A REAL TREAT FOR YOUR FEET, THAT MIGHT FIX YOUR KNEE AND HIP PAIN.
There is a general rule about the pain - the problem is not usually where it hurts.
Sometimes it´s the muscular imbalance of different sides of the body and sometimes one leg is stronger than the other, without knowing about it.
Our legs carry us around, from the moment we start to walk and the way we use them in the movement has a huge impact on our performance and wellbeing.
The truth is that as soon as we start to take the first steps, we usually don´t pay much attention to the feet and legs.
What is also interesting is that we are molded into a general pattern of walking at a very early stage, while we are using the body intuitively.
Just observe babies trying to take those first steps - they keep the weight on the front foot, usually with the heels up, knees slightly bent and glutes doing their job.
When you look at the design of the foot, it is wider on the front side, there are more muscles and it's more spongy which means it's ready to support the weight and soften the impact on the joints.
We cannot say the same about the heels, but for some reason when babies are walking on tiptoes, parents are teaching them to bring the heel down first. Once this habit is created, we don´t pay attention to what's going on and how it impacts the whole body.
Another problem we have nowadays is too much sitting.
Human body wasn´t designed for sitting position and what happens is that legs are getting weaker, hamstrings shorter pulling the pelvis down, eliminating the low back curve and switching off the glutes from working.
As a result, we overcompensate with low back muscles and the front thighs.
Uneven tone on all sides of the legs is also creating knee and hip pain and starting a series of muscular tension in other areas of the body, because everything is connected through the fascia.
Now, if you are thinking, well I go to the gym and there are machines for all the muscle groups, by using them I´ll be fine. 🤷🏼♀️
Not really, because every machine is designed to focus on an isolated muscle group without having in mind the impact on other groups.
And let´s be honest - your PT will try to challenge you by putting extra weight according to where you are. Let´s say you can work on your front thighs with 15kg and back thighs with 10kg. Adding extra kg to both sides, you are still enhancing your imbalance. But it´s even more complicated…🤦🏼♀️
Nobody knows what amount of weight is necessary for each muscle to create muscular balance, because they are all different in size and function.
And therefore we end up working mainly on the muscles we can see in the mirror, because visible change is motivating.
But don´t get me wrong, I´m not saying weight lifting is bad for you. I believe it´s great especially if it´s your thing, but only when you know what you´re doing.
There were periods of time when I was going to the gym a few times per week. I went on and off the routine and it´s because I´m an outdoor person and I found it too repetitive, so basically I got bored. Sometimes I was training on my own and sometimes with a personal trainer. But I was the one who was questioning everything and having discussions. When they told me to push through the heels (because that´s the common instruction you can hear from everyone while doing squats), I was asking why - there are many more muscles in my toes and front foot that can participate and make me stronger than on the heels. Or tuck your tailbone in and engage your abs - this position switches off the glutes which are the biggest muscles on the human body, so it doesn´t make any sense not to use them if they are designed to do the most work…
So as you can see, having a knowledge about the design increases the functionality and makes the usage of your body more effective.
But also, bringing your body back to balance respecting its natural design is therapeutic and I´ve seen many people experiencing pain relief by utilizing just a few principles based on Bowspring method.
In Bowspring method, the legs are referred to as roots. Roots are one of the 5 sub-systems of the body and include the feet, legs and hips.
Their main function is to propulsive power to the core of the body, to carry you to the places. But they also provide the quality of grounding, which is basically a discharge of the excess of electro-magnetic energy in the body through the legs down to the toes and soles of the feet, which calms down the nervous system. I bet not many people think about this function of their legs, but I would say especially nowadays when we live surrounded by electro-magnetic fields I guess it´s pretty important.
But this natural energetic discharge only works with balanced alignment that needs to be recovered.
When we become anxious and fearful, the front of the feet tighten and the toes lift up, the knees lock back and the tail tucks under.
The fascia on the front body contracts and shortens when the sympathetic nervous system is activated - which is the famous fight-or-flight mode.
This is an instinct and there´s nothing wrong about it in specific situations. But it becomes a problem if it is a constant postural template.
The tension in the front side pushes the knees back and creates hyperextension and eventually cartilage damage. As the knees are pushing back, the hips move forward - which puts stress on the hip joint and the joint capsule. Over the time you might start to experience discomfort and pain in some or both of these areas.
So, to alleviate the tension from the legs, we need to start literally from the ground - the feet.
What is fascinating for me is that the moment we release the tension from the feet, it affects the wellbeing of the legs, apart from feeling really great.
And this is how you can do it these 3 steps or the video below.
Hold your heel with one hand and the toes with the other and start to bend the toes toward the heel, stretching the top of the foot even more. Notice where you feel the stretch and also notice the warmth of circulation that is starting to activate.
Bring your thumbs to the middle of your mound and start to bend the sides of your foot inwards. With your fingers you can even massage the top of your foot from the midline to the sides.
The last step is the toes - with your fingers hold each joint of the toes and start to bend and gently stretch inwards.
When you´re done, place both feet on the ground and just take a moment to observe the foot you´ve been stretching. Is it softer, more relaxed and the toes are naturally touching the floor?
Do you feel that the whole leg is more relaxed?
Repeat this “foot massage“ as often as you can. You might realize over time that maybe your bad knee is getting better or that the hip pain you felt has disappeared.
One more thing… The video is a part of my LIVE weekly sessions inside the free Holistic Pain Relief FB Group and this one was one of the most popular. So if you want to improve your postural habits and experience improvements in your performance and wellbeing, join the group.
Can´t wait to meet you there.💙