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Tips for walkers and hikers: massage for happy feet and relaxed body

Massage for walkers means happy feet and relaxed body

walking in Ibiza Ses SalinesTaking care of your body and muscles is important on a regular basis and extra important when you go for extra walks and do training. That is why Walking lifestyle included a massage therapist Natalie Ventilla to join the walkers in Ibiza on a beautiful walk-and-tan route in Ses Salines, Ibiza to give tips on massage for walkers. If you want to be up to date with next walks, keep coming back to Walking in Ibiza page or Like us on Facebook.

Why massage for walkers is a good idea

 Walking gives an extreme weight and stress to legs. Legs need to carry your body, extra weights in your bag and get all those contusions and little shocks when you step too hard or miss balance and fall.  All this extra stress is normal and it is possible to avoid or lessen the impact by using right shoes, balancing yourself on a walk, going for a walk many times so  you learn how to hold your body for minimum accidents and stress. After all that, you still need to take care of your legs, muscles and give your thank-you’s so they would carry you. A fantastic way is to give your muscles a well deserved massage. You can do it yourself, as a masseuse in Ibiza, Natalie Ventilla taught a walking in Ibiza group on a beautiful Ses Salines walk with massage. Or you can ask your friends, family or a professional therapist do that.

massage for walkers ibiza
Massage therapist Natalie Ventilla giving massage tips to walkers
massage for walkers ibiza
It felt wonderful to get a massage on the beach in Ibiza. Magical!

Self massage for walkers

Here is a  “massage for walkers” to-do list, put together by Natalie, for taking care of your feet after a walk or even to be used daily, if you feel you feel like it:

Did you know the foot is host to more than 7000 nerves? The chart above shows areas of the foot which reflect on different parts of our body when light pressure is applied. In addition to relaxation and relief, foot massage promotes health and well being throughout your body as a whole…. And the best part? We can do it to ourselves as often as we like!

Ingredients of the massage for walkers

• A comfortable chair
• A peaceful environment
• 5-10 ml of your favorite massage oil (or just olive oil, if you don’t have any specific oils)

1. Get comfortable, sit cross legged with one foot on the opposite thigh. Gently rub in the massage oil applying pressure with your thumbs and moving from your heel to the tips of your toes. Repeat 2-3 few times.
2. With a clenched fist, roll your knuckles from your sole to your toes applying as much pressure as is comfortable and moving at a slow, steady pace back and forward
3. With the tip of your thumb press into your foot with small, circular movements moving up and down your foot and perhaps paying attention to the reflex points above.
4. Time for the toes now– apply gentle pressure to each toe with the forefinger and thumb on either side. Gentle pull the toes and move around at the joints giving them a little wiggle!
5. Finally roll the thumbs over the whole foot making fan movements from heel to toe
6. Repeat on the other foot!
reflexology for walkers

What to keep in mind when walking and training

When this post is about massage for walkers, I have also written about other methods to take care of your legs after training, including some self massage for walkers. I believe it is very important for anyone who does a bit more than 10 000 steps a day, because you do want to go on walking and having an active life. So these are some precautions for AFTER treatment.

Following even more tricks I learned from Natalie on our massage for walkers walking day.
For one, you should not start warming yourself up heavily right before any training. Taking a slow walk is a good enough warm up, nor is starting stretching too good of an idea, because when the muscles are cold, you might hurt them, not make them more flexible and reacting quicker, which is what you want them to do when you go walking on hills and mountains.
Secondly, stretching is necessary only afterwards.
Thirdly, swimming is great for any additional relaxing and support and training. Luckily there is plenty of water in Ibiza.
Forth, using essential oils is a natural way to prevent injury and relax muscles following a workout. There are many ways in which you can use them and hundreds of oils each with their own properties. Essential oils are high in antioxidants, improve oxygenation to the cells and cleanse the lymphatic system. A warm bath with a few drops of rosemary and lavender following a work out will leave your muscles feeling great! And you can pick rosemary on almost any of the walking routes in Ibiza!
Fifth, water and plenty of it, before, during and after exercise, keeps the muscles hydrated and lessens the chance of tightening or injury. Green tea is also brilliant for the muscles and the body as a whole- again due to the high antioxidant content which promotes healthy growth within the body network.
Sixth, Meditation- coupling deep, rhythmic breathing with tensing and releasing the muscles one at a time will bring oxygen through the muscles, releasing toxins and leaving body and mind with a deep sense of relaxation.

There you go. You can choose a massage for walkers, but also from a wide array of easy things you yourself can do, which don’t cost anything and only take a bit of your time but are well worth it.

Hope you will use these tips. If you have any good tips and tricks on exercises or massage for walkers, share them on Walking lifestyle Facebook page to fellow walkers to use.

Taking a Bossa-Es Cavallet walk is especially fun, because there is a mattress waiting for the tired walkers 🙂 right at the end of the walk:

walking in ibiza ses salines
A surprising resting place for walkers in Ibiza
walking in Ibiza ses salines
The massage for walkers “study” group walking in Ibiza

Read about more places you can go and tips on walking in Ibiza:

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Walking lifestyle – keeping you fit, mentally and physically

Don’t forget we all need time-off from our daily lives. Walking is the easiest and accessible thing to do that. Go out for a walk, share your thoughts and inspirations with me via e-mail. My aim is to show how easy it is to find little walks, little time-off-chunks in life to keep you mentally and physically fit. Wherever you are.

Liisi Toom

walking clothes by ISCLiisi Toom is a communication executive and lifestyle coach who spent 9 months in Ibiza walking, doing walking tours and blogging about it. She has also done and blogged about walking in Estonia and Norway. She coaches people on finding their lifestyle. If you wish to find and live your lifestyle, e-mail at liisitoom (at) gmail. com or follow her Twitter @liisi.

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When in Ibiza, be sure to enjoy at least one walking route, it is worth it!

About the Author

liisi

Performance coach, blogger and activist.

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