Last week we completed our workshop on the feet. We paid attention to the four corners and three main arches of the feet and learned exercises to strengthen and stretch the feet. Some of them are so simple– like pretending to play piano with the toes or pointing your foot backwards under a chair to stretch out the top of the foot.
We looked at our shoes and analyzed if they force our toes to be more narrow than our metacarpal arch– which is unhealthy for our feet-cramping the bones closer together so that the fascia of the feet tightens, making it hard for us to spread our toes. We also looked to see, if even in our athletic and casual shoes, we are wearing high heels that throw us off balance and make other joints, including the knees, hips and spine, compensate.
We discussed bunions and hammer toes, plantar fascia and long distance runners who grew up barefoot and may have a better stride because their feet grew up free.
We also realized that basic self-care impacts our feet. If we do not hydrate, then the joints of the feet, like the rest of the body, get dehydrated which may contribute to aches and pains. And we made a commitment to massage our feet and spend some time barefoot each day. We decided to place a tennis or yoga therapy ball under our desks, our kitchen tables so we could rub the fascia of our feet regularly. We even committed to giving our feet some tender-loving-care through massage.
In June we will move on from this awareness of the feet to awareness of the relationship between the feet and the knees. We will explore how flat feet and high arches impact the knees. We will explore how our heel strike and foot flow affect the knees when we walk, hike or dance. and we will explore how the feet need to be placed in Yoga, Pilates or Qigong so the knees can be safely aligned. We will question how tightness in muscles of the legs can pull on both the knees and the feet.
If you couldn’t attend the foot workshops, don’t worry, you can still join us June 13th from 3 to 4 PM PST. And if you would like to learn about the feet first, let me know and you can purchase the foot class videos.
When we delve deeply into the body, giving each part loving attention, we learn to move with more care, more ease. We learn to appreciate the complexity and the beauty of the body and in doing so, we increase our capacity for happiness.
I hope you can join me for this and future body explorations.