Julia Rennick

Writes for Happy Feet Care

About

Yoga instructor in Portland, Oregon. Freelance, contracts with a couple of studios in the Pearl District and one in St. Johns, six days a week, barefoot. For a while I had this idea that the barefoot lifestyle was inherently protective of foot health. Then last spring a yellowish discoloration appeared on my left big toenail and refused to respond to anything I tried for months.

Thursday morning class was where I first felt genuinely uncomfortable about it. Someone asked if I had hurt my toe. I hadn't. Standing in tree pose in front of twelve people who have spent an hour with your feet at eye level is exactly the kind of situation where a discolored nail stops being something you can ignore. Three months of tea tree oil from the Alberta Street health food store did nothing visible. That was the point where I decided to find out what was actually going on.

These days I keep a daily phone note of what I apply or take, and photograph my toenails every two weeks against white tile under the bathroom light. The photos are not something I share. After about a year of them, maybe 26 rounds, I can tell the difference between actual nail change and wishful thinking, which turned out to be less obvious than I assumed.

No medical credentials. No podiatry training. What I have is a specific problem tracked carefully, a barefoot schedule that makes any nail change visible before a student points it out, and a phone full of biweekly documentation.

Articles by Julia Rennick

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