The Feet in Yoga
In the yoga tradition, the lowly foot has an almost spiritual status. The first phrase of the Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga chant, “I honour the lotus-flower feet of all the gurus”, acknowledges that yoga teachings have stepped down through time on the feet of the learned ones.
This respect for the foot emphasises its importance as the foundation of the temple of the body. Just as the foundation of a temple must be level to support all the structures above, so the feet must be balanced and sturdy to support the legs, spine, arms, and head. If our base is tilted or collapsed, it will be reflected up through the body as distortion or misalignment.
Understanding the mechanics of your feet in yoga and the patterns in your foot health is the first step to establishing a solid foundation in your practice. The foot is our foundation because it meets with the ground which generally doesn’t change, particularly in our yoga practice. So, we build our foundation for yoga on the ground; if the foundation isn’t right everything above has the potential to go awry.
But our feet aren’t just foundations. Unlike the stones that underlie a temple site, our feet are not static. Our bodies are mobile temples, and our feet are required to be flexible and adjustable. At the same time that they must be firm stabilisers the feet are also wheels for the vehicle of the body. Like tyres on a car, when balanced and true, the feet provide a smooth ride, one without disturbance or jarring. But when the foot collapses or distorts, the strain travels up into the hip joints or lower back, and a strong pull or torque may develop, side to side or back to front.
Many people end up standing and walking for a lifetime on feet that have fallen or weakened arches. This is akin to driving on semi-flat tires. Walking on “flat tyre” feet leads to compression in the axle joints (ankles), strain on the drive shaft (the spine), a collapsed and painful posture—and low gas mileage!
The best way to check whether the “tyres” of your body are true and balanced is to check your treads. Look at the soles of your shoes. Does the inside or the outside of your heel wear down? If there is excessive wear on one side, the foot is shifted off its central axis, likely putting strain on the knee, hip, or lower back. When students mention knee or sacroiliac pain, it is often their feet for the origins of the distortion.
The balanced wheel as a metaphor for proper posture and pleasant experience dates back to ancient Sanskrit. In the Yoga Sutra, one of the two qualities Patanjali directs practitioners to develop in asana is sukha. Usually translated as “ease,” the word literally means “good space” and once referred to the hub of a chariot wheel that was perfectly tuned and rolled smoothly. Duhkha (“bad space” and, by extension, “suffering”) is when the wheel hub is lopsided, and the wheel has a hitch each time it turns. In hatha yoga, when the body is light and spacious, there is sukha; when the body is distorted and hurting, there is duhkha. It is important to lift up the arches of their feet, creating inner arches that have “good space” between the bones and the floor. Think of the lift of the arch as a “Pada Bandha” (pada means “foot” in Sanskrit). Although bandha is usually translated as “lock,” it also implies a “binding” or “harness” that can be used to draw energy upward. The lifted arch feels similar to the lift of the pelvic floor in Mula Bandha.
In hatha yoga, standing poses are the primary tools for building this “good space” and stability in the feet, thereby energizing the legs to support proper posture. Standing with equilibrium is the first posture, Whether it’s referred to as Tadasana (Mountain Pose) or Samastithi (Equal Standing), this pose is the foundation for all the postures because the neutral standing position teaches us to be fully upright, connected to the ground yet reaching out and up toward the sky.
The ease of our upright posture is determined mainly by alignment of the feet and, more specifically, by “equal standing” through the inner and outer side of each ankle joint.
It’s a good idea to make your feet your primary focus through a whole yoga practice. Almost every yoga pose engages the feet and reflects their actions up through the body in a slightly different way. The practice of yoga postures can transform our relationship with our feet. Practising barefoot, we develop greater feel for the ground below. As we become more intimate with our feet, they also become stronger and more mobile. When we begin yoga, we have little idea how confined and restrained our feet have been over the years. Distorted feet can have a negative emotional impact on the body. Enhanced poise through the feet leads to a sense of stability and rootedness.
As we free up our feet, we tap into a reservoir of potential energy. It is as if we are standing on wellsprings of life force that have been blocked by years of constrictive footwear, lack of use, and inhibition. We may be required to do a fair amount of “mining,” breaking through the calcified crystals that can form in impacted connective tissues in our feet. But this mining pays off eventually by uncovering sources of energy that can keep us vital and fluid through years of practice.
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