So first up, I really would love to know: Do you like the new website? You know! The whole online thing desperately needed an upgrade to bring us out of the dark ages. But none of that ever comes without hiccups.

We put the new-look website up there. It looked great (so we thought). But dang. I hated it. It got me thinking: What are good looks without functionality? I was OH SO FRUSTRATED that the forum didn’t flow any more. Too much white space. I felt a little lost. The connection between posts was gone … Nobody wants a great looking cover on a crappy book.

Anyway, it’s fixed. It’s now looking heaps better. And it is MUCH easier to use. I hope you tell me what you think. It’s looking great and everything’s in perfect working order… If it’s not, you’ll tell me, right? I am sure that we can do even more to improve it.

Halleluia! Still the same brilliant content! (haha!)

Can the feet really be so critical to a yoga pose? … And your life? Jeepers!

So, your feet. More often than not, people do yoga and have little attention on the weight in the feet. There are so many nuances that have an absolutely frickin enormous impact on your body. Yep. I prolly got your attention there. I don’t have fake-swear in my newsletters! 😉

Here’s what normally happens. You are told to stand with toes and heels together and occasionally you are told to put your weight in your heels in say, a backbend or in half moon. And that my fine yogi friend is about it. Sure the odd instruction to lift the toes or whatever. There are a few distinctions I would like to add to the mix in this post.

You should already know, if you’ve been following my work, read my book (www.HotYogaMasterClass.com) or spent some time at my free forum (on this website www.HotYogaDoctor.com/hotyogaforum) that I strongly believe that ‘toes and heels together’ is not a good standard. It doesn’t fit everyone’s feet. It actually causes problems for many with hip and spine alignment, and believe it or not, your balance. I can pretty much guarantee that if you set your feet up correctly then your practice will improve dramatically.

For the skinny on the regular stuff about feet, go to the home page. There’s a carousel there that cycles through some of my videos (some ancient HotYogaDoctor history. Man, are those videos ageing!). Choose the one called “Great Posture from the Ground Up”.

To add foundation to this fine body of work (a little punny today) there are some interesting very fine distinctions.

Your foot is so complex that there are many places on the sole where you can place the pressure. This happens when you’re walking and when you’re standing still.

Did you know for example that pigeon-toed people lead by placing the weight on the inside surface of their feet when they place each foot down? If you teach those thus afflicted 😉 to transfer the weight to the outside when moving the weight from heel to toes when walking that most problems can be eliminated with practice.

Of course there is more to walking than that. When you actually push off from your back foot (after you have propelled your body forward) the most efficient and physiologically correct place to do that is from the ball of your foot (underneath your big toe). Pigeon-toed people land on the big toe and push off from there. People who walk to support their physiology better, cycle their weight firstly from the heel, around the outside of the foot to end up pushing off from that big toe base.

What the heck does that have to do with yoga?

Well a lot actually. It’s in understanding that weighting the feet differently can affect the reflexes that are used in healthy movement, walking and bodily function that you realise that you can choose to weight feet better to improve function.

I will continue this conversation in another blog post soon(ish). In it I will start you on the path to understanding the incredibly tiny nuances of foot weighting when you’re not doing anything fancy like walking. No, we’ll just look at the mundane standing-right-there-without-movement stance.

Here’s a hint of where we’re going: Did you know that incredibly common spinal deformations can actually be caused by improperly weighting your feet in stillness?

Remember to let me know your wishlist for the new forum or website feedback. We loves to listen!

See you next time!

Namaste
Gabrielle