Let’s talk about feet.
When was the last time you thought about your feet? Like really thought about them. How they feel. What they do. The difference between your foot and your toes. Do you stand more on your toes or your heels? Do your toes grip when you walk? I bet you think about your shoes more than your feet. What about what your shoes are doing for your feet?
Your feet are your connection to the ground and how they react to the world you are walking on is interpreted through your whole body.
Let’s start with the most obvious statement…your toes and feet are different. Your toes should move separately from your feet and separately from each other. The anatomy of our feet and hands is very similar, therefore our feet should move like our hands. But, they don’t. How come? Well, first of all, because if you have functional hands, you have no reason to use your feet to pick things up or write our grocery list. But, for the sake of this article, it’s because we strap our feet down into shoes with not enough room, too much of a heel (yes, even most flats have a heel), too stiff of a sole, or they don’t stay attached to our feet (yes, I’m talking to you with the cute mules or the flip flops) and we have to grip our toes to keep our shoes on.
Feet are complicated and they are one of the most important parts of our body for health, and functional mobility. There are 26 bones in each foot and 33 joints. Yes, that many!
Here are some important changes you can start to make right now to help influence the health of your feet and improve your mobility.
Understand the difference between your feet and your toes. Yes, they are separate things. You should be able to move your toes separately from your foot. Wiggle them, spread them, and lift them. Lift them not just as a unit, but lift all of them individually. Yes, you read that correctly. You should be able to lift each little (and big) toe on its own. Start with just lifting your toes as a unit and spreading them apart. Then can you separate your big toe from all your little toes? Then can you lift all your little toes together and leave your big toe on the ground? Work toward lifting all your toes independently, and start now! It will take a while. To passively work on toe mobility you can get toe socks or toe spacers and wear them around the house.
You need to mobilize your feet. The bones and tissue in your feet need to be pushed around by uneven surfaces. The easiest way to do this at home is to get a tennis ball or something of similar size and then progressively get smaller. Massage the bottom of your feet. The whole foot; the arch, the edges, the heel, the ball of your foot, all of it. Step on the ball, roll it around, move it from toes to heel and then from the medial border (inside) to lateral border (outside) and back. If you want something more advanced, you can get or make a cobblestone mat and place it on the floor at your desk, sink, or any other place you stand often so you can get work done on your feet while you're getting other work done. This creates even more pushing around of your tissues and provides your feet with stimulation that’s not flat. Another easy way to mobilize your feet is to go for a walk outside on a trail, the grass between the sidewalk and the street, walk through a playground with gravel or woodchips, or find another uneven surfaces to mix into your day.
Change the position of your feet. Our feet are meant to point straight forward, but if you march in place a few times and then look down at your feet, I bet they are toed out. Maybe a lot, maybe a little. To work on improving your alignment, find a straight line on the floor and put your pinky toe and heel along the same line. Are your knees facing each other? Roll them out so they are over your third and fourth toe. Did your big toes come off the ground? Keep working on item 2 above.
Stop putting your feet in shoes as often as you can. Walk around in bare feet or socks (with grippers for safety) at home. Wear slippers without a stiff bottom and that have a wide toe box. The more often you can let your feet splay and feel the ground they are walking on the better, even if it is flat.
If you want help working on mobilizing your feet, a more specialized program, or have questions, please reach out via our website, email, or instagram.
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