How Yoga Can Improve Your Foot Health

Many people are having issues with their feet from standing, and it seems to be becoming a growing problem in today's world.



Orthopedic doctors, Podiatrists, physical therapists and chiropractors will all give different opinions on techniques or practices that can be very helpful.

And another source of information if you have foot problems, is to explore an ancient tradition of health - Yoga - for solutions and approaches.

Yoga is a centuries-old practice that has been proven to improve foot health and alleviate symptoms of standing. If you're looking to increase your foot health, yoga should definitely be on your list of options.

When we practice yoga, we take a holistic approach to the body and its systems. One of these systems are the feet and ankles, which take a lot of the strain when standing for a long time.

When someone comes to me and tells me they are having feet issues, and perhaps they stand all day, I also ask  if they have had an injury, surgery, or a hereditary pattern that makes standing difficult. Consequently, I will look to see how their posture and mobility impacts their feet. I will also be looking at the mobility and agility of the foot structure itself. 

When someone stands all day, I also wonder what the rest of their lifestyle is like.  Possibly,  what they do after standing is to then sit for hours.   If the hips, knees and legs are moving in only two basic positions: either standing up or sitting down, all day, every day,  this will dramatically impact the feet because the feet are then only being used in a very limited way.

 Each foot is made up of 26 bones, 30 joints and more than 100 muscles, tendons and ligaments, and feet have evolved over millions of years to support our ancestors in their natural environment. 

Feet used to be hands.   They evolved to us being upright, to journey across the savanna, climb trees, scale rocks and walk and run on all manner of uneven surfaces on the earth. Feet give us feedback to the earth.  Feet connect us to the earth.   Feet are how we feel the earth. 

Yet, today's modern foot gets clothed in a sock, locked up into a shoe and is then standing still or walking on very flat even surfaces all day long. People who advocate barefoot running and minimalist shoes are trying to show us the way back to how our feet were originally used.  

Our ancestors would have spent hours everyday squatting, kneeling, walking, and getting up and down off the ground. There were no chairs, no arch supports, and no plantar fascitis. Thousands of years ago, there were no floors, pavements, concrete or carpets.   

 This is the key, this is what you need to remember when it comes to issues with your feet.  Your feet were designed for adaptability.  They evolved to cope with a huge amount of variety of environments and movements.   Not just shoes and socks.  Not just flat surfaces. 

Just watch a baby's toes for five minutes and see how they wriggle all the time. That's the human foot developing - to move, wriggle, explore the environment.  Not to be shod and put away. 


My suggestion for people struggling with feet issues, especially if you stand all day,  is to come home and put your legs up the wall so the feet are elevated for at least 5 or 10 minutes (if not longer).  Watch TV or listen to music in this position. Then sit on the floor or a chair and hold your feet.  Give your feet a good massage.  'Wring' your feet out as if they were a towel you are wringing the water out of.  Then flex the ankles for a few minutes, and then point the feet for a few minutes. 

If you do have to stand, try and create variety on the surface on which you stand, change the mat, carpet, somedays barefoot, some days shoes.  The most important thing is to keep your feet moving and stimulated in as many different ways as you can imagine.   

In my Joint Renewal Method, which is based on Kaiut Yoga, we renew the joints of the feet - by putting pressure on the toes, flexing the ankles, sitting with feet out to the sides, pointing the toes into a ballerina shape, sitting on the heels and much, much more.   A variety of movements, this is what the feet crave, and what will restore and rejuvenate foot health. 

We know from chinese medicine how the feet are a map for the rest of the body.  Having healthy mobile, flexible feet and ankles give us a foundation for overall health.   If you would like to awaken the joints in your feet and start to feel your feet in new and liberating ways through yoga, you can join my free 7 day yoga challenge coming up soon.   Click on the link below to sign up. FREE YOGA CHALLENGE 7C's for Joint Renewal


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