Awaken your spine and move more freely, 4 feet strengthening exercises  

First thing in the morning, as soon as you slide your feet off the bed and place them on the floor to start moving, they do this propelling movement – heel, arch, toes to get you to the bathroom. You’ve done this action a million times since you had learned how to walk but never really thought about it until today. The feet are the most forgotten piece of our body. Yet, they are the foundation of our bodies. So, let’s start understanding their role in building a balanced and integrated body.

The muscles of your feet send the signal to the rest of your legs to start working. Now, if you don’t work your feet, there’s stiffness in the morning, so you limp a little or shift your weight to move until the muscles warm-up and you feel a little bit more mobile. But by the time they are warmer and you think you can proceed normally, you’ve already shifted off your center – not a great way to start the day. But what if I tell you that you can improve that within a month. The more attention you put in your feet and work them out, the less stiff they feel. Now, why the toes first? Because we want to awaken the arch of the feet, also known as the foot’s core, just like the body’s core at the center.

The foot’s core provides stability for the legs and the body in movement. Before we hit the arch, though, we need to address the toes. By strengthening the toes, we facilitate the arch to lift.

If you follow these simple exercises, you will better use your feet.

It helps if you practice in front of a mirror to gain more control.

Here’s what I cover in this week’s video:

• Where to balance the body weight. Is it under the little toe or big toe?

• How ankle weights can help anchor your feet and calves into the mat.

• How to practice sumo squat from rolling like a ball

• Toes stretching exercises before the swan.

• Swan with weights while lifting your big toes to maintain arch strengths.

• Cueing tips for The Grasshopper to feel more muscles activating.

• Seal into sumo squat into standing.

• Pushups with high heels.

Once you’ve had a moment to do today’s video exercises, let me know which foot exercise is your favorite.

Keep practicing my friend,
and see you next week,

P.S: Check out these images to learn about the link system of your feet 

Xo 

 Jeanique