26 bones. 33 joints. More than a hundred muscles, tendons, and ligaments.
The human foot is ridiculous. But, you know, in a cool way. Containing 25% of the bones of the entire body, our feet are amazing feats of engineering. Unfortunately, 75% of people have foot issues. Let's take a look at how you can nurture this important area of the body.
Slow Stretching
Sit in a relaxed seated or prone position. Flex the feet and feel the tension of the muscles in doing this. Slowly (but I mean slowly) move from a flexed position to a pointed position. Feel the tension in the pointed position. Then, pull the feet towards the body and come to a flexed position again (did I mention slowly?). Hold that tension for about 3 seconds...and then RELAX. Be completely still and let the brain process the difference between tension and relaxation. After about 30 seconds, repeat if wanted!
Standing Awareness
Ideally, practice this exercise in bare feet, perhaps even while standing on grass or ground. While standing, find awareness of your posture. Head over shoulders, shoulders over hips, hips over ankles. Then, shift your awareness to the feet. Come up onto the tippy toes and feel that muscles tense. Next, come to flat feet and roll back onto the heels, allowing the toes to lift upwards. Feel the difference in tension in this position. (Repeat this part as many times as you like.) Standing with feet flat to the ground, lift the toes up, spread them apart and slowly lower them down to the ground. Notice your strong foundation. Feel how strong your body is and how supported you are. Now smile, because life is good.
Foot Massage
My aunt, who was trained in Chinese reflexology, has drummed this exercise into me over the years! Using two walnuts, roll your feet over the walnuts. Change the angle of your feet every so often and really get into the toe area as well. As my aunt has explained to me, reflexology is an amazing art; however, in the absence of time or a trained specialist, the walnut foot massage will activate most of the reflexology points.
"Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the wind longs to play with your hair."
~Khalil Gibran