I'm still standing better than I ever didGive your feet some love How often do you think about your feet? Proportional to the rest of us, they're tiny. Give your toes a wriggle and watch all the little joints, two in the big toe and three in each of the smaller ones, flexing and extending. Glance at your toes. Painted or not, either way, those clever shields of keratin aren't just for decoration. They're protecting your toe tips from knocks and giving soft flesh something to push against, a counter-pressure which increases stability and spatial awareness. In other words, they help stop us falling over. Look at the arches of the foot, not just one but three. Run your finger along the edge of the foot from the heel to the big toe. That one's higher, longer and more flexible, acting like a shock absorber. Now run your finger along the inside edge of your foot, lower and more rigid. It holds our weight and keeps us stable. Finally, run your finger from inside to outside across the bottom of your foot. That dome shape helps your foot adapt to uneven surfaces. As you've traced your arches, you might have felt the little bones of different shapes and sizes — 26 in each foot. Together, they keep us stable, give support and literally help us spring from step to step. That's just the bones. There's a whole community down there of muscles, ligaments and tendons that support and move the bony structure, as well as the nervous system, blood vessels, and fascia (have I mentioned skin?), holding up the whole weight of our body on those two little feet, making sure we can stand tall and move easily. Of course, things happen, especially as we get older. We develop a bunion, arthritis takes a toll, arches drop, corns feel uncomfortable. If you've experienced plantar fasciitis, in your heel or under the arch, uncomfortable might be an understatement. Which brings us to yoga! In the UK, unlike some other parts of the world, we spend a lot of time wearing shoes and we're not designed for them. They constrain and sometimes over time even change the shape of our feet. Particularly, they stop our feet being as flexible as they might be. The good news is that yoga practice, unlike many other forms of exercise, is done barefoot. Be thankful because, as soon as we take our shoes off by the door and step onto the mat, we're moving the muscles and little joints in the foot more freely. Relief! Barefoot, we're immediately nurturing what's called proprioception. That means knowing where we are in space, the ability, for instance, to take a step on uneven ground and still feel steady. All the information we're receiving through our feet is sent through our nervous system so that we can make constant micro-adjustments that keep us balanced. Proprioception helps us in class with Vrikasana (Tree Pose) or any of the other standing and balancing poses like Virabhadrasana (Warrior Pose), but it also helps us do complicated things like walk at the same time as looking ahead, talking to a friend, leading a dog and simultaneously flagging down the bus — useful skills outside of the yoga class! Our complex nervous system makes sense of where we are and how to stay grounded. So, next time you take off your shoes as you come to class, hum a little bit of Elton, “I’m still standing better than I ever have”, and smile as you give your feet some love. 
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