When balancing on one leg, it’s obvious that the foot you are standing on is doing a lot of work. You can feel your ankle muscles twitching and your toes gripping and pushing into the floor as you wobble. But did you know that the foot in the air is just as important?
Say what?!
That’s right, the foot in the air shouldn’t be flopping around either. When you tighten the muscles in your foot and ankle, that helps tighten muscles in the knee and subsequently hip. This is partly due to fascial tissue connections (ligament and tendons) and muscles that work in multiple joints.
So how do you keep that foot from flopping?
Well an easy option is to flex the foot (known as dorsiflexion) when the foot and toes come towards you. But you can use even more muscles if you point (plantarflex) your foot and extend your toes. Clear as mud? Try this (and see my foot in the photo):
- Sit on a chair (we’ll leave balancing for next week).
- Lift your left foot in the air. Flex your foot and toes towards you. Then press through the ball of your left foot forward (not the toes) so that your ankle is ‘pointed’ but not your toes.
- Extra challenge: pull the outside edge of your left foot towards the outside of your left knee.
- Feel the muscles in your foot, ankle, calf and shin?
A fellow yoga teacher once described this as Barbie feet (Barbie’s feet are permanently stuck in the position of standing in high heels). So if you find this movement hard to find in your feet, try it standing, without the heels…start with your toes straight ahead, lift your heels, and then press your weight in to the ball of your foot.
