Today I attended a 3 hour Yoga-Roots clinic that focused on bringing body mindfulness and awareness to the feet, ankles and knees so that we can build our own home practice. We think we know how our body moves and why but so often we do it on automatic without any consideration for the consequences both intended and unintended.
It was amazing to experience how even just a small shift in these areas can cause tension, shallow breathing and even pain in areas far removed. It was inspiring to see and feel how even just small shifts in the way my feet were contacting the ground brought tension/relief to my low back depending on where those points of contact were.
Have you ever paid attention to how if feels to have you foot contact the floor...I challenge you to try it. Stand barefooted on a flat surface. Take a few deep breaths and then bring your awareness to you feet. Where do you feel the contact with the floor - are all 4 main weight bearing points of the foot (heal inside and out, and upper pad below the big toe and baby toe) making contact or something else - more inside or outside, more front or back...are both feet the same or is there a difference...just notice these things, do not judge.
Now play with it...bend slightly at the knees, shift your weight around ever so slightly but purposefully so that you feel the different parts of your feet, make sure you maintain a natural curve to your back - don't lean/hunch over or force yourself to look at the sky while doing this...pay attention to the other parts of you body too...does anything hurt or get relief in any of these shifts? How does that contact represent your "normal situation", is there anything you can take away from this? Also notice the quality of your breath...do you find yourself maintaining a relaxed breath or are you holding your breath at any point? Holding breath is a sign of tension so there may be no specific pain but your body may still be telling you its story...are you listening?
Think about it, the foot has just over 25% of all the bones in the entire body, the foot is our foundation. Our feet propel ourselves through life, they support our weight and sometimes even the weight of others as well. We often overlook our feet, but even acupuncture and reflexology recognize the multi-system inter-connectivity that seems to be housed in our feet. I think this is why a foot rub feels so damn good - it eases tension across the body.
So from this day I have several take aways...
1) I need to pay more attention to my feet, my connection to the ground and the types of shoes I force on my tender tootsies.
2) Using a series of various sized balls to massage the bottom of my feet is an easy thing to incorporate in my evening routine.
3) When my back hurts - look to my roots first as it may just be that my misalignment is there not in my spine.
4)3 hours of yoga is way more intensive than I thought it would be. While deep stretches comes from the slow and gentle movement - 3 hours is intense!!! Especially when my yoga practice has been less than consistent...may need to take a Mortin before heading to bed tonight :)
Nameste
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