The importance of the humble foot cannot be underestimated. Our feet carry us around, ground us and have a mechanical and energetic relationship with the rest of the body. Misalignments of the feet may have repercussions of pain or pressure in one or more of the major joints of the body like the knees, hips, spine, shoulders or neck and according to Reflexology all the systems of the body are represented in the feet.
Standing correctly promotes comfort and takes much less energy, in my asana classes at the Australian School of Meditation and Yoga I am constantly reminding peope about their feet placement in the standing poses as they form the base of our poses.
But even in the floor poses it is important to spread the energy right down to the feet. (recently I was at a class in the Shoulderstand Pose we were encouraged to make Barbie feet, like standing in very high heeled shoes)
Foot Alignment The most efficient and safest way to stand is to bring the weight evenly to both feet, evenly between the front and the back and evenly side to side. The weight should be placed in three points of the feet – on the ball of the foot under both the big toe mound and the little toe mound and in the centre of the heel and as much as possible train yourself to stand with your feet parallel.
Lift the Toes. Practice spreading your toes, lifting them and moving them up and down. Challenge yourself by trying to lift and lower the toes individually. This exercise helps to strengthen the arches and enliven the toes.
Raise and Lower the Heels. From a standing position keep your feet parallel to each other as you raise and lower your heels. Make sure you keep your ankles straight and steady. This strengthens your arches and ankles and stretches the top of the feet.
Ankle Circles. Sitting or standing lift your foot from the ground and circle it at least 5 times in each direction. This helps to free up the ankle joint preventing arthritic conditions and enhancing energy flow from the feet to the rest of the body.
Rolling a Tennis Ball. From a standing position place a tennis ball under the sole of one foot and pressing into it slowly roll the ball back and forth and side to side. This releases tightness in the muscles and tendons of the sole of the foot and also stimulates energy points found in the sole of the foot.
Do these exercises often and you will be amazed at the subtle differences in your yoga poses.
