Let’s talk feet

In my practice, I love starting at the very beginning, our feet. Feet are among the most important parts of our body to get to know, especially for a successful yoga practice. They are quite literally the foundation on which, for most of us, stand. (Even for those unable to stand, feet remain incredibly important to the bodies wellbeing).

We go around every day paying little attention to them unless they ache or are tired etc. It is pretty remarkable when you really consider the reality that all our weight is balanced, no matter our size on these two fairly small parts of our body. This is where gravity plays its vital role. Much of what we will explore in my classes is the relationship between feet, the pelvis and gravity.

You will often hear me say, “we are awakening the feet”. I’m not using some ‘hippy dippy’ lingo here; we are actually waking up the connection between our nervous system, muscular system and conscious thought. Stimulating the feet and helping them to be strong roots, the foundation that we need for balance and movement. Good joint health really starts with the feet.

In our relaxations and our asanas (postures), I will invite you to visualise the breath coming in through our feet, up the back of our bodies and exhaling out and down the front of our bodies - instructs the brain to effectively say “hello, how are you?” to each part and initiate the conversation. It’s not only a relaxing exercise; it is an active part of our listening and responding.

Strong open feet can help our knees; in turn, strong open knees can then help the hips, and so the dance continues up to our body, but it can also work the other way around. We might say, “I’ve got a problem with my knee”, but what if the problem was with the feet and the knee has paid the price? It is called “referred pain”. You may well find things to help the knee's pain, but that is not the same as responding to the difficulty that is going on within the feet.

I love beautiful shoes; I enjoy the elegance they can bring to an outfit. However, having our feet in tight shoes all day is going to cause a problem somewhere, at some time! We wouldn’t walk around in a jacket that restricted our breath and movement all day, but many of us do so with our feet. So April is going to be a “treat your feet” month. Have a foot facial, or a herbal foot bath, give them a loving rub - and I will help you with some further ideas and yoga tips for feet! Stay tuned.

Let’s bring the ‘spring’ back into our steps! Why not?

Rachel