The self care method introduced here works for whole body, but is especially recommend for prevention of knees, hip, and lower back pain. They are also good for mental health such as calming mind, insomnia, anxiety, and so on.
Leonardo da Vinci stated that “the human foot is a masterpiece of engineering and a work of art.”
They contain a quarter of all the bones in human body and make the foundation of human body.
They are directly related to many of knees, hip, and lumber problems. Furthermore, they affect health problems of upper body and mental health as well.
When I see clients complaining knees, hip, or lower back pain, I always check their toes, feet, and ankle joints. Many of them have some level of toes/feet/ankle issues such as bunions, floating toes, hummer toes, calluses, sprain and so on. Sometimes, clients themselves are ignoring or not even noticing, but they are the signs not to be ignored and should be taken care of.
First of all, let's check how your toes are doing. When you stand naturally, do all of your toes touching the ground equally? Are any of your toes bending? Are the feet facing forward or have some angles? Is your weight distributed equally?
Let's do some toe movement check.
How did you do? Feel which toe is hard to move. Did your foot or calf go cramp? Please remember the feeling.
Modern life style is making our feet to degenerate. It is hard to move each toe separately. Sometimes, I see two toes almost stack together as if they are one toe. It is important to separate these toes and send the right signals to the brain.
Now, let's try some toe opening stretches.
It is important to sit on the sitting bones, keep the back straight, and feel the connection from the lower abdomen.
If it is hard to sit with your back straight, place a towel underneath your butt and sit on it.
The most of the exercises and stretches shown here are explained in detail in Majotore in Japanese. I was looking for a good toes/feet self care and found her. If you are interested, please check her youtube channel.
The last video shows some important pressure points on feet. Try to locate tender spots and apply gentle finger pressure.
Please stand up on your feet and see how you feel now. Please also do the toe movement check once again.
Do you feel any difference? It is important to practice this every day in order to rewrite the chronic habit.
Good luck!