Stable Feet, Centered Self

By

Gayle Trenberth, Ph.D.

Every health oriented magazine has currently run anarticle on the feet.

It seems that many people are experiencing pain intheir feet, bunions, arthritic joints, hammertoe, balance issues, and other problems.  Our feet seem in trouble.  As I thought about this focus from apsychological perspective I realized our feet are our first connection toMother Earth, our first connection to a sense of balance and grounding.  I thought about our uncertain world and howof us are feeling out of control, unstable and anxious as we face thechallenges of the current times.  Isuddenly understood.  In the mind/body connection what is experiencedin our sense of self is expressed in our body. Our feet are in trouble, our sense of stability is in trouble and ourfeeling of being “grounded,” or centered, is also in trouble.  Fortunately, in the mind/body connection, we can strengthen our inner sense of stabilityby working with our bodies, beginning with our feet.

 A strong,grounded, flexible body connected to a strong, grounded, flexible mind allows theself to work with uncertainness, anxiety, and change.  Instead of fearfulness, the reaction becomesopenness to learning what is needed and moving forward to a new way of being inthe world (changing habits, changing jobs, changing lifestyles, changingwhatever needs to be changed).  Theeasiest place to begin to work on creating a balanced and centered approach toa changing world is our feet,mirrored in our mind as our sense ofgrounding. 

 Many of themind/body disciplines note the importance of the feet as a key link to balanceand flexibility.  Hatha Yoga begins manyof the standing poses with the toes of the feet spread to increase stability,the heel strongly connected to the floor, allowing the arch muscles to worknaturally, and the rest of the body to assume a position of grace andendurance.  The position strengthens thebody; the concentration to hold the position calms and strengthens the mind.   Yogais not the only powerful tool available to us to build stability.  There are other meditative techniques,movement therapies, and various psychotherapies, many of which focus on themind/body connection.  A key element toany of these approaches is our sense of grounding through our feet and oursense of being able to move through an uncertain world through the mobility ofour feet.

AssessingYour Stance

In the mind/bodyconnection, your psychological reactions to your changing world can bepinpointed in how your body’s musculature reacts or is habitually held.  In a mind/body analysis, you can track howyou respond to changes in your environment.

The first step is to ascertain how your body connectswith the ground (Mother Earth).  Standnaturally and take inventory of how your feet feel.  Do you sense your weight is rolling back onthe heel, or forward on the ball of your foot, or evenly distributed?  Do your toes feel like they are gripping theground for stability, or are they relaxed? Do your toes seem evenly spaced for balance?  Is there a shift of weight to the inside oroutside of the foot?  Much of what yousense in your feet is connected to your knees, hip, and spine, as alignmentaffects the whole body.  As you work onstabilizing your feet, you will sense the other parts of your body working toassume stability and alignment.

Once you have a sense of your habitual way ofstanding, note how the rest of your body compensates for any imbalances.  This posture creates a “body” stance that canbe compared to your psychological stance in your world.  Gripping the floor with your toes mayindicate being uncertain in life, needing to “hang on” while the world movesaround you.   Other parts of your bodymay tighten against the “blows” of change--- locked knees, shoulders hunched upand tilted inward, even a tight neck to hold onto your head!  Are you rolling back on your heels and isthat creating a tightening in your lower back? If so, ask yourself if you are gullible, a pushover, looking for easyanswers?  See what your body is saying toyou by its position, starting with your feet!

Now that you have taken stock of your body/mindstance, begin to do the work of changing to a more fluid, yet centeredposition.  As you do that work to createbalanced, flexible, and strong feet, your body will do whatever it can givenyour anatomical limitations, to follow suit. As you create a balanced, flexible and strong body, you will find yourpsychological stance assuming similar dimensions.

AwakenYour Feet

So let’s look at what is available to help your feetachieve flexibility, strength and balance. Once you have “awakened” your feet, you can look at how you connectthose feet to your body and then connect a grounded body to a flexible, strongand balanced sense of self.

Strengthening and stabilizing the feet takes consistenteffort because of habitual ways of holding yourself and various anatomicalproperties of your unique feet.  Justlike a nutritious diet and exercise, you need to integrate the care of yourfeet into your life.  Use a variety ofthe following techniques and tools 3 to 4 days a week.

“No Expense” Self-Help for the Feet:

1)     Exercise, Stretch, Massage, and Relax the Feet

A) Exercise:

A simple exercise for the feet, popularamong athletes, is simply walking on soft sand barefoot.  The surface of the sand allows the muscles ofthe feet to work in a type of resistance training.   The arch  works naturally and strengthens theinstep.  The sand encourages mobility ofthe joints.  As the feet work, you canfeel the Achilles tendon, calf, knee, thigh and hip join in the fun.

Other foot exercises can be done from achair.  Sit, keeping your knees bent andyour feet parallel, and feel your feet firmly planted on the ground.  Lift your toes back, while keeping the balland heel of your feet in firm contact with the floor.  Let your feet relax, sense the grounding onthe floor, then repeat.  After 4repetitions, try a variation.  Afterlifting your toes back, extend only the big toe down to the ground, withoutletting your feet invert.

This action will strengthen the instepand help keep the arch strong.  If yourfoot cramps, then allow the foot to relax and massage your foot, gentlystretching it back and forth.  Thecramping is a sign of tightness and weakness of the muscles of the feet,  your clue that these exercises are importantfor you.

Stretch:

 The “YogaHandshake” is a great method for stretching your feet and creating more spacebetween your toes.  Creating space betweenthe toes helps the joints regain mobility and allows the bones of the feet tobe aligned.  To do the “Yoga Handshake”,thread your fingers between your toes, supporting the sole of your foot in yourpalm and working the toes back and forth to loosen the joints.  In the same position, stretch your entire footback and forth to loosen the muscles you just exercised.

Place your heels back on the ground, lifting the restof the foot.  Move the foot towards theouter leg, then move back towards the inner leg, stretching the muscles on theoutside of the feet.

Finally, simply shake your foot out and rotate itaround a few times.

C) Massage:

First, rejuvenate the blood supply to the bottoms ofyour feet by gently tapping across the sole.

On those days you have the luxury of working out witha partner, go to the internet site:  www.metacafe.com/watch/296443/foot_massage/.   You can view a 5 minute video of aprofessional foot massage to exchange with your workout partner.

D) Relax:

For a final treat soak your feet in a tub of warmwater.  A drop or two of an essential oil,such as lavender, aids the muscles in recovering and relaxing.

“Low Budget” Tools for Awakening TheFeet

(Under $30.00)

Foot Rollers: Wooden foot rollers are an inexpensive foot massage tool that can beused anywhere.  Placed under your foot,roll it back and forth to stimulate blood supply, massage the arch and instepand work on reflexology points on the feet. They cost $4.95 for a basic model, $15.95 for a deluxe model.

http://www.blackpearlbotanicals.com/wooden_foot_rollers.htm

Yoga Sandals®: These sandals have four toe separators and support for the calcaneousbone (heel bone).  The toe separatorsallow your foot bones to spread, distributing your body’s weight evenly whenwalking, while keeping the sandal secure on your foot.  The heel bone support allows your arch towork naturally, exercising arch muscles. The toe separators combined with the heel bone support promotes properfoot, leg, and hip motion.  Regular wearof these sandals helps the joints regain alignment and flexibility and exercisethe muscles of the feet.  It often takessome time to adjust to the toe separation, since the muscles are weakened byclose toed shoes, but the effort is worth the results.  The newest version has interchangeable toeseparators that will allow the wearer to adjust the individual width desiredbetween each toe.  You can graduallyincrease the toe separation as needed. Many of the models are under $30.00.

www.yogasandals.com

Foot Baths: A Conair massaging Foot Bathwith massage and bubble jets cost as little as $23.95 to give your feet thatrelaxing soak.

(www.fitsmybudget.com/product.php?productid=25296)

“MediumBudget” Tools for Awakening the Feet

(Under$50.00)

Yamuna Foot Wakers:  These are half spheres, about 5 inches indiameter, with massage bumps.   Use themmuch like a foot roller for stimulating and relaxing the feet.   Also use them to stand on to work themuscles of the feet and to improve balance. They are available for $41.95.

www.allaboutbodyrolling.com/app/product/Foot-Wakers

Yoga Toes:  These are soft plastic toe separators thatwork much like the “Yoga Handshake” described above.  They allow a large degree of separationbetween the toes, promoting joint alignment and flexibility and can be wornwhile sitting or lying down.  Since theyhave a “one size fits all,” it may take some time to adjust to them.  They cost $49.95.

www.yogapro.com/ts/toestretcher.html

Usingyour Awakened, Strong, Flexible Feet

ToMove Through Anxiety and Change

Now that you have done the work to awaken andstabilize your feet, assess the challenges that are facing you today.  As you visualizeeach challenge, feel your mind/body’s reaction. It will probably be your habitual reaction to change.  It could be an anxiety that “lifts you offyour feet,” or a stubbornness that results in your being too firmly “planted onthe ground.”  Whatever your reaction, shiftyour attention to your feet and assume that new, alive stance of balance andflexibility.  Feel that stance flowing upyour legs, stabilizing your knees, hips and spine through to the top of yourhead.  Now, re-visualize a challenge and see what has changed.  Do you feel open to new possibilities, moreconfidence?  Any new thoughts orintuitions about the challenge?  Thesenew experiences are a shift to a more balanced and flexible stance of handlingchange.

I was struck by a Tai Chi master’s demonstration manyyears ago.  He asked me to hit him ashard as I could.  I threw a fist at him.  He simply stepped out of my way, and I landedflat on the ground.  He had stayedcentered and flexible, while I had thrown my weight forward, unable to recovermy balance.  To me, that was a dramaticlesson about life.  Keep centered,balanced, flexible and life’s blows can be dealt with.      

Anxious or fearful moments are learning points tolisten to yourself and discover what you need to change in your life.  With balance and flexibility, instead offearful paralysis, you feel energized and take action.  When your mind/body is flexible, you canembrace change as a new chapter, even if it involves some grieving and lettinggo.  You allow your full tide offeelings, knowing your center is strong, stable, and grounded.  You process your emotions, integrating themwith your sense of self and move forward, meeting life’s demands andexperiencing life’s joys.

Your feet are the point where you connect and groundwith Mother Earth.  If you do the work toawaken and enliven those feet, you can be the “willow in the wind,” bending andnot breaking, rooted in your sense of self, centered in your connection withthe world.  Do the work, reap thebenefits and enjoy your feet!  They takeyou on this incredible journey through life.

Gayle Trenberth, Ph.D. worked as apsychologist for 30 years and a   Boenergetic Analyst for 20 years.  She published two case studies on long termwork with patients in the books Strategic Emotional Involvement and TerrifyingTransferences (LawrenceHedges, Editor).  In the 1970’s, shestudied directly with Swami Satchidananda (Integral Yoga).  In 1999, she invented and patented YogaSandals® and began teaching the principles of grounding the self through thebody and the feet.  She founded BeechSandal Co., LLC as a distribution center for Yoga Sandals® and the principlesbehind toe separating footwear.

Thoughts on Grounding and a Centered Self

By

Gayle Trenberth, Ph.D.

When I invented Yoga Sandals® in 1999, I thought that at the time I wanted a pedicure sandal, so I could go from a pedicure to an appointment without waiting.  I thought I had a “better idea,” and created the sandal.  Looking back, I now see that the years of being a psychotherapist practicing a mind/body type of therapy, had led me to invent not what I wanted, but what I needed.  I had invented a sandal that improves the sense of grounding, a core emotional stance we all need for a strong experience of a centered self.  I had spent years working on myself  and working with others to increase a centered, grounded self, and here I had unconsciously developed a tool to help me in that work!  A tool that works on the body’s stability and alignment, that helps the toes release and relax, and that creates a body sense of grounding, which affects the mind’s sense of grounding.  Incredible!

So what is grounding?

In an ideal world, our first ground is our mother’s body, where we experience safety and stability through connection.  Later, as we begin to crawl, then stand and walk, we find Mother Earth to be our ground, and our feet to be the energetic connection between ourselves and our world.  As a toddler, we find magic in the wobbly feet that can take us here and there, and then back to the grounding center of the parent.  Here we gather our stability for new adventures, and wander off again, for new explorations.   Eventually our legs and our feet can hold our own weight easily, and we begin to integrate the experience of stability and center into our sense of self.

In the not so ideal worlds of most childhoods, we founder at some stage of development.  A parent is too present, too invasive in loving and unloving ways, inhibiting our finding our own ground.  A parent is not present enough, withdrawn at those moments we need contact and external stabilization for our developing bodies and minds, and we cannot integrate any experience of grounding and centeredness.  It is not a parent’s fault, it is the confluence of their past, their current lives with our developing needs, which sometimes match, sometimes mismatch.

Inhibitions around a centered sense of self and a sense of grounding in this world are manifested in our bodies.  Notice how you are sitting, reading this article.  I can tell you, as I write, my shoulders are slumped forward (protecting my heart area), my feet are crossed, one foot in the air, one toe on the ground (not making much contact with the earth).  My psychological training tells me my mind/body is reflecting an uneasy relationship with connecting to this world of experience.  What happens if I throw my shoulders back, plant my feet firmly on the ground?  I take a deeper breath and feel more open (and yes, more vulnerable), and my feet feel enlivened and ready to move and interact (and yes, more vulnerable, but strangely, more capable). 

Try this exercise:

First, just stand and notice how you are standing.  Notice how you hold your head, if your shoulders are up or down and relaxed, notice your heart area and the sensation there, now notice how you are standing.  Are your feet on the ground in a balanced way, or is your weight forward or back?  Are your toes relaxed with a slight spread for your body’s balance, or do they seem to be gripping the ground?  Find some words to “image” how your body feels from the ground up through the top of your head, and how that image describes how you “stand” emotionally. 

Now, consciously change your stance.  Find a balanced way to stand, release the gripping toes, bend the knees slightly, open your chest by pulling your shoulders back and down, align your head using your neck to find a center.  Find some words to “image” how your body feels to you now, and how you “stand” emotionally in this moment.  You might experience some different feelings, and if so, just breathe with those feelings, letting yourself understand the meaning.

Try another exercise:

Standing, imagine you are a lovely, flexible, strong tree.  Your arms are branches, reaching into the world for connection.  Your legs are the trunk of the tree, and your toes the roots.  Breathe, and imagine the breath moving from the top of your head through the bottom of your feet into the earth.  With each breath, feel the sense of connection to the earth by moving the  intake of breath from the top of your head through and out your feet.  Repeat several times.  Notice the sense of aliveness and grounding that enters your mind/body.

If, like me, that sense of aliveness comes with uncomfortable feelings from your own early interactions with your environment, focus on the legs and the feet.  Tense and relax your feet, wiggle your toes around, then find that balanced weight position, slight spread of the toes, and see how your legs and hips follow.  A strong sense of being grounded will help you welcome vulnerability as an opportunity to adventure as you did as a child.

It takes constant attention and work to address a lifetime of habits developed since our childhood, and I don’t mind using aids that help me in that journey.  One aid for me has been Yoga Sandals®, which relaxes my toes, aligns the bones in my feet, supports my heel bone properly, and helps me to walk in a natural, balanced, flowing and grounded way.  My conscious invention has proved useful for pedicures, but my unconscious invention has become a major tool for a balanced, stable, centered body/self.   Work with these exercises, work with your feet, using your conscious mind and any tools your find that aid your feet and stability, and you will experience an improved sense of grounding and centeredness.

Gayle Trenberth, Ph.D. was a psychologist and trainer for over 30 years in the field of mind/body psychotherapy.  In 1999, she founded Beech Sandal Co.,LLC to distribute her invention, Yoga Sandals®.  Originally invented as a pedicure sandal, they became known in the medical, health and yoga communities as a sandal that supports balance and stability.  She retired from her psychological practice in 2007 to further research into the benefits of balance and stability on the mind/body, and the development of Yoga Sandals®.