Until recently, the most attention that I paid to feet was alignment and position when practicing asana (yoga poses), and activities to develop sensory and body awareness for kids who have disabilities. I’ve been doing a lot of yoga training this last year though, which has given me a whole new perspective on the importance of feet, not only for standing and balance, but for our whole nervous system.
I could go into a whole lot of anatomy detail but appreciate it probably isn’t quite as fascinating for you as it is for me, so I’ll keep it short and simple! Let’s just say, we have a “line of connection” that runs from the arches of our feet up through the inner legs, the psoas (the muscle around the pelvis that holds our upper and lower body together), and the spine. Lifting through this ‘line’ helps to stabilise the body, allows us to open out from our centre, to breathe properly, and provides space for organs to function. It gives a sense of lifting and lengthening up, as well as grounding down.
Here’s something you can try to feel this for yourself:
Stand up with your feet about hip width apart, toes pointing forwards. Don’t adjust anything else about your posture. Notice for a moment how you feel, how your body feels, and how your breath feels. Now, gently spread out your feet by pressing from the base of your little toe to the base of the big toe, and feel how the arches of your feet begin to lift. It’s a subtle movement, perhaps barely noticeable from the outside, but what do you feel? Do you feel how that gentle lift has a knock on effect all the way up through your body?
For me, I notice that the muscles of my inner thighs switch on, which adjusts the position of my pelvis. This creates an opening out from my belly, which encourages a lift through my spine, an opening across chest and shoulders which changes the position and balance of my head. My body takes a bigger breath, a sigh, and then settles into a breathing pattern of longer, fuller breaths. Was any of this similar to what you felt?
For children who have disabilities, can you see how that little lift through the arches of their feet could make such a difference to standing and walking, whether that is with support or unaided? The number of times I’ve encouraged my kids to “push up through their legs,” or to, “make their belly long,” – trying to describe this opening out from the belly to help them stand up taller, that now I learn comes from the bottom of their feet! And for adults, can you feel how that change in posture might make a difference to any places of pain or discomfort that come from habitual slumping and bad posture? How it changes your breath to invite openness and expansion on all levels of being?
As adults, we generally don’t pay much attention to our feet, except perhaps when they’re hurting after a lot of standing, walking, or wearing high heels! Keeping them wrapped up in shoes and slippers further disconnects us from our feet, and we may notice we have difficulty with balance, especially as we get older. Children who have movement difficulties are often unable to reach their feet to play and explore as babies do, they may have to wear AFOs (plastic supports to correct position of the feet), and spend a lot of time sitting or lying down, all of which contribute to less awareness of not only their feet, but their whole body.
As well as helping us to lift up through the body, the arches of our feet are like shock absorbers, giving us spring, bounce and elastic recoil. When the tissues of our feet are hard, stuck, dehydrated, it can lead to problems all the way through the body including tightness in buttocks, hips, lower back, and the pelvic floor taking more shockwaves than it should. This in turn causes tension to ripple out into the belly, diagram, shoulders and jaw. Who would have thought that clenching your teeth could be related to falling arches?!
The tissues of our feet need movement to keep them soft, pliable and hydrated, which then enables this lift through the body. You can do this by rolling them over a prickly exercise ball for a couple of minutes, or by simply massaging your or your child’s feet and toes. Go gently around the base of the toes; this area correlates to the lower back and you may discover some tenderness there. Tissues around the arches are implicated in fatigue conditions, sensitivity on the heel suggests digestive issues, and puffiness over the top of the feet, respiratory issues.
For kids who have disabilities, try some playful activities throughout the day such putting their feet in a tray filled with different textures such dried lentils, sand, water, pebbles, cotton wool. You might put things between their toes for them to push out – also helps with hand-eye coordination and fine manipulation skills – use different materials and textures to stroke their feet, or massage their feet with cream after their bath to help them relax before bed. If your child’s feet are really sensitive, try simply holding their foot firmly in your hand, or try the activities or massage with their socks on.
Try a balance pose such as vrksasana, tree pose (stand on one leg and bring the sole of your other foot to rest on the inside of your calf) after waking up your feet, or go for a walk and see if you notice a difference in how your body feels or moves as you walk. Same for the kids; try bringing more sensation into their feet and legs before standing and walking tasks, and see how it helps.
There is so much more I could explain, but hopefully this short introduction has been helpful and will encourage you to spend a bit more time on your feet as a way to improve overall health. I’m always interested to hear how you find the practices, so please do let me know! If you’d like to learn more and try some guided practices for yourself or to do with your child, sign up for my foot-focused yoga workshop or one of my regular classes.