Let’s Play Footsie: How to Flirt with Your Feet
As an advocate of exercising barefoot indoors, or wearing a minimalist shoe when outside, I’ve experienced that when the foot can spread and react to movement, and have better contact with the ground, there’s greater proprioception and overall foot health. And for anyone who’s active it’s another chance to improve balance and motor skills.
Your feet are your connection to the Earth. And as a base, feet support your knees, your hips and all that is above. Unless you must take extra care not to injure your feet on the job, or you must wear shoes due to a health condition, consider stepping out and playing around with some barefoot sessions.
To ease the transition out of shoes, below are two of my favorite ways to flirt with the feet. Performed often and over time, these simple but profound exercises may improve the health of not only your feet but the entire line of fascia that extends from the foot upward and over your head. These moves are easy to do at home, and I recommend trying them before your next walk or workout at the gym.
- Massage for the ankle and foot: Sit comfortably and prop your right foot on your left thigh. Wrap both of your hands around your right ankle, then slowly move your hands in a circular back-and-forth pattern, as if you’re opening and closing the lid of a jar. While you’re circling your ankle like this, gently press your fingers and thumbs into the skin. Continue for about 30 seconds. Next, glide your thumbs and fingertips downward from the ankle toward the foot, going all around the ankle. These massages are specifically good for the connective tissue—the retinaculum—that wraps the ankle and helps bind tendons. Once complete, stand up and check-in with how the right foot feels. Is it more enlivened, more spacious? Sit down and spend time massaging your left ankle.
- Release technique for the fascia along the bottom of the foot: You’ll need a tennis ball or a golf ball, or a small spike-like massage ball. To begin, place the sole of your right foot on the spiky ball and apply a little pressure. You should feel this, but at the same time try to relax your foot over the ball, allowing your foot to drape. Hold this pressure for about 30 seconds. Next, take the spiky ball and place it under the ball area of the big toe, then gently press down—this may be a little uncomfortable but as you practice the foot will respond by becoming less “touchy” or sensitive. Now, move your foot over the spiky ball pulling it across and toward the little toe. Don’t roll the toes because you want to stay on the ball-area of the foot. Trace the spiky ball along the outside edge of the foot, then roll over the heel and draw the spiky ball up the inside edge of the foot. Notice you’re moving in a triangular pattern. This release technique enlivens the fascia that runs along the sole of the foot. Once done, try roll the left foot.
Barefoot exercising, or the change out of tight shoes to less-constricting ones, offers the foot lots of room to spread and react. Massaging enhances blood flow, introduces hydration, and improves sensation. Even going barefoot each night before bed offers the foot more freedom. Transitioning out of shoes may be a little scary to some. If it’s something you’re open to trying, these two easy techniques give the soft tissue more vitality thereby enhancing the foot’s well-being.
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