How to love your… FEET!

 

I am sitting on this gorgeous October morning enjoying the fact that I can have the window open and let some of the fresh, crisp air and the the sunlight into my room. On the table next to me is my latest ‘toy’. It’s not everyone’s idea of fun, but I am enjoying it immensely. It is an anatomical skeleton model of a right foot!

 

When I was doing my Amatsu training, the very first thing we looked at was the foot. Although I was full of excitement and enthusiasm for the new course, at this early stage, I had no idea of the true importance of this part of the body. And who does? Our poor old feet – carrying us around for hours in a day, dealing with shoes that don’t fit or support in the right way and only being given a cursory nail clip or the occasional pedicure if they are very lucky! So this week, I wanted to remind you of the beauty and the importance of this most wonderful piece of biological engineering and hopefully awaken in you an appreciation for your feet!

 

A third of all the bones in your body are located in your feet with 28 bones and 107 ligaments in each foot. This incredible design works brilliantly and allows us to walk, run, spring, jump, stand on tip-toe, twirl, etc. When feet go wrong, either with conditions such as bunions, corns, injury or arthritis this can be debilitating and life-changing so here are a few thoughts on how you can keep your feet happy!

Foot Fetish Heaven? (Photo credit: DJOtaku)

The biggest problem our feet have are shoes. A study reported in podiatry journal, The Foot, in 2007 found that when the feet of 2,000 year old skeletons were compared with three different modern populations, feet and posture were generally healthier before the invention of shoes. I do encourage my clients to walk barefoot at home as much as possible, but of course it’s not really practical to give up shoes altogether! But it is really important to wear shoes that allow your toes to move freely and that don’t take your feet into unnatural positions – sorry ladies but high heeled shoes are the worst! A few years ago, I liked wearing heels, but now I am a total convert to flats and particular love Vivobarefoot and have been wearing their shoes for around 4 years. My feet feel amazing in them and I tend to carry them with me if I need to wear other shoes as I can’t wait to get them back on! If you are a runner, the store in Covent Garden runs hour long sessions (priced £50) teaching you how to run in barefoot shoes  and if you buy shoes there and quote ‘Amatsu15’ you will get 15% off a full-priced shoe!

 

I also suggest keeping the muscles and other tissue of the feet nice and soft by using a tennis ball on the sole of your foot. Imagine the ball is coated in brightly coloured paint and you want to cover the entire sole of your foot in paint. You can do this seated or standing. You will find some sore bits – spend extra time on them! It only takes a minute per foot and you will feel lovely afterwards!

 

I often teach my clients to twirl their big toes with their hand. In Japan, many people view the big toe, or hallux as it is properly named, as essential to health and they keep it mobile by turning it 90 times in each direction every day! They are very wise as if your big toe cannot flex to 90 degrees, it cannot act as the necessary fulcrum for the rest of your body to move forward in natural walking so you compensate in all sorts of unnatural ways which can lead to ankle, knee, hip or back pain. If you are a client of mine and would like me to show you how to do this properly, please let me know!

 

How about finding a friend or a partner and give them a foot massage – or even teach your kids to do it! It’s good fun and feels fabulous. You can experiment with different oils and scents too. Coconut oil is wonderful and because it is solid until warmed in the hands, there’s less waste or chance of spillage and the smell reminds me of tropical holidays – very nice at this time of year!

 

So, here are a few simple ways in which we can love our feet and keep ourselves moving and living life as actively as possible for as long as possible! Have a go – your seventy year old self will thank you! 🙂

 

Let it out! What animals know that we’ve forgotten

Last week I was at my monthly Amatsu tutorial and we were discussing how a person’s life experiences can become stuck in their body. This could be in a  mechanical sense, for example changed posture after a physical accident, but emotional experiences can also become stuck too. This may sound far fetched, but how often do we talk about a persons need to ‘let go’ or how they might be ‘hanging onto’ an experience?

Most of us are well aware of the fight or flight response – where an animal or a human prepares itself to either run or confront. There are many physical changes that occur with an increased heart rate and breathing pace and an influx of adrenaline amongst many others. It is well documented that in our modern world, we find ourselves in this state of stress and anxiety all too often and usually for reasons that are not life threatening! Deadlines, late buses, trying to do too much – all of these kick us into an unhealthy state of mind and body. It may be that there are also longer term, chronic stresses – a bullying boss, a sick relative, money worries etc. So we hold onto these emotions which become part of us and can then manifest themselves as physical pain. 

Animals are so much wiser! They don’t allow stress to build up in their bodies. Watch some ducks on a pond having a fight over a female. After their tussle, the defeated duck will swim away and flap its wings vigorously, maybe letting out a loud quack for good measure! A horse or a gazelle will shake their entire body if they fall or are chased. These are known as neurogenic tremors and they are the body’s natural way of dispelling tension after a traumatic, adrenalin-fuelled event. You may see a person shaking like a leaf after a particularly stressful event, but generally as a society we try to control these reactions to avoid appearing weak or vulnerable. But maybe we should be letting it out more!

A couple of years ago I watched a wonderful Eastern European film about a young couple whose lives were literally collapsing around them as the army moved into their city. They were alone in a barricaded room waiting to see what would happen. The tension mounted. The sounds of the army came ever closer. Someone rattled the door of the house. A flashlight passed over the window. They lay low, gripping each other’s hands. Finally the soldiers moved on. The sound of their boots faded. They hadn’t been discovered. Gradually, they peeled themselves from the floor. They looked at one another.

 

‘Shall we?’ said the young man. The woman nodded solemnly.

They both picked up a pillow and pressed it hard to their faces.

And screamed! They bellowed, howled and roared all their tension into the pillow until they had nothing left.

Then they smiled.

I loved this film and particularly this part. What a wonderful way to let it all out! (And yes, I’ve tried it and it feels good!)

There are other ways. Sometimes just standing and shaking your body vigorously after a stressful day does the trick. There are Osho meditations designed for Westerners which utilise this as a way to clear the mind. How about dancing either on your own at home or in a group? Singing helps us to let things out, while also making us take full, delicious breaths – why not belt out a tune in the shower?

We all have stress – that’s just a fact of life. But let’s not let it take hold. I don’t know about you but I quite like the sound of shaking, wriggling, singing and roaring my way to health!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHHH!!! 

🙂