THE GROUNDING OF OUR FEET AFFECTS OUR ALIGNMENT AND IS DIRECTLY CONNECTED TO OUR CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM
What if we were able to prevent or even reverse problems like back pain, sciatica, sacroiliac and hip pain, hip bursitis, knocked knees and knee pain, or painful and stiff ankles and flat feet by being more mindful of our feet and how they connect with the ground?
What corrections in the body do you think of when asked to stand straight or align your knee over your ankle in an asana? Do you just think to puff your chest out and suck the belly in, or move your knee? This is a common mistake, as many of us are just not aware of the impact our feet have on the alignment of our whole structure. It is not by coincidence that people who overpronate or over supinate often have problems with their knees and lower back. Pronation and supination are natural positions for the foot during the gait, but overpronating or over supinating affects the alignment of the whole body from the ground up. This is called a kinetic chain and in this case it means that compensatory changes can occur anywhere from the ankles to the knees, the pelvis and even the spine.
As a Yoga therapist and a doctor of Chiropractic I believe that this is a very common culprit for a variety of physical pain and health problems. Any misalignment of the pelvis will throw the alignment of our entire spine off, creating pain, muscle spasms, and interference to the spinal nerves. Optimal alignment of the spine is crucial to our health. This is because our spine houses our central nervous system (CNS), which governs all of our bodily functions and supports the body’s innate healing potential.
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Even the Chinese medicine uses the feet as a gateway to health. The ancient Chinese doctors compared the human body to the tree and believed that a dying tree withers in its roots first, and as we age our health recedes from our feet.
IS THE WAY YOU WALK CAUSING HAVOC IN YOUR BODY?
When the feet over pronate, you will see your shoes are worn on the inner edges of the heels. This causes the arch of the foot to collapse, internal rotation of the tibia and the thighs and often stiffness in the ankles. The knees are forced into a knock-knee position creating stress on the lateral facet of the patella. The femoral heads move posteriorly within the hip socket tilting the pelvis forward, causing pain in the sacroiliac joint (SIJ) and an increased lumbar curvature, which compresses the posterior part of the intervertebral discs and introduces more strain on the facets of the lower spine and sacrum. With time, such postural misalignment can lead to a degeneration of the discs and the facets creating a pressure on the spinal nerves. Overpronation can also lead to a formation of bunions that form due to an increased weight bearing on the inner edge of the foot, which causes an enlargement of the bone around the joint of the big toe.
If the feet over supinate, you will notice that the outer heels of your shoes are worn. This causes an external rotation of the knees and the thighs. The femoral heads slide anteriorly in the hip socket, which results in a decreased lumbar curvature or flat back and diminishes the shock absorption ability of the spine. Oftentimes the psoas muscle weakens due to a compensation of other muscles of the hips. People that over supinate tend to suffer from ankle sprains caused by the over-stretching or tearing of the ligaments on the outside of the ankle. Shin splints and plantar fasciitis are also common because the foot in this position cannot absorb as much shock as when it is in a correct balanced position.
In cases where one foot pronates or supinates more than the other, the left and right ilium misalign in opposing directions causing a difference in the leg length and shearing stress on the SIJ. This again throws the alignment of the pelvis and the whole spine off. In all cases and if the misalignment becomes chronic and structural compensatory changes occur, the whole spine and therefore the whole CNS may be affected.
MAKE THE CONNECTION / WAKE YOUR FEET UP
We can better understand the effects the placement of our feet has on our structure by feeling it in our own bodies. Stand with your feet hip width apart and parallel to each other, shift your weight gently forward and back till you find yourself centered. Now lift and spread your toes, and broaden the balls of your feet grounding the base of the big toe and the base of the little toe. As you do that allow for the three middle toes to be relaxed. This may be a challenge at first, but keep practicing. The reason why we see many people “clenching onto their mat with their toes”, is because they place too much weight onto the front of the feet, forgetting to connect through the heel and relax the muscles of the sole, that are often tense and weak from years of wearing restrictive footwear.
Keep the ball of the foot grounded and bring your awareness to the heel, ground through its center and broaden, so you can become aware of its inner and outer corner. The grounding of the base of the big and little toe and the center of the heel creates a triangular support that lifts the arch of the foot. The broadening invites lengthening to the sides of the feet, which further helps to lift the arches and to engage the muscles of the thighs. Feel how broadening through the ball of the foot engages and lengthens the outer edge of the foot, lengthening it from the base of the little toe to the outer heel, and how broadening through the heel engages and lengthens the inner edge of the foot from the inner heel to the base of the big toe (we will apply this in our asana practice).
As you stand imagine you are rooting your feet into the earth and at the same time drawing the energy up through your legs all the way to the crown of your head. Now bring your awareness to your legs, you should feel the lift in your arches supports an engagement of your thigh muscles. This action further gently lifts the hipbones, allows for the tailbone to descend towards the heels, engages the core, and encourages and supports a straight spine placing the whole body in an optimal alignment.
When you first start practicing you will find your feet get tired easily and your arches might struggle to lift. Keep going and introduce these exercises to your life whenever you can. Bringing more awareness to your feet off the mat will speed up the muscle strengthening in the feet, as well as the reprogramming of the neuromuscular pathways so your body learns the correct position faster. Play with the alignment and grounding whenever you are standing (best barefoot), whether it is while cooking, washing the dishes or standing in a supermarket queue. Try to be barefoot as often as possible and avoid tight constricting footwear.
If you find too much stiffness in your feet stand on a tennis ball rolling it around to release the muscles of the sole. Exercises that plantar flex the foot, such as Virasana (hero pose) are also great as they open the dorsum of the feet, stretch the ankles and are very helpful for people with flat feet and fallen arches. Once your feet are “open” and more flexible, the energy can flow with more ease and you will find it becomes easier to spread your toes, ground through the whole foot and lift the arches. Regular asana practice is very beneficial and can help prevent or even reverse postural imbalances if done correctly and with an intention. It deepens our awareness and connection to our body and gradually replaces the distorted neuromuscular pathways with those of integrity.
I hope you found this article helpful! If you are interested to read on how to use our feet as a tool to safe alignment in yoga postures, continue reading here: Pada Bandha – Using our feet as a tool to optimal alignment in asana.
