✅ Keep your feet happy
"If we surrendered to earth’s intelligence we could rise up rooted, like trees."
– Rilke
Years ago I had an ankle injury. I slipped on some rocks hiking to a waterfall. I could barely walk and my practice was shot. But I was craving moving, breathing, and connecting with my body, so I started doing a super subtle supine practice.
I would lay on the floor with my feet against the baseboard and press into different parts of my feet, watching ripples of engagement run through my legs. Then I went the other way, reaching from my sitting bones, the rim of my pelvis or even my ribcage down into my feet. More than 15 years later these discoveries are still with me.
Your feet are like the antennae of your body. Sensing the ground, adjusting accordingly, so you can walk or run or jump as necessary.
But your feet are also like a delta, where deposits of alignment pour out. For example, you may pronate your feet (roll onto the outer edges) due to atrophy in your inner thigh line. Or maybe you twist your feet, ever so slightly when walking, (wearing out the big toe mounds in your socks) to accommodate for rigid outer hips.
With chronic imbalance or misalignment, the body eventually tells the tale in the language of pain, inflammation, or dysfunction. In the feet this can be plantar fasciitis, neuromas, or bunions. Or maybe symptoms show up a little higher with ankle instability, cranky knees, or a groin injury.
Just as patterns in your feet ripple through your body, working on your feet brings tidal waves of change. You’ll improve balance and proprioception. Tease out generations-old gait patterns. Minimize misalignments that create wear and tear over time (like rotating your tires)!
Here are four strategies to love up (and toughen up) your feet:
Massage: with a ball, your hands, walk barefoot (free reflexology!)
Strengthen: walk barefoot outside, roll over your toes, tip-toes poses, balance poses, big toe grip
Balance: ankle circles, rolling over your feet in vinyasa, pressing your feet into the wall
Align: be persistent! There are endless opportunities (daily!) for re-writing old patterns.
Here are practices to care for your feet and lower body in the 20 Minute Miracles App.
Love Your Legs (in the (free) Intro Membership)
Wonder Wall (in the Toolkit)
Core, Legs & Feet (in Asana Strong)
May your practice be a firm foundation,
Alison
