Feet and the truth

I had a woman come up to me this week who said, "I doubt you can help me with this but I thought I'd ask you....everytime I walk my calf muscles get so sore!  I've been to the doctor and physio and nothing is helping me."
I asked how old her shoes were - explaining that even a shoe that is 6 months old can be so worn on the interior they need replacing. (As I looked down at my own and realized that yeah I need new shoes too!)
She continued, "It doesn't matter what kind of shoes I have on they all hurt!"
Ok...
I had her stand infront of me and noticed her arches are starting to fall.
So I asked her if she's ever looked at the wear pattern at the bottom of her shoes?
Your shoes won't lie to you!
Sure enough the wear pattern showed she is pronating on her feet (falling in toward the midline)... the big toe sides of her shoes were really worn while the outside edges hardly had any wear.
 She said, "I can't believe I don't walk properly on my feet! How do I change it?"
Ah... awareness.  I shared that I used to be a stomach sleeper and had to teach myself how to sleep on my side or on my back.  I did it, but it took awhile to reprogram. 
Walking is the same.  You have to teach yourself how to use your feet properly again.  And being it's taken years of being unaware that you are doing so, it will take some time to correct.
I thought it was worth mentioning on this blog.  If you are having some struggles without explanation with the feet, ankles, knees or hips check your shoes!  They won't lie.
Namaste,
Tammy

PS.  I might just get the worst colouring books on the planet award!  LOL... even with the negative comments I've received on some of my books, I still believe in them.  That's the thing with art... you love it or hate it.  And I think they are great!  Check it out and go buy one!

How to Open your Feet

You know it's funny so many people have been talking to me about how their feet are feeling tender this time of year.  I'd guess it has to do with stuffing our tootsies into winter boots which for most do not have the support a running shoe or walking shoe would provide.

One of my students asked what she could do?

There are so many things to help relieve tender feet, but one for me includes using those little pedicure toe separators.

You can even paint the toenails if you care too!  LOL

Put these...

source: http://hawley.net.au/store/images/P/4020.jpg

between your toes and leave them there for 10-15 mins a day.

The first few minutes won't feel too bad, but after 15 your foot will feel so open, so free and maybe a little tender (that will pass you can soak them or simply leave the separators in for a lesser amount of time).

Keep it going and your toes will be sandal ready for the Spring thaw!!!  Hubby and I are convinced by -1 we'll all feel like walking around in shorts after this Ontario February!


PS.  Did you know the Egyptians naturally had space between their toes?  I went to an exhibit in Toronto on shoes several years back and was surprised to see naturally we had space between the toes!  Then over time our shoes made our toes sneak closer together.  Then again, don't even get me started on Chinese foot binding... eeekkk

... free those tootsies folks!

PPS.  You can buy expensive products to do the same thing or jet over to the dollar store and pick up a cheaper product like the one above!