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Movement and Body Language Begin in the Feet
Sep
The Key to Great Movement is not only about the shoes
The feet and the Legs play a major role. Feet and legs in life, hold a lot of expression. When you walk into a room, how you walk, how you move, says something about you. It’s body language.
Body language first develops in childhood by mimicking the movements of our parents and the people in our environment, later, this may be corrected by sports or dance training. However it is not something that people generally pay attention to.
As a child my Father taught me how to have strong legs, we would walk along the side walk, he would point out different people and we would observe together, how they moved and at which angle the toes pointed, in or out and how it affected their legs, walk, posture and body language. He taught me how to observe my own bodys’ movement and to be conscientious of the way in which i walk, move and position my body.
Later i would train in ballet which helped me to develop strong feet and legs, develop correct posture and eliminate any Valgus or Varus issues in my feet and legs
When I started dancing tango I began to understand that the dancers that were most prolific, were the ones who carried their expression into and throughout their feet. However this applies to all dances, not just Tango dancers need expressive, strong and flexible feet.
Strong, flexible feet provide stability and balance throughout your body, prevent injury and reduce overall pain in your hips, knees and legs which in turn affects your posture and overall mobility on and off the dance floor.
Wearing shoes that are too soft seems to be a good idea because softness = comfort for many people but, those soft soles can damage your feet because they lack proper arch support, stability and shock absorption. Many everyday shoes these days are machine made and much harder to break in. Modern shoes tend to break in your feet rather than your feet breaking in the shoes.
Over time the soft, comfortable shoe sole surface can lead to issues like poor alignment, muscle strain and plantar fasciitis. The reason for this is that your feet have to work harder to compensate for the lack of structure in the shoe.
Changing up your footwear, with different sole types, soft or hard, high heels, low heels, flats and spending time barefoot at home in a park or working out, challenge your feet to adapt to different environments. Feet perceive many things about your environment such as pressure, texture, temperature, and proprioception (The body’s position), allowing them, through a complex network of nerve endings and receptors, to gather information about the surface they are on. Information like Hardness, smoothness or inclination is then sent to the brain for analysis.
Today I want to discuss foot postures that may be resolved with exercises and also myofascial release,. Some things like Plantar Fasciitis can develop from wearing bad shoes, improper weight distribution in the feet or lack of strength training in the feet and glutes, and of course can be corrected through stretching in combination with foot, ankle, hip and glute exercises. Whatever your feet/foot situation is, foot exercises are essential to feel more connected to our movement especially as our feet age.
Below you will find photos along with information that depict each position that might be affecting you and what you might want to consider when examining your own body. I am not a doctor nor am I offering medical advice. This is intended to help you become aware of how you move based on how you are positioning your body now and the information you might need, to move or dance more fluidly through life.
Consulting a doctor or a physical therapist maybe a good choice, especially when considering how to change learned pattern movements in the body. A specialist maybe able to recommend personalized exercises, stretches and massages for your individual needs.
FIGURE A-1
In the illustration depicted in figure A-1
you can see the position
of the feet in valgus,
when the heels angle
out and the ankles angle in.
Figure B-2
illustrates the foots’ position in Varus.
Heels are angled inward and ankles are angled outward.
FIGURE B-2
The soles of your shoes indicate that the inner heel is worn down, this signifies that your arches are collapsing when you step. Use toe spacers, do arch lifts and practice barefoot training/exercising to support your whole kinetic chain.
Figure C-3
This is position is referred to as Abduction
Figure C-3 illustrates that the forefoot points away from the midline of the body
FIGURE C-3
Foot abduction or the turning out of the foot may have some underlying issues that cause this to happen, Orthotics can help to control foot positioning and reduce excessive outward rotation. Physical therapy can help to strengthen the muscles that support and in some cases surgery could be the solution.
FIGURE D-4
This condition is also referred to as duck feet or out-toeing.
To help correct your gait and posture, you may want to consider strengthening and flexibility exercises, orthotics and a conscious effort to walk with feet straight ahead.
External hip rotation stretches, toe spreading and gripping exercises, using resistance bands to strengthen foot and ankle muscles, walking heel to toe. To name a few
The word “torsion” means to twist. When referring to the feet and legs, we are referring to two specific bones. The femur and Tibia. It is common for children to have either tibial torsion or femoral torsion. Otherwise known as internal tibial torsion or external tibial torsion. The term internal or external indicates the direction in which the bone is twisting, toward the midline of the body or away from the midline
Figure E-6
Figure E-6 illustrates external tibial torsion
FIGURE F-7
Figure F-7 illustrates internal tibial torsion
To assess what might be your personal issue, try taking a look at your own shoes, preferably sneakers or a flat shoe, to see where your shoes have the most wear and tear on them.
If one shoe is clearly worn down and the other is normal that is referred to as one sided wear.
This could be an indication of a pelvic tilt. Focus on single leg exercises and core work. Help open up your psoas muscle with a soft ball to regain the pelvic alignment and balance again.
Lastly the soles are worn down
straight through the middle.
This is an indication of zero shock absorption.
Focus on soft tissue work in the calves and arch lifts.
looking at your shoes you might
notice more wear on the outer edges of the shoe.
This indicates that your
foot is rolling outwards.
It could also be an indication of tight hips and weak glutes.
Glute bridges and hip mobility
exercises can help relieve pressure
off your lower back and help correct
your gait for example.
Some of the tools i use to help keep my feet flexible, conditioned and pain free are the calf stretcher and spikey ball. The spikey ball is the most amazing tool. As a ballet dancer i’ve used tennis balls to roll out knots and tight muscles in my feet but, the spikes on the ball take the release to a whole other level. I am an affiliate with amazon, by purchasing these products, I also gain a small commission.
The spikes provide a deep tissue massage to my feet and they come in different sizes and firmness to accommodate sensitive feet or insensitive feet. The one i have has medium firmness but i would like to try one that is smaller and harder so i can really dig into those little spots that hold a lot of tension. This set of balls does not have spikes, however they are small and targeted to alleviate tension in the myofascia of your foot, and ankle. They can also be used on any part of the body not just the feet.
The difference between the balls is one has spikes and the other does not. Why does the ball need to have spikes? you might ask? The ball needs spikes because they trigger a neurological response throughout the body and the feet, by applying focused pressure to stimulate the nerves and mechanoreceptors, your bodie’s nervous system will trigger the release of endorphins that cause a relaxation response. This allows both systemic neurological effects and local pain relief, relieves stress, improves sensory and body awareness.
The calf stretcher helps alleviate tension in the back, hips, knees, calves, ankles and the tibial muscles that connect the tissue of the foot to the calf muscles. Improves blood circulation, reduces pain and prevents injury by increasing flexibility and mobility in lower leg, and can help reduce discomfort in foot, heel and back.Treats chronic conditions, such as: achilles tendonitis, arch pain, shin splints, stiffness and tightness. After using both these tools my feet feel like they can spread out again and feel sensitive and connected to their environment.
To help my tired feet relax in the evening before bed, I use magnesium oil spray on the soles of my feet. Magnesium is a mineral that aids in sleep and relaxation as well as a natural remedy for migraines, fatigue, leg cramps and body aches. The best way to take magnesium is topically, our body consumes it quickly through the skin. That’s why Epsom salt baths are so good for tired muscles because epsom salt is essentially made up of a mineral compound called magnesium sulfate. I use both these products but, not always at the same time.
The spray and the salts can be found with my link.
These elastic bands for foot and ankle mobility exercises, you might have elastic workout bands that come in a pack of different resistances, they are usually a full circle band. These bands are not a circle, instead they are flat resistant bands. The thickness of the band itself is wider than the traditional resistance bands. This way you can utilize the band to help stretch and work the feet and ankles with a bit of resistance by pushing your toes into the center of the band and practicing movements such as pointing and flexing, focusing on mobility and stretching of your feet, ankles, calves and up.
