Your feet know what's up

YOUR FEET KNOW WHAT’S UP

Let’s Geek Out Over Foot Placement and Posture!

Have loose, floppy, or tense feet? Improper foot alignment will have an impact on your gait and overall posture. It can potentially lead to foot and ankle problems, resulting in knee and hip pain. However, with correct foot alignment and engagement, the rest of the body can easily, efficiently follow along in any activity.

In the complex inner workings of the feet and ankles lies an intricate network of bones, muscles, ligaments, and tendons. Your feet contain 52 bones, 33 joints, 107 ligaments, and nine muscles and tendons holding them together. Each part has its own purpose, and when combined, create our ability to stand, walk, run, and dance. Feet give us our connection to Mother Earth as we walk through life. Any practices that lead to a feeling of centeredness comes from this connection. It is vital in our daily lives that we maintain the feet’s connection to the earth in a way that keeps us grounded and supple.

In a yang-style asana practice, this connection begins where the feet meet the mat. In Tadasana, we initiate and experience both by pushing down physically and drawing up energetically. Here we develop the downward and upward currents that carry us throughout our asana sessions. The arch of the foot is the origin of Mulabandha (the energetic support at the pelvic floor). Our feet in Tadasana performing these physical and energetic exchanges reflect the relationship with the diaphragm and the breath.

Proper positioning of the feet in yoga is as important as the positioning of the feet in any other physical practice. For example, ballet training heavily focuses on foot positions. Foot shape and placement is emphasized equally as much in circus arts, diving, cycling, running, weightlifting, and other sports. Foot placement and alignment are not only to prevent injury. The attention an athlete gives to maintaining correct foot posture also conserves their energy and helps them to move with less effort. Plus, the right foot alignment makes everything more visually satisfying.

In yoga classes, I regularly see an important foot alignment mistake: feet pulled awkwardly inward. This happens when a yoga student pulls the big toe and arch in toward the body. This inward pulling may make it easier for the student to reach the foot and straighten the leg, or get the belly closer to the leg. However, it is one of the least effective positions for the feet. The short and long-term effect of this is lengthening the outside of the ankle and calf muscle. This leads to an unstable position on the ankle and an imbalance in the muscles and tendons. Ultimately, this instability makes its way up to the knee and hip.

To fix foot alignment and placement is to create stability and effortlessness in each pose. Some very simple alignment reminders can easily fix this.  One of the most foundational is: keep the foot in the same position you would have it in if you were standing in Tadasana. By doing this, there is a slight internal rotation of the upper part the leg. It creates an engagement in the muscles of the leg and an opportunity to push through all four corners of the feet. If you need to change these details, it will be more beneficial to back off until you are able to perform them in the most effective position. Give your body time to learn and consolidate, and eventually, it will begin to change. This might take a day, or maybe even a year or more. Having the emphasis on this correction will allow the body to fully integrate and experience the pose, even if you have backed off 50 percent in order to find the right foot position.

Making space for the body to integrate is one of the biggest gifts you can give to yourself. Over time you will discover a whole-body experience in each pose, which leads to a greater understanding of the overall practice of yoga. Rather than only being aware of our limitations, we begin to see ourselves in a new light of ease and spaciousness, letting go of expectations and an achievement-based mentality.

Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana, Vasisthasana, and any seated poses where you are instructed to grab the big toes, such as Paschimottanasana and Upavistha Konasana, are the poses most commonly practiced in every level of yoga classes. We will focus on these today and how to have more effective foot alignment in each. Additionally, we will examine Eka Pada Raja Kapotasana. Here the position of the front foot is often emphasized, with students being cued to flex the foot. However, if the foot is flexed and you are still rolling onto the top of it, you are putting it in the same position as if pulling on the big toe in the previously mentioned poses.

Below are the corrections for these poses. Once you make the changes, they will automatically shift your overall practice. You will experience a new sense of efficiency and effortlessness throughout your time on the mat and a refreshed feeling after your asana session.

Paschimottanasana

Mistake: You pull on the toes to get you closer to the thighs or floor. This results in tension on the big toes and joints, and a rolling in of the arches.

Correction: Keep the legs active with the feet in the same position as they would be in Tadasana. Use the belly muscles to pull you toward the feet. Once you’ve gone as far as you can, begin to reach for the toes through the heart’s center. Do all of this before touching the big toes or feet.

If you normally use a strap, use only the length that allows you to keep the arms straight. By doing this, you can continue to use the whole body instead of using only upper body strength, which will cause you to lose the integration.

If you practice with pointed toes, the alignment stays the same.

Upavistha Konasana

Mistake: You pull on the big toes, thus rolling the arches inward. In extreme cases, the big toes are pulled to the floor. This causes misalignment of the ankle joint, and unsupported length along the outer edge of the foot and leg.

Correction: Sometimes the answer is as simple as backing off from an extreme straddle. Bring the feet closer together. Keep the legs and belly engaged and move the torso forward with intention. If you cannot hold on to the toes or outer edges of the feet and keep the legs and feet in correct engagement, bring the feet closer together, or release the feet for the time being. Bring the awareness to energizing the front of the body more. Keep the feet inline and reach forward through the heart’s center.

Use the same guidelines for pointed feet.

Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana

Mistake: You pull the toe toward the inner line, whether the leg is in front or out to the side. This causes you to lose alignment along the spine (e.g., leaning forward or sideways).

Correction: Particularly in this this pose, if the leg is unable to straighten, I have found that bending the knee and teaching the torso to remain upright while engaging the whole body is more effective in the long run. Keep the knee bent and the foot engaged. This creates a bond between the knee and hand. Keep the front of the body long. The same instructions apply for when you take your foot out to the side.

Regardless of whether you are able to straighten the leg, keep a strong alignment in the leg and foot. It helps to do this by holding on to the outer edge of the foot. (Holding the arch side creates imbalanced feng shui.)

I don’t recommend straps in this pose. Using one typically creates stress in the arm and shoulder, and does not teach the body what you are expecting of it.

Vasisthasana

Mistake: You relax the feet in the version with the feet together, or you pull in the of top foot in the full expression of the pose.

Correction: For the version with feet together, I recommend the same foot alignment you had in Tadasana for this pose. Engaged the legs and flex the feet. It’s easy to flex and have the same thing occur as in Pigeon. Flex them as if you are standing on them. Notice how this redistributes the responsibility of the arm from being your sole support to part of a support system of the whole side body.

In the fuller expression, take a look at the most effective shape you ended up in in Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana. This will be the best shape for you here. The toe or outer edge of the foot can remain inline, otherwise bend the knee. Create the bond between the knee and hand. Give the rest of the body time to learn and consolidate.

Eka Pada Raja Kapotasana

Mistake: Whether your foot is flexed or not, you roll onto the top of the foot (unless in the case of being on top of the shin).

The common cue in a class is: “Flex the foot in order to protect the knee.” There is typically no instruction regarding the orientation of the foot. It’s possible to flex the foot and still have the same imbalanced position described in this article. Notice the position when you flex it and how easily you can still be on the top of the foot. This can be a more extreme version of the imbalance since we are energizing.

Correction: If the foot is any distance at all away from the hip, the position would be flexed and the foot aligned on the outer edge. This needs to be done manually at first. Like any of the above poses, both legs should be active. We are still in a yang examination, not yin.