Different people like different things. For example, the first thing I always do is pop my wife's toes. Personally, I HATE having my toes popped. Then, I apply Lubriderm to my hands, and rub it through my hands, so that it's not too cold when I start massaging. I won't even massage without first washing the feet and applying lotion, because the friction otherwise makes it difficult to effectively rub, which eventually causes my hands to ache from squeezing.
I start by grabbing with my full hand, on top of the foot, squeeze on the sides, and rub upwards from the ankle to the toes, alternating each hand. After a few minutes of that, I'll interlace or overlap my fingers over the top while pressing my thumbs to the sole, and slide from the heel to the toes while applying firm pressure. Then, I'll spend time on the pressure points, where the foot hits the ground, starting with small, firm circles on the heel, and then firm squeezes up to the ball of the foot and the area under the toes. After that, I'll massage each toe, with thumb and first two fingers, like you're making the symbol for money/moolah. Next, I'll go with the arch, alternating between squeezing, rubbing with thumb and fingers, and making a fist to rub my knuckles upland down the arch. I'll finish the cycle by reversing a little bit, and putting my thumbs on top of the foot, and ball my fingers to where the knuckles of each hand are on the sole. I then squeeze and knead up and down, each hand moving in opposite direction.
