, don’t overthink it. Warm a little oil tonight, rub your soles, breathe. You will understand what I mean.
