The feet will be the focus in January 2010.
Quick Facts about feet!
The feet are our foundation. In the course of a lifetime we will have walked 115,000 miles, 4 1/2 times around the planet.
The average American takes 8-10 thousand steps a day, equivalent to a force equal to several hundred tons and spanning several miles.
There are 26 bones in the foot, 33 joints and 7,000 nerves.
The American Podiatric Medical Association says, “Your feet mirror your general health. Such conditions as arthritis, diabetes, nerve and circulatory disorders can show their initial symptoms in the feet…”
Here is an article that covers many of the same things we will discuss and practice in class this month.
The Chinese have a saying, “Aging begins in the feet.” Yoga teaches that the feet are the foundation of good posture.
The feet are the body’s workhorses, and without them our mobility, health and well-being are severely limited.
The use of our feet is crucial to postural health. Each day our feet must adapt to the terrain it comes in contact with. On average our feet can absorb up to millions of pounds of pressure. When our feet suffers our whole body suffers.
“Your legs mirror everything you do with your feet. The position of your feet and the distribution of weight though them will affect the position, function, and flow of force higher up through your knees, your hips, and even your back. If your feet are clenched and tight, your whole body reflects this tension too. Because you can see your feet, it is relatively easy to perceive them. Your weight should be equally distributed between the ball and heel of your foot and the inner and outer foot with all the toes spreading to from a wide base of support.” (Donna Farhi)
The remedy for good foot health is to maintain a balanced foundation In the feet while practicing exercises that bring both strength and length to the muscles.
Come to the wall with knees bent and you can see your feet in your line of vision.
Make your feet spacious underneath by elongating the toes and slowly releasing the pressure on the heels so that you can create traction down through the soles and arches. Stay here for several breaths.
Gently press back into the heel to create“fullness” in your foot print.
Warm-up your feet by rolling a racquet ball or tennis ball across the sole of your foot. Work gently into the tender areas. Do this for at least a minute on each foot.
Hero’s (Hero Pose) stretches the top of the foot and elongates the arch, Also stretches the fascial sheath at the font of your ankles, freeing up these muscles and restoring mobility to toes.
Kneeling on toes upright—pull back and bring pinky toe up This pose lengthens the plantar muscles on the sole of the foot, which, when contracted, can become inflamed, leading to plantar fasciitis.
Kneeling Calf Stretch—bring foot next to sit bone and lean forward to open the calf and achilles tendon
Downward Dog– is a good stretch for the arches. Come onto the toes of the feet as high as possible, then extend the heels toward the floor to work the plantar fascia. Spread and extend through the toes to lift arches.
Wide Leg Forward Fold — Our Pose of the Month
Keep inner heels and balls of big toes grounded. Lift the arches of your feet as you draw energy from the ground up through your knees and thighs.
Tree Pose: To practice foot awareness.
1. Establish the balanced action of your right arch, ankle and toes in Tadasana., lift left leg up.
1. Imagine a root extending from each of the four corners of the right foot down into the earth giving your pose great stability.
2. From that root system, lift up from the arch of the foot through the inner aspect of the leg to the pelvis and from the pelvis through the spine to the crown of the head.
3. Notice that the correct action of the foot literally gives you a strong foundation that helps you balance and sets the stage for your pose to grow upward. This article can be found in the May 2002 of Yoga Journal.
