Our Forgotten Feet: What is Going On Down There?
Did you know?
Our feet are made up of 26 bones, 33 joints and hundreds of muscles, ligaments & tendons—in each foot. These components allow for the complex movements needed for motion and balance.
Whoa… There is a lot going on down there!
It seems that most people forget about taking care of their feet until there is a problem. Maybe it’s because our feet are the furthest body part from our brain!
But if you have experienced foot pain, you know how awful and debilitating it can be. It stays with you and your brain every step you take!
It also compromises other parts of your body by compensating and altering your natural gait.
Almost every stretching student of mine experiences foot issues—whether they know about it ahead of time or discover it as they are stretching.
When we stretch our feet in my sessions, the normal reaction from most people is a big gasp of shock. Their foot muscles almost always turn out to be the most painful part of their body… and most didn’t even know!
No wonder our feet are painful—they are working for us from the minute they hit the floor in the morning until they climb back in bed at night.
Then they get up and do it over again, day after day, year after year! So goes the saying “my tired, aching feet.”
Our feet are the furthest body part from our heart, so blood flow and circulation are already not at peak level.
When we stuff our feet in shoes (supportive or not) and then sit a lot, this restricts movement of the muscles, ligaments, and tendons which reduces blood flow and circulation even more. This lack of blood flow and circulation creates dead muscle tissue, and we lose function in those muscles over time.
OUCH! Let’s not do this… let’s pay attention to our feet!
Stretch your feet—even if it’s uncomfortable!
When you finally Pause to pay attention to your feet, you may experience discomfort when you stretch them; this is because of the lack of blood flow, circulation, and hydration to that muscle tissue.
These are all healing agents necessary for waking up and eliminating dead muscle tissue. Stretching helps reduce risk of injury by increasing the range of motion in your joints and the flexibility in your muscles. As you continue stretching and allowing healing, discomfort is eliminated.
Everything is connected.
It is said that if there is anything not functioning well in your body, it almost always starts in your feet!
According to Reflexology, our feet contain more than 7,000 nerve endings that correspond directly with the organs of our body. You can check out this foot reflexology chart to see which areas correspond to which parts of our body. (P.S. When you stretch with me at my in-home studio, you’ll soon see this chart hanging on the wall!)
But… foot issues don’t usually start with the foot.
What???
Let’s say your I.T. Band/Tendon becomes tight; the muscles shorten and pull upward on the outside of the knee. This, in turn, rotates the inside of the foot inward and down, which impedes your natural gait. This altered gait puts pressure on the feet and causes major foot pain.
But there’s hope!
When we stretch our quads and I.T. Band, foot pain is relieved—problem solved!
Need another example?
Our calves and shins can become overly-contracted, reducing mobility in our ankles and feet and causing pain.
But when we stretch our calves and shins, this opens up blood flow and circulation to our feet and ankles, eliminating pain.
I have spent a lot of time researching feet in order to better serve my stretching students. Here is a short summary of my findings:
>> There are more than 50 feet related conditions that doctors regularly diagnose and treat.
>> Treatments include: Orthotics, Physical Therapy, Surgery, Pain Medications, Antibiotics, Topical Creams, and Steroid Injections
What if we added Assisted Stretching as a treatment?
And not just stretching for your feet, but for your entire body!
I challenge you to give a daily stretching routine a try to find relief. You have nothing to lose… but all of the life-changing benefits of stretching to gain!
Remember: Our feet are responsible for our balance and mobility. We want to keep those two things functioning at a high level for our entire life!
I will leave you with some notes from the stretching conference I attended in Santa Barbara last year:
“When muscles tighten and shorten, they compromise flexibility & range of motion. Without stretching, this will affect mobility and independence as we age.”
Get busy STRETCHING, people!
