Did you realize each of your feet have 26 bones, 33 joints and over 100 muscles, ligaments and tendons? WOW!! You may not know that your feet make an impact on your organ health as well. Consider this…your  sensory nerves and touch receptors in your feet are sending messages to your brain all day, every day. If there is an issue with your feet, your brain is receiving messages that there’s a problem, so it will start sending messages to parts of your body to make adjustments - including your internal organs.
 
Your feet are intricately connected to the rest of your body and incredibly complex. These tootsies we walk around on all day serve as the foundation for our entire body!! They provide support, balance, posture, and overall well-being. Paying attention to your feet in your yoga practice and adding a few strengthening exercise and stretches will make your feet happy and have a positive impact in your yoga practice and life.



Let's practice!!

Lift though inner arch
Stand in tadasana and become aware of where your weight is over your feet. Is the weight more on your heels or more on your toes? Maybe the inside or the outside?  No need to judge where it is, just create some awareness. Next we press down through the three points of the feet. The mound of your big toe, the mound of your baby toe and the base of your heel. This is your foundation, it is like a triangle.
Next, learn to engage the arches by simply lifting your toes. Another way that I like is to focus on is pressing the base of the big toe into the ground while also pushing down with the outer back heel and lifting the inner ankle up the inseam of your leg. Your should feel a slight sensation of lifting though the legs and a bit of lightness in the body. It can take some practice to get your brain to feel these sensations. Just keep practicing. Play with engaging the arches to build the interaction between the muscles in your feet and the muscles in your legs and pelvis.
*practice daily

Calf fascia blanket stretch
Roll up a blanket like a tootsie roll about three to four inches in diameter. Start in tabletop with your knees hip width apart and the tops of your feet flat on the floor, feet in line with your knees. Snug your blanket roll into your knee creases, and then sit as close to your heels as you can. If this is too intense, you can place your hands on the floor in front of you, or you can place a block(or two) under your bootie at any height that feel good to you and your knees.
As you sit up you will start to feel pressure on the tops of your calves from the blanket roll. You will also probably feel a bit of pressure on your hamstrings too.
Move around until you feel any knots or tight places in your  muscles calves. Hold still for a few breaths and relax your face!! Stay here 30 seconds to a minute. Breathe!!
Lean forward back to table top and move the prop down the calves an inch or two, and repeat. Continue in this moving the blanket all the way down the calves until you reach your heels. Move back to table top and then down dog. Voila!
*repeat 2-3 times each week.

3 way heel raises
Stand on a sturdy elevated surface (like a stair) with your heels hanging off the edge and your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. You may want to place your hands on your hips or a sturdy object in front of you to help with balance.

Raise your body up onto your toes, hold for a few seconds, and lower back down slowly.

First: complete the exercise with your toes pointing forward.

Second: complete the exercise with your toes pointing outward at an angle and your heels facing towards each other.

Third: complete the exercise with your feet shoulder width apart, toes still pointing outward at an angle.

*Try 3 sets of 10-20 reps for each toe position daily.


Use these simple stretches and exercise weekly for the next month. You will notice how you will begin to develop a stronger foot and foundation. You will see improvements in your yoga poses and you may notice your posture getter better and your legs getting stronger.