It apparently is something very common in China.. or Shanghai, at least...
For some people, it might sound like 蜀犬吠日... so they say... in 四川 province, there are a lot of clouds and often foggy... at least some part of the province, I guess... it is so rare for doggies to see the sun in the sky that doggies would bark at the sun.
In other words, though there is nothing new under the sun... It is the sun itself that is new?! Well, interesting.....
Back months ago, when I was in New York, I started doing foot soaking, especially after I was going through the insomnia resulting from the dosage change of Seroquel... I would add Epson salt and, sometimes, essential oils to the water. And, I found out that foot soaking really help me falling asleep.
Some days, I would be knocked down so well that I would think I might have taken Seroquel already since Seroquel has also been serving me as sleeping aids due to its sedating effect for all these years.
When I was in Shanghai, my brother in law took me to do foot bath or 足浴.
At the beginning of the session, they would let you soak your feet in some kind of water... with ingredients such as milk or herbs... depending on the where you go. While you are soaking your feet, they would give you a message on your upper body followed by foot message.
After my trip to Seoul, due to circumstances, by the time I got to Shanghai, my body was in a-piece-of-crab kind of state. Not only did I have some really bad flu/cold symptoms... knocking me down the entire day the second day I arrived in Shanghai... My back and knees conditions were both in a really bad shape.
My walking was so not very normal that my brother-in-law coined it the "八家將" style.... (please see the following clip for an example of the "八家將" style... interestingly... does have some resemblance... 8-O lol)
In any case, the first time I tried out 足浴 or foot bath was the day after I was struck down by upper respiratory problem and stayed in bed the entire day. After the 90-minute session, miraculously, I was able to walk better and it was much easier to climb one stair or two--- although my much-easier-state was still consider very八家將 to the others.... 8-O lol In addition, at the end of the session, I suddenly started really productive coughs and was able to get rid of much mucus (oops, too much information...)
So, during my stay, I did a few more times of 足浴 or foot bath... with the last time the night right before my departure day...
When the lady was messaging my feet, at some point, I felt her hand stroking on some interesting knots under my feet, I asked her what that was... Apparently, that was the region associated with sleeping problem... She kept on working on that area and... in no time... I was sleepy.. and, that night, I had the best sleep I have ever had for a while.... still so sleepy when I was on the Maglev on the way to the Pu-dong airport (thank God I was awake enough to not get onto the wrong plane... 8-O lol)
Moreover, the time before landing, when the plane started to decrease its altitude has always been a killer if I felt under the weather upon boarding. Although I did feel sort of uncomfortable when the airplane was landing in Taipei, it was so much better than my trip from Korea to Shanghai... for 20-30 minutes... my ears hurt, my head hurt and I though my head was about to explode... ouch...
In addition, despite the fact that I have been sick to the state that I feel lethargic all over, my body movement has gotten such much better and that luggage of mine also appeared less burdensome to manage.
Although there is no scientific basis, I suspect these changes might have something to do with the foot bath experiences... As a result, perhaps, from now on, I shall go for a foot bath/message session if I have to get on to an airplane while feeling under the weather. 8-O lol
Except for... so my sister had me told... foot bathing is so much more expensive in Taiwan... comparing to that in Shanghai... In that case, I would simply get back to do my at-home-spa treatment called foot soaking... I guess..
In Shanghai, the price might range between 10-20 US dollars for a 60-90-minute session. This is something I would strongly recommend shall you be interested in taking a trip to Shanghai or China in general.
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