Teaching for Foot Health

How Yoga May Help

This lesson follows from Foot Pain & Potential Issues with the Feet.

Much of the following list of ways in which yoga may help with foot pain and foot health was drawn from this article by Baxter Bell MD.

1. Asana practice provides general benefits in strength, flexibility and balance that can prevent and address imbalances of all types, including those of the feet. (See more: How Yoga Supports Health & Affects Bodily Systems.)
2. Becoming more aware of sensations in the feet (as with other parts of the body) increases awareness of imbalances and issues before they can become more problematic.
3. Practicing asana in bare feet improves and maintains proprioception (the sense of where body parts are in space), which in turn reduces chance of falls.
4. Poses “encourage both flexibility and strength, as well as helping to maintain good circulation of blood and lymph in and out of the feet.”
5. Asana practice moves ankle, foot and toe joints through their healthy range of motion.
6. “Studies show that yoga is generally beneficial for arthritis, and the feet certainly are affected by that.”

GENERAL APPROACH & CONSIDERATIONS

When addressing foot and ankle issues, it is important to differentiate where your weight is distributed in the standing poses and also to vary how you do the poses so as to not habituate your central nervous system to always doing the pose the same way. Learning how to shift weight differently when your foot is not flat on the floor might also help encourage more ankle bending (dorsiflexion). So try using a slant board that you place under your foot in various positions as a way wake up parts of your foot and ankle that are “asleep.” Doing standing poses on the beach in the sand or on uneven outdoor surfaces might be a way to challenge ankle sensitivity, strength, and flexibility. Likewise, doing standing poses on softer surfaces, such as multiple sticky mats or on a couch cushion on the floor, challenges your foot and ankle muscles and would be helpful.
– Shari Ser 

Knowledge & Awareness