You guys have obviously noted a switch in what I’m talking about lately. There’s more discussion of yoga and stretching issues because of a few things I’m dealing with. One of my problems lately is plantar fasciitis. I keep waking up with pain near my heels. I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m not doing enough exercise for my feet, nor enough stretching.
So in looking around for foot exercises, I found this page. These exercises are great, they’ve already given me some relief. I just did them for about 20 minutes, along with some foot massage and my feet are back to normal.
If you’re doing lots of form work, standing meditation, or aerobic exercise, I would highly recommend adding a few of these exercises to your day. They can be done while watching TV or working on the computer.
Blessed relief.
6 responses so far ↓
1 Casey // Jul 5, 2007 at 3:41 pm
Oh yeah, you can’t ignore your feet! I try to soak my feet in hot water every day if I have the time. I also have this massage roller thing I bought at some night market with like little balls designed to stimulate accupoints. I think it’s for your back, but I mostly just roll my feet back and forth over it. Combine some stretching with the above two and your whole body feels more relaxed. Of course, all of the above also serve the purpose of helping to open the leg meridians, which in turn will make all kinds of stretching and leg exercises easier.
2 Casey // Jul 5, 2007 at 4:21 pm
Oh, also, flexibility in the feet and ankles is really important for the overall energetic system. Check out the kind of ankle flexibility some Yogis develop: http://living.oneindia.in/yoga-spirituality/yoga/img/bks-Iyengar-b.jpg
The feet are at the bottom of the hardest-working muscles in your body, so they need extra attention in terms of keeping relaxed and flexible. There’s even some kind of Chinese saying about “if the feet are healthy then the whole body is healthy.”
3 james // Jul 6, 2007 at 7:52 am
the Iyengar thing is mostly hips…
I especially like the advice to walk on the beach. Obviously a brilliant mind at work. Love it
J
4 Michael Petra // Jul 6, 2007 at 10:30 pm
When I mentioned my heel pain to my teacher recently, he immediately asked to see my basic zhan zhuang posture. He pointed out that I was slightly pronating (knees not exactly over the toes) and definitely leaning back on my heels. Since correcting these flaws, my pain has disappeared. I’m not suggesting similar flaws have crept into your practice, but these forms can definitely reset our bodies for good or bad depending on our structure.
5 thomas // Jul 7, 2007 at 2:36 pm
Great–and for me, timely–discussion! I’ve been hobbling like a horse with a worn-out shoe for the past two weeks. Massage, foot stretching and ankle rotations, soaking, and paying more attention to posture . . . the symptoms are plantar fascitis, and there have been some very good tips here. Thanks.
6 Jack Rusher // Jul 7, 2007 at 10:25 pm
That website is great. A couple of other things I learned while working through some foot/ankle problems: stretch the feet every morning before warming up the rest of the body (for me this includes a palm-to-sole, fingers between the toes rotation/flexion exercise, some plantar fascia beating/massage, and so on); do standing stretches (forward bends, &c) with the toes held in an elevated position; do reverse calf raises; go barefoot as often as possible, especially during athletic activities; wear these when foot protection is required (I love them for sprinting, parkour, gongfu, bouldering, trekking, snorkeling over sharp rocks, and so on).
Take care and good luck with your feet.
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