31. Feet

Have you ever really looked at the bottoms of your feet? 

The lines, the curves, the spirals?

I found myself entranced by the bottom of my feet the other morning in the midst of my daily self-massage*.

I’ve thought about wrinkles on my face, neck, and hands. We’re taught early on how to spot and prevent these signs of aging. But I’ve never considered how our feet have been gathering lines for far longer.

Babies are already born with lines on their feet. They’ve traveled through time and space to take their first breaths of life. That’s quite a journey. And from then on, those lines deepen, shatter, and expand.

One way of looking at it is that these lines reveal our age. But perhaps they honor our experiences—how far we’ve come, where we’ve been, what ground we’ve walked on.

These same feet will carry me forward to tomorrow and beyond.

*Self-massage, or abhyanga, is part of my Ayurvedic daily routine. The practice of self-massage is about devoting love and attention to all parts of yourself, from head to toe. Initially, the thought of covering my body in sesame oil seemed a bit inconvenient, but self-massage has since become one of the most essential and enjoyable aspects of my mornings.