The Astonishing Power of Softer Feet
Unlock the strength in your legs by massaging your feet.
And it’s not just massaging your feet, friends. It’s inviting the tissue on the bottom of your feet to better connect to the ground, with every moment of stance, every heel strike, every stride.
I scraped my feet with a guasha stone a few days ago (YIKES)…I’m not going to teach you that in this week’s free technique, but I will say that in this morning’s walk with Panther (the nicest wil’ guy pictured below), because the arches of my feet had been stretched, worked, softened, my stride felt complete. As I took steps, I stretched and pushed completely through my foot and that result was that I could feel my glutes, my whole posterior chain really, striding with me and propelling me forward. It felt like such a complete and healthy walking pattern, like there were no corners getting cut.
I remembered in that moment that when corners get cut with something as simple as walking, our muscular system, which is designed to intricately support us as we move, is a little clunkier, less utilized. When we are less utilized, we are more susceptible to injury, discomfort and pain. Check out this graphic of the muscles of the feet, compliments of Dr Alison Grimaldi’s website, Australian phiso and researcher.
Look at how many layers of muscle are in the bottom of the feet! Each one of these layers are engaged every time you stand, walk, run. They’re absolutely workhorses and when they work too hard, they get tight, leading to a chunkier gait, a more abrasive shock absorption and amnesia all the way up that back chain of soft tissue.
Try this:
Stand up
Take a walk around your space.
Stride big, and before each leg swings forward, allow it to fully stretch behind you, ball of the foot connected to the ground and arch of your foot super stretched. It’s easier to feel this while walking up hill.
Assess, how does your arch feel? Does it feel like an overstretch?
Now roll your foot with me.
And try steps 1-4 again.
Love you, guys! Thanks for nerding out with me. And this GOOBOIYEE.