A Flow For The Toes

How many nice things have you done for your feet lately? We are enticing you to do a few flows for your toes the next time you take to the mat. Foot flows are often ignored because we just tend to forget about our feet. 

Yoga practice teaches us to pay attention to our feet by building on the understanding that so much depends on the foundation of our poses, many of which begin with the feet. Without good awareness in our feet, even headstand and handstand would falter. Still, with this wisdom, we too often overlook our feet.

Take to your mat and begin with a few of the flows we have listed below.

Tadasana: Take a moment to appreciate this pose which we do so often that we rush right through it. Stand with your feet about hip width apart, balanced across the breadth and depth of each of your feet. Spread your toes and create space between each toe. Feel the expanse across the balls of your feet. Press your weight into your heels, the outer edges of your feet, and the balls of your feet equally. Try lifting you toes, one at a time. Feel the space and lightness under your arches. Take five breaths in this position with your focus entirely on your feet.

Stand Tall on the on the balls of your feet: Stand in tadasana. Gently rock back towards your heels and forward towards your toes with weight transferring between the balls of your feet and toes,  and your heels. Keep both feet on the floor. Don’t let either end of your feet come off the floor. After shifting back and forth for a few breaths, bring your weight forward and come up onto the balls of your feet for as long as you comfortably can. Then drop down and shift towards your heels. Repeat this for several rounds balancing high on the balls of your feet.

Ankle Twist: Stand in tadasana. Slowly come up and balance on the balls of your feet. Once you are steady, begin to twist to your left, then return to center. If you need to come down flat on your feet between sides, then do. Next while on the balls of your feet, twist to your right. Drop your heels between rounds, then repeat for a round or two balancing and breathing for several breaths.

Balancing Ankle Rotations: Stand in tadasana. Extend your right foot out in front of you raised a few inches off the floor. Begin by pointing the toes of your right foot as you steady yourself on your left leg. Point your toes, then flex your foot, extending through your heel. Repeat for five to ten rounds--  pointing and flexing. You can place your hands on your hips to help steady yourself in this balance. Then change sides and repeat. 

When you complete these movements, raise your right leg again, this time rotating your ankle for five circles in one direction, then five in the other. Change sides and repeat the ankle rotations. 

Seated Scrunch: From tadasana, release your spine by rolling down one vertebrae at a time into uttanasana—hanging forward fold. Then lower your hip and bring your buttock to the floor and come into a seated position. Extend your legs straight out in front of you on the floor. Tense both feet, scrunching your toes, then release and relax your feet. Repeat several times. You can support yourself with your hands gently pressing on the floor by your sides if needed. Also, elevate your hips on a blanket if this makes sitting more comfortable for you.

Sitting Ankle Rotations and Tension Release: Sitting with your legs stretched out in front of you, cross your right leg over your left with your ankle just above and slightly past your left knee. Rotate your right ankle five times in one direction, then five in the opposite direction. Repeat on the opposite side. When you have completed both sides, use your hands and press your toes forward and then squeeze and press your feet from the balls of your feet to your heels massaging your foot. Repeat on the other side.