Love your feet

... to improve your balance.

Egyptian, Greek or Roman... Normal, hollow or flat... Whatever their shape, your feet are quite complex. Did you know that there are 8000 nerves in the feet, and 250,000 sweat glands that produce up to ... half a pint of sweat a day.

More importantly: 52 of the 206 bones in the human body are found in our feet (26 in each foot)? In addition to these 26 bones, each foot also has 33 joints and over 100 muscles, ligaments, and tendons.

Unfortunately, we tend to ignore our feet. We put them in nice shoes and off we go. In an average day of walking, our feet experience forces totalling hundreds of tons!

The more rigid our feet, the harder it is to balance

Given the complexity of our feet, it's not surprising that stiffness in this area of the body influences our balance. As my yoga students know - because I keep repeating it - the more rigid our feet, the harder it is to balance. We need to keep the joints mobile and the muscles in the feet strong and supple. But toes are also key, especially the big toes (for shock absorption and propulsion).

Here is a I recorded for Overcoming MS.

Whether you live with MS or not, looking after your feet will make you feel better, more balanced and will improve your gait. I hope you’ll incorporate some of these exercises in your daily routine. Let me know how it goes!

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See you on the mat.