Treat Your Sole!

When it comes to feeling sore and tired all over, you can bet that your feet have a lot of sway! By paying a little attention to your feet, you can promote relaxation and wellness! 

How about a little yoga that deals with foot positioning and lower body strengthening? Try these exercises below to rejuvenate your entire body!

Virasana
Hero Pose
What does it do? Stretches thighs and ankles, improves posture 
How do I do it?

• Start on the floor in a kneeling position
• Keep your knees together as you separate your feet, so that you are not sitting on your feet but in between them
  
• Make sure your feet are facing straight behind you and are not turning inward or outward.
• Be careful not to strain your knees!
• Fine-tune your pose: Gaze at tip of your nose, keep your back straight, place your hands on your lap or thighs, keep your abs tight and remember to take deep breaths! 

Adho Mukha Svanasana
Downward Facing Dog Pose
What does it do? Stretches the entire body and with practice, you can stretch/strengthen your Achilles tendon. 
How do I do it? 

• Come to your hands and knees with the wrists underneath the shoulders and the knees underneath the hips.
  
• Curl the toes under and push back raising the hips and straightening the legs.
  
• Spread the fingers and ground down from the forearms into the fingertips.
• Outwardly rotate the upper arms broadening the collarbones.
• Let the head hang, move the shoulder blades away from the ears towards the hips.
• Engage the quadriceps strongly to take the weight off the arms, making this a resting pose.
•  Rotate the thighs inward, keep the tail high and sink your heels towards the floor.
• Check that the distance between your hands and feet is correct by coming forward to plank position. The distance between the hands and feet should be the same in these two poses. Do NOT step the feet toward the hands in Down Dog in order the get heels to the floor. This will happen eventually as the muscles lengthen!
• Fine-tune your pose: Keep your fingers pointed forward, look towards your navel, point your tailbone straight up, place your feet wide apart, press your heels to the floor and breathe deeply! 

Baddha Konsana
Cobbler Pose
What does it do? Helps relieve pain due to sciatica, improves lower body flexibility. 
How do I do it?

• Bend your knees and bring the soles of your feet together. Make sure to let your knees fall out to either side.
• Draw your feet in as close to your body as is comfortable for you. If you feel pain in your knees, ease it off. 
• Press the outer edges of your feet together strongly
• Fine-tune your pose: Keep your head, neck and back straight and focus on your breathing. 

If you decide a massage is more your style, follow these effective massage tips to ensure you pamper your feet and achieve total-body relaxation! 

1. Cleanse your feet using warm water and an aromatic, non-drying soap.
2. Apply oil or cream-based moisturizer to your feet using thumbs and fingers with light-to-medium stroking movement
3. Using your thumbs, start making small, circular motions at the ball of your foot and proceed down and across the entire foot. 
4. Increase the pressure exerted by your thumbs to make long, deep strokes along the arches of the foot ending in the direction of your toes. 
   
5. Next, focus on your toes by gently squeezing, rotating and pulling each toe.
6. Finally, cup your foot between both hands and gently squeeze up and down the length of each foot. 

Yoga and massage, like exercise, helps to stimulate blood circulation. Do these movements in front of the T.V. or take a 5-minute break from work to pause and stretch. The human body is meant to move, so move it! By toning and strengthening your muscles, you are taking active steps in managing your health! If you have any questions on how to do these exercises, post them on the blog or come into the office for an appointment! Call Dr. Krishnan at Beverly Hills Foot and Ankle, P.A. today!

1: Hero Pose 2: Downward Facing Dog Pose 3: Cobbler Pose