What Do Your Toes Know?
Mar 28, 2019 07:09PM ● By Claire Rabe
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The story of our lives, with all its twists and turns, appears in a place many of us wouldn’t think to look—our toes.
More than 5,000 years ago, healers in India and China began the practice of solistry, or toe reading. It was believed that the events, emotions and traumas we experience are stored in our cells. This energetic memory extends to the tissues of the toes. The size, shape and position of our toes tell a story of where energy is being used.
That’s where toe reading comes in as a way to gain insight into personality and progress along life’s path. Deb Lovejoy is the owner of Lovejoy’s Enchanted Cottage, in Sedona, where she practices her art of holistic pedicures, a blend of toe reading, reiki and reflexology. “People either love or hate their toes,” Lovejoy says, adding that “your whole body is reflected in your feet.” Lovejoy trained as a toe reader nine years ago and adds that dimension of empathic understanding to the services she provides clients. She has seen clients make positive changes in their lives through understanding the messages sent by their toes. Often, corresponding changes appear in their feet as well.
Toe readers learn that each toe has a significance, with the left foot indicating how we appear privately and the right foot how we present to the world. The big toe denotes spiritual destiny, while the second toe corresponds to creativity and communication. Action and responsibility in life can show up in the third toe, while the fourth indicates relationships, including love. The fifth or pinky toe points toward feelings about trust on the left side and money and sexuality on the right. The angle, size and shape of the toes are also clues that toe readers interpret. Philo, a Mesa-based toe reader who prefers to use just one name, stumbled into toe reading when she brought her sister for a pampering day that included a pedicure. When her sister received a toe reading as well, Philo was fascinated. “Each toe has its own little story,” she says. “When you put it all together, the story is complete.”
Philo trained as a toe reader more than a decade ago and now practices her art to help and encourage her clients to understand their life path so far, and make changes when indicated. Since each toe is aligned with the chakras and meridians of the body, Philo can receive energetic messages as she works. She encourages clients to journal or reflect on the observations she makes in order to gain insight for positive change. Both Philo and Lovejoy agree that we all have free will and can choose to alter our path at any time.
While there are no hard-and-fast rules to toe reading, there are some accepted commonalities. Bunions can indicate a tendency to take on the burdens of others, while hammertoes can show up in a stubborn individual. A long second toe denotes a leader or teacher, Philo says, someone who will take charge, while a second toe that stands by itself indicates an independent thinker. The bottom line is, whatever occurs in our lives shows up, sooner or later, in our toes.
“When things happen,” Philo says, “they happen to your toes,” adding with a laugh, an occupational hazard she discovered as a toe reader. “You just want to peek at everyone’s feet.”
Claire Rabe has written for The Arizona Republic, Phoenix Business Journal, Phoenix Magazine, and many other print and online sources. She has written a book on autoimmune health, a popular Arizona restaurant guide, and an e-book on journaling for caregivers. Rabe teaches writing workshops to students age 8 to 80. For more information, visit ClaireRabe.com.
Curious About Your Toes? Learn More:
Take a class: Toe Reading Assessment – Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, swiha.edu.
Read all about it: The Language of the Feet, by Chris Stormer.
Schedule a toe reading: Sedona – DebLovejoy.com; Mesa and surrounding areas – Philo, 480-560-3242.
