Chapter 169
As I sit down to write this missive, a day late to deadline, I am watching the rain fall through misty-smokey grey skies obliterating the magnificent views I spoke of last. How things change! Almost within days of submission, the events of wildfire season overtook us and people near and far have their lives changed beyond recognition. Hopes of peaceful futures are held in my heart.
I’ve been thinking on many things, not least the joy of family. My beloved parents here in the ‘hood again, weeks flying by like mere hours. We wandered to our favourite haunts, reliving the same walks and talks, basking under the same skies and marvelling at the same sights that never get old – unlike us. Enjoying these simple treasures year after year is a blissing that curls deep into my soul, ringing with resonating cadences of happiness, love and pleasure, tinged with soft regret that time is so fleeting. We must enjoy where we can and revel in these moments.
When I can do little to relieve other challenges, I can sit at the feet of my beloved to share the magic of THAI FOOT MASSAGE. This little-known aspect of Thai Massage is a genuine treat for the feet…and soul/sole. I am swept back to Chiang Mai when I practice this technique, to the Sunday night walking markets where one can walk the hot hard streets of the central old city, enmeshed in sights and sounds and smells of this unique experience. A string of blind musicians sitting in the centre of the street playing traditional Thai instruments, a wizened old lady squatting off to one side casting incantations, herbs and candles, a glass-blower, wood-carver, silk-seller. There is a quadrant off a Wat (temple) overflowing with the most delectable foods. My favourite super spicy Thai salad is mixed before us and we sit among the crowds to enjoy the marvellous flavours, then meander off to the six-feet wide brass gong with huge central boss that, when struck with a beater the size of my head, resonates through one’s body like the movement of the earth.
On street corners and intersections, dozens of Thais offer foot massage at rows of black laz-y-boy-type chairs in which to sink. One’s feet are soaked, washed, pampered. Soles are poked and prodded with rounded wooden sticks and stick-hard fingers and thumbs. This Sunday night massage is a tourist version, but the true massage incorporates the whole of the lower leg to the knee, adding long, sweeping strokes that encourage the flow of energy (พลัง Palang in Thai, Qi/Chi in Chinese). Serious reflexology work on the soles, toes and upper surfaces of the feet, on specific points on the leg and knee, all combine to create a feeling of relaxation, invigoration. The experience and results are magical.
I used to visit a steam bath house / massage shop just down the soi from my home… probably twice a week. Steam baths were amazingly wonderful, costing only a dollar or two. One is treated to a small room housing a stone bench just wide enough for two people should you have a friend. Donning a stiff cotton sarong, one sits and sweats, cautious to avoid the end of the pipe close to ankle level. The pipe is truncated by a ball of Thai herbs in cotton cloth, tied over the end so the steam permeates through the herbs bringing pungent and glorious clouds up through the tiny room to saturate one’s pores, obscuring vision. It’s delicious. Taking a break, there is a small dish of some mysterious paste concoction to be rubbed into the skin, then sit and sip the toasted rice tea until cool enough to re-enter the steam. Finally on exit a long, cool shower to wash off the scrub paste and leave the body feeling reborn. Out for a foot massage, or just straight out into the humid evening air of Chiang Mai, in search of a fresh coconut shake or mango juice. Wonderful.
I may not be able to replicate that steam bath experience, but I can do a pretty close approximation of the best foot massage I ever had. It begins with feet soaking in water laced with wedges of lime and ginger root. After drying the feet, press and massage feet and legs with focused attention and the addition of Tiger Balm or Peppermint or Citrus oils. Dust with powder and wrap and hug each foot in cotton towels to finish. Walk away feeling like you – or your feet – have a new lease on life.
Lovely.
Kat Dancer
bodymudra@gmail.com 1 415 525 2630 (c)
