How to get springy feet?

I hope you are enjoying March so far, especially as Spring finally seems to be upon us. As it gets a little warmer and lighter, hopefully this helps to put more of a spring in your step both emotionally and physically.

With this in mind, I thought I'd focus this month's email on the most used and yet frequently ignored part of our bodies....feet!

HAPPY FEET

We expect our feet to get us where we want to go every day of our lives. The arches of our feet are designed to provide us with flexibility, help absorb shock, distribute the weight of the body, and help us adapt to surface changes when walking, running or climbing.

These days many of us are flat-footed and so we don’t use the muscles under the arches properly - the muscles specifically intended to put a spring in your step.

And if the muscles of the feet aren’t working properly to hold the bones of the feet and ankles in correct alignment, it’s a good bet that nothing stacked above the feet is aligned correctly either. This means the right muscles aren’t working when walking, standing, sitting, or exercising. We are then placing added stress on every joint.

So it's especially important that we learn to take better care of our feet.

HOW TO GET SPRINGY FEET?

Here is a short video with a few exercises that you could do everyday to help stretch and strengthen your feet. Let me know how you feel and if you have more spring in your step after practicing these exercises.

All you need is either a tennis ball or massage ball, and a chair.

I hope you found this video useful. If you’re looking for more in-depth exercises for your feet then you can sign up to the Happy Body Pilates video club (monthly or annually) and check out the 1-hour intensive video on feet.