Now that you know how to stand tall with yoga, it' s time to strengthen that pose from the bottom up. When (fitness) people talk about foundation, they are usually referring to your core, or the trunk of your body. The foundation I' m talking about starts with your feet.
Go ahead and take your shoes off. Wiggle your toes around on the floor. Stand how you normally do. Is your weight evenly distributed across your feet? Imagine that you have four little suction cups on each foot. One under your big toe, one under your little toe, and ones on your inner and outer heel. See your weight resting comfortably on and into the areas where those suction cups are. It might feel a little funny at first. Many new things do when we start to pay attention to our experience in different ways.
Once you have the support of your feet, correctly doing their job, you no longer have to unconsciously force the other areas of your body to make up for what had been missing down below. The knee can unlock. The tight hip can relax. The knotted shoulder can let go. It' s a domino effect. When one part of your body is in or out of balance, it affects all the other parts connected to it.
Those body issues you complain about? It' s a form of overcompensation. It' s funny, sometimes sad, and always an opportunity when I hear people lament about their physical state as if their body was their enemy, out to get them, as if they (the bobbling head on top) had nothing to do with why something was out of whack. It' s much more liberating to own up to the choices that got you in the mess to begin with rather than think you don' t have a choice at all. You do. Start with your feet!
Now that you know how to stand tall with yoga, it' s time to strengthen that pose from the bottom up. When (fitness) people talk about foundation, they are usually referring to your core, or the trunk of your body. The foundation I' m talking about starts with your feet.
Go ahead and take your shoes off. Wiggle your toes around on the floor. Stand how you normally do. Is your weight evenly distributed across your feet? Imagine that you have four little suction cups on each foot. One under your big toe, one under your little toe, and ones on your inner and outer heel. See your weight resting comfortably on and into the areas where those suction cups are. It might feel a little funny at first. Many new things do when we start to pay attention to our experience in different ways.
Once you have the support of your feet, correctly doing their job, you no longer have to unconsciously force the other areas of your body to make up for what had been missing down below. The knee can unlock. The tight hip can relax. The knotted shoulder can let go. It' s a domino effect. When one part of your body is in or out of balance, it affects all the other parts connected to it.
Those body issues you complain about? It' s a form of overcompensation. It' s funny, sometimes sad, and always an opportunity when I hear people lament about their physical state as if their body was their enemy, out to get them, as if they (the bobbling head on top) had nothing to do with why something was out of whack. It' s much more liberating to own up to the choices that got you in the mess to begin with rather than think you don' t have a choice at all. You do. Start with your feet!