Yoga Exercises For Your Feet
The feet are an incredible, yet sophisticated part of the body. Not only are feet the foundation of the body but also an integral tool of our mobility. In yoga discipline, it is believed that it is important to maintain proper alignment of the feet in order to maintain good foot health as well as to bring about an energetic grounding to the earth.
Yoga poses for the feet help in increasing the muscle tone of the feet and stretching the foot muscles along with the connective tissue.
Building and conserving muscle tone in the feet is believed to increase overall foot health. Inducing tractability and power to the feet, toes and ankles could result in general health and alignment for the body.
According to yoga experts, the body manifests everything we do with the feet, hence if the feet are correctly aligned; the body involuntarily comes into sound alignment.
Specific yoga poses which help in strengthening the lower muscles of the leg will invariably help in improving foot troubles as well as heighten blood circulation, cut down leg cramps, help bring down puffed up ankles, and build stability in the body. Some important yoga poses for the feet include:
The hero pose (Virasana):
The hero pose is considered to be an important yoga pose for good foot health. This particular exercise helps in stretching the top-part of the foot and the ankle while strengthening the foot sole. The hero pose is therapeutically recommended for flat feet and is useful in toning the feet muscles for recreating the arches. The hero pose also, over a given period of time, restores the alignment of the bones of the tarsus by putting pressure on the top-part of the feet and causing the toes to fan out.
The thunder pose (Virasana):
The thunder pose brings about similar benefits as that of the hero pose as it helps in recreating and maintaining healthy arches, while enhancing the flexibility of the ankles and reconstructing the tarsal bone to align.
The cobbler pose (Baddha Konasana):
The cobbler pose is a another excellent exercise for the feet. While in the cobbler pose, squeezing the four areas of the feet together and pulling back the toes away from each other tones up the feet muscles and energizes the arches.
The Downward Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana):
The Downward Facing Dog is a great yoga pose for the feet. As the arches lift, in this pose, the feet muscles are constantly working while the soles of the feet get stretched. By protracting the muscles on the under-surface of the foot and the fascia, the downward elongation of the heel to the floor tends to build up over time.
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