How much do you LOVE YOUR FEET?

For the last few weeks in class we have been paying particular attention to our FEET. 

 Feet are our foundation, and we always include exercises for the feet in every class, but after reading Katy Bowman’s Every Woman’s Guide to Foot Pain Relief, I have a new respect for what COULD BE, rather than what IS. 

This applies equally to both men and women. Here are some concepts to consider:

1. Foot problems are related to the future status of your knees, hips, and your posture – and your ability to walk for exercise, and ultimately your ability to live your golden years as a mobile & independent person.
2.  If you have aching feet, calves, swelling ankles, stiffness, bunions .. (I could go on) then this relates to your feet – your shoes - and how you MOVE.
3. Did you know that your toes SHOULD be as flexible as your fingers?
4. You have 200 bones in the entire body – and 25% reside from the ankles down. This also applies to muscles and motor nerves. A quarter of them relate to this part of your body. 

This means that you have the same POTENTIAL ABILITY TO MOVE YOUR FEET AS YOU DO YOUR FINGERS. …Can you raise one toe at a time, spread them apart wide enough to thread your fingers between them? Do your toes lie flat or are they bunched up, turned towards each other? Do you have bunions or pain in your feet?

The GOOD NEWS is that you still have the potential to get them moving, but don’t delay…Every day that you ignore them and mindlessly poke them into shoes that limit their movement (heels are worse, but I will leave that for another day), you are losing the connection between the body and the brain. Here’s why.

Bowman reminds us that, “Every muscle has its own nerve supply. When you don’t use any muscle in the body, the communication between that nerve and the muscle decreases, resulting in a decrease of the health of these tissues. 

But the inverse is true: increasing the use of every individual muscle can improve health of both muscle & nerve tissue, by increasing circulation. Increased circulation brings oxygen-rich (tissue food) blood to area, removing waste products – waste that would otherwise accumulate & accelerate tissue breakdown.” 

FOOT NERVES: Nerves that are responsible for moving foot muscles originate in lower parts of spinal column and are the longest in your body. You neglect these at your peril. Many older people can no longer feel their toes and feet – and are always in grave danger of falling. This is why a lot of the elderly shuffle – because they cannot “sense” where the ground is, in relation to their feet. Even worse, many people that I see in Yoga Therapy have developed foot neuropathy –  they experience burning pain and tingling in their feet because of damaged nerves - yet they have no sensation of the sole of the foot against the floor. It restricts walking, and exercise in general and severely limits daily activities and enjoyment of life.

IN CLASS in addition to the foot and ankle movements we always do, we have been focusing on each toe independently – and most of us can feel the beginnings of new connections. It’s like morse code coming through the ether, a bit staticy but there are electrical signals in the toes.

Here are some of the BENEFITS that people have noticed: -

• There is more movement of individual toes
• Feet and toenails are a better colour.
• Their toes have straightened out; hammer toes have more flexibility
• Their balance has improved (Big toes are related to balance)
• As a result of new awareness of toes and feet, posture has improved and achy shoulders have disappeared

Exciting stuff! By focusing our attention, as we move, we are literally rewiring the brain - making new connections between the foot muscles and the brain! I love Neuroplasticity at work!