This last fundamental is my favorite, which is why I saved the best for last. I hope you can see in my video that it is important to be aware of your feet. When you watch the video, pay attention to the examples that I give and ask yourself if you have any bad habits with your feet you want to address. Start paying attention to your weight distribution when you stand, look at the soles of your tennis shoes or flip-flops for uneven wear and tear and see if you walk with your toes in, out or straight ahead of you.
The feet can tell you a lot about your hips knees and back. By paying close attention to how you walk you will learn how to reduce pain in the rest of the body. We cannot force our body to move in a way it structurally does not want to, but we can bring an awareness of our structure to our feet so the feet can bring balance and ease to the rest of the body.
For years I had so much hip pain near my groin that when I stood, I lifted the inside of my foot off the ground. It took some pressure off my hip, but I also noticed that when I did separate leg-stretching poses in yoga, I lifted it as well. By lifting up my foot, I did not get the chance to stretch and strengthen the inside of my leg. Once I became aware and pressed the inside of my foot down, I had less pain, more strength and better connection. I hope you discover how your feet can help with back, hip or knee pain too by using this post and my 5 Fundamentals video series.
As always, feel free to send me your story or tell me how the 5 fundamentals have helped you at val@yogival.com