Hello Feet
Years ago I took a functional anatomy course that provided a fascinating look at the inside of the human body. Here’s what I learned about the feet, from my 2011 blog post: One of the instructors, Dr Laitman, described the practice of wearing high heels as “idiotic, moronic, cruel” and then explained that the foot “has been totally modified from the feet of our primate relatives.” He further noted that our feet have four extremely important functions: bear our weight, build our posture, provide ambulation and permit us to run to safety. (You can read more about the evolution of the human foot here in my final post from the course.)
Take a moment or two to look at your bare feet.
When standing notice how your toes situate themselves. Seated, use your fingers to gently palpate (touch) the top and bottom of each foot, noticing how the bones are settled.
Did you know your feet have one quarter of all the body’s bones, with 26 bones in each foot plus over 33 joints and over 100 muscles, tendons (attach muscle to bone) and ligaments (hold bones together). The screen shot below, from the Pocket Anatomy App, provides a view of all 26 bones.
Did you happen to notice which bone is the largest? We will revisit that in a bit. Meanwhile, while your feet are still barefoot, stand each foot on a piece of paper and trace the outlines. Next, position a pair of shoes you wear atop each outline and in another color ink outline each shoe. Compare the outlines. What do you notice? If you’re curious, trace outlines of other types of shoes and see what emerges from the comparisons.
STANDING barefoot, find your natural stance. Where do you notice the support in your feet? Keep that in mind as you find your standing Mountain pose ~ feet parallel about hip width apart, toes spread wide, knees over ankles, hips over knees, shoulders over hips, ears over shoulders, crown of head shining skyward, gaze forward. Take a breath and bring your attention back to your feet. Once again, where do you notice the support of your body weight? Is there support through the heels? If not, explore making small changes in your stance so the bulk of the weight moves off the front of the foot and into the heels. How does that change your sense of stability and support?
The heel bone (calcaneus) is the largest bone in the foot. It’s design is well suited to supporting weight when standing. This is why you will hear the cue to bring your weight into the forward part of the heel, as in most instances this promotes stability.
Katy Bowman is an author I have recently discovered. As a biomechanist (one who studies movement in living organisms) she has devoted her studies to understanding and explaining human movement, and with that knowledge seeks to improve movement, hence the name of her site, Nutritious Movement. Her books Move Your DNA and Dynamic Aging are part of the inspiration for this post.