Hello beautiful friends,
The weather is slowly warming and I can feel my energy expanding and rising so I'm feeling inspired to write some short and sweet postural tips for you to practice and integrate into your daily life.
I'm loving writing up the principles and practices of Karana Posture (that's the name I've chosen for it- more about that soon). I'm also loving how my body is feeling with my regular activities including the Karana Posture Series of exercises. So I'll cycle through the body and share excerpts of my writing with you, little snapshots to inform and inspire you to practice greater body awareness and postural balance. Today I'll start from the ground up.
Practicing good posture may seem boring or arduous but in a nutshell, the benefit is that you avoid the stress and strain that leads to pain and stiffness and instead, maintain your mobility, function and the big one... independence.
Feet Function, Posture and Ageing
Did you know that as we age our toes become less and less active? Science has also discovered that with age less of the soles of our feet are in touch with the ground. Simply put, this means that we're not using our toes fully and that our feet become more rigid as we age, respectively. It's no wonder that balance becomes an issue in the elderly. And perhaps you suffer from foot pain like the common plantar fasciitis? Most studies cite causes such as increased age, poor footwear, obesity and chronic degenerative diseases. I would add to that list imbalanced weight-bearing or poor posture. The good news is that all of these factors can be minimised through learning to stand and walk with balanced alignment, using the whole of your feet. So here's your tips for today to keep your feet alive. As I said, short and sweet... 1. AWARENESS
Firstly get to know your feet.
Stand with your feet about the length of one of your feet apart.
Take a look down and notice the posture of your feet.
Do your feet turn in or out?
Are your arches raised?
Do your feet roll inwards?
Does you weight move more into the balls of your feet than your heels?
2. FEEL
Explore slowly moving your weight over your feet.
Move forwards and backwards, side to side and around in circles.
Finally come to a centred place where you feel your weight evenly distributed over the soles of the feet from your heels, along the outer border and across the balls of the feet to all your toes.
Stand here for one to two minutes feeling this possibly new and different stance to increase your feeling sense of balanced weight-bearing.
3. THINK TOES
When you stand feel your toes in your shoes.
When you walk feel your toes in your shoes or on the earth.
And USE THEM!
Use your toes to feel the ground and increase your balance and push off as your walk.
Think heel-toes.
Using your toes as you walk helps to keep your feet and particularly your arches stronger.
So that's your practice for this week. Be aware of your feet. Feel the ground beneath you and the touch of your feet in your shoes or on the earth. Find balanced weight-bearing. And use your toes consciously. They enliven your entire foot.
If you'd like to read more go to the Posture Page. And if you're like me and love to feel open and free in your body and you're ready for a positive change make an appointment today.
Until next time, have a great week in your feet.
