Every few months articles are written about the shoes we choose to wear. A young model comes out with her new style heel, and gets lots of press, or an older gal writes about the harmful effects of stilettos and all the women over 50 who can no longer wear high heels chime in, in agreement, or another shoe company is promoting their newest shoe promising to improve your feet with all the science they can find to promote it, even if it makes no sense anatomically. It seems to always be about the shoe. Why is there very little written about the feet that can help people be proactive in taking care of their own feet?
The marketing of shoes is big business. Promising that the latest shoe by each company is designed to help people who pronate or have bunions, or a heel that is actually easy to wear, or the perfect shoe to cure and prevent plantar fasciitis, is what sells. When you actually research how to care for your own feet there is very little practical information that really works that you can take an active role in and actually improve your feet. When you finally wind up diagnosed with one of the common foot problems, your doctor will recommend, orthotics, injections, night boots for plantar fasciitis, and finally surgeries. When you search the internet with your new diagnosis, you also will find very little self help information that is informative and allows you to understand what is going on in your feet and what YOU can do to correct this.
What I always tell people who are suffering from a foot problem is that they did this to themselves. If they have done this to themselves, then they can also undo this!
How do we actually break down our feet?
Our feet do not come with instructions. They develop through weight bearing once a child begins to walk. Children mirror the people who are closest to them and so as adults the more you learn to use your feet correctly, the better your children’s feet will develop. You will have a keen understanding so if there does seem to be a problem, you can actively work to correct it.
If you repetitively walk in the same way weight bearing in only one to two points in your feet, your feet will eventually break down. Your feet are made to transfer weight equally from the heel, to the outside of the foot across the ball of the foot and toes from the little toe to the big toe. If you use your feet like this, you will not be continuously breaking down your feet in the same points. Evenly distributing your weight in your feet corrects most foot problems. So why is this not taught? Take a minute and try my walking test:
People think about the gym, and the variety of fitness and wellness studios as the places to go to keep their bodies healthy. In hardly any of these places do they start you with building a strong foundation in your feet. They might have foot exercises, but they do not teach you the fundamental education that can help you rebuild a strong healthy foundation. When you find a place with foot exercises, they do not teach you what the feet need in order to not break down. There is a disconnect in the mind and body. The body does the exercises that it is told to do. The mind usually disconnects from the action. It has not been taught and included in how to transform the feet so they actually improve and function better. Again, there is repetitive movement in the foot exercises without the mind guiding the feet correctly. This eventually has to end up in a repetitive stress breakdown.
We live in a world where people can search for any kind of information possible on the internet. When it comes to the feet, sadly, though there is a lot written, very little is practical, easy to understand and to do yourself. A common sense approach to foot care, maintenance, and prevention is still not common knowledge and available to everyone easily.
So…. the next time you read an article about how bad stilettos are for you, or how flats are healthier, or a new shoe that promises to heal foot problems, remember that you can learn to take care of your own feet and stop any breakdowns or bad patterns from developing down the road . This also means you can stop blaming shoes and become pro-active in your foot care. This also means that you can probably wear many different style shoes and not develop pain and problems because you know how to care for your feet yourself! A pro-active approach to your feet will also help you prevent so many other structural problems from occurring in the joints above. Your feet are key to anti-aging!
To learn more about Yamuna® Foot Fitness please visit www.yamunausa.com
Yamuna Zake is a visionary: Master teacher & healer who has dedicated her life to understanding how the body works and helping others to create positive change in their bodies.
