The Footbone is Connected to the Backbone
Walking upright and moving forward defines us a human beings. So many aspects of our lives are connected to our ability to walk, physically, mentally and spiritually. It ultimately ensures our independence. As an exercise physiologist I tell clients and students that movement is medicine and we as humans were designed to MOVE! Furthermore, if you do not have access to anything special or specific to meeting the need for daily movement, you have two feet and taking a walk is accessible and now a great essential to feel that we can affect our daily life and our well-being. We can consider that walking is one of our superpowers! “When we get up and walk, our senses are sharpened. Rhythms that would previously be quiet suddenly come to life, and the way our brain interacts with our body changes,” says neuroscientist Shane O’Mara.
If you talk with a psychologist, you will learn that the somatics of feeling your feet on the floor talks to the brain and helps one to feel grounded – this is so very important to calming the nervous system. Being able to get up and move to where we need to go, to run to safety, is part of our inherent survival mechanism through the sympathetic nervous system. Physiologically, the nerve endings on our feet help us orient to spacial awareness, refine our proprioception, define our internal GPS, and help maintain our capacity to balance. Many systems of the body overlap here, as would be expected. Much of what allows the interconnection that is studied and still not completely understood is the interplay of the many layers of fascia and how fascia affects the biology of the body in addition to the mechanics of the body. Biomechanically there is much research that shows us how losing agility (mobility and strength) will directly diminish the potential mobility of the “anatomy trains,” to include the spine and ribcage. If we were to only look mechanically, we should consider that ¼ of all the bones in the body are in the feet/ankles. This foundation deserves care and attention. When we wear shoes all day, we lose much mobility and agility in the foot and ankle region, thus erase some of the neural pathways as well as diminish the correlations to all the overlapping of an integrated mind and body. Yoga to the rescue!
One of the best ways to really work on strengthening the feet and improving mobility and balance is simply through standing poses. Many preparations specifically target the feet, and are designed to help the student build time in standing poses, thus allowing the other yoga related benefits like refining our awareness skills and learning more about ourselves! Along the way we can reclaim some of the lost neural pathways. Come to class this month of May when we will give a little more attention to the feet, the foundation of the body. Then get out into the world and participate in the unfolding of life!
Need a little sneaky help along the way, consider toe socks!! LifeFit has been an avid supporter and affiliate of the ToeSox company. When studying foot mechanics, it was important to me for the sake of cleanliness and respect when moving around a class and possibly adjusting a student. It became rather useful the the grip socks helped with creating more control in standing poses, thus helping balance and minimizing falling. But wearing non-grip toe socks (or your old Toesox that have lost their grip) in your shoes was the original way these socks were designed, to help you regain the lost agility that we in the west experience just because we wear shoes all the time.
Over time, the Pilates community embraced the idea of toe socks first – all studios require socks like this for cleanliness as students share equipment and for control (foot mechanics affects core engagement) on the equipment. The yoga community is now a great advocate of these socks. Thanks to ToeSox, during this time of social distancing, their marketing team has offered our LifeFit community this code: LIFEFIT10 while shopping at www.toesox.com and the sister company, www.tavinoir.com. This code expires June 15. When we get back to classes in person, in the fall, we will emphasize the importance of cleanliness. Wearing socks in class will be more important for many of you and in my home studio, it will be an essential, as usual. Enjoy shopping! Mother’s Day is nigh, treat mom as you are treating yourself! Enjoy the savings as you check out their new designs as well as their sale page! This will allow LifeFit to continue as an affiliate with this great company – thanks friends.
Your body is resilient and adaptable and has this same effect on your mind. In your lifetime, you are meant to experience, endure, survive and evolve. So glad that we get to do that together!
Peace,
Mona Flynn