Free Your Toes!: Part 3

By Karen G. Krueger

In the first two posts of this series, (Part 1; Part 2) I presented the features of conventional shoes that prevent feet from functioning naturally. These can cause many common foot ailments such as bunions, neuromas, hammertoes, plantar fasciitis (or, as I have learned to call it, plantar faciiosis), and other painful and debilitating conditions.

The next obvious question is, what do we do about it? Most of us couldn’t go without shoes all the time, even if we wanted to. Weather, the surfaces we walk on, and the expectations of employers and society in general, among other reasons, mean that we’re going to wear shoes much of the time.

Fortunately, it has become possible over the past decade or so to find a wide variety of shoes with foot-healthy characteristics. There’s a wealth of information and shopping opportunities on the internet. I have found my way to a whole new shoe collection through these websites:

1. Natural Foot Gear

2. Correct Toes - shoe list

(I should note that I have no affiliation with either of these websites, except as a satisfied customer.)

I got started down this pathway out of frustration with two problems: my lifelong inability to find shoes that fit my very wide feet without hurting my toes; and a decade-long recurring pain in the ball of my left foot. The latter was diagnosed by a podiatrist as a neuroma, but his only advice was to wait until it got bad enough for surgery.

This wasn’t good enough for me, so I kept researching. I knew that having my weight disproportionately on the ball of my feet, with my toes squeezed and held up off the ground by shoes made the pain worse, so I found shoes with no heel elevation (otherwise known as “zero drop”), wide toeboxes, and no toe spring. This made a definite improvement, but I still had pain sometimes.

Eventually, last April, I found my first pair of truly minimalist shoes — that is, shoes with very thin, flexible soles — that actually fit me. (Click here for these, in case you are interested: (#1 her ).

This was a leap of faith, as my natural instinct when feeling pain on the bottom of my foot was to want to put cushioning between it and the hard ground. To my astonishment, within a week of beginning to wear minimalist shoes, my foot pain disappeared — and it has not come back since.

It turned out that when my foot was firmly supported by the ground instead of sinking into a cushioned sole, my longitudinal and transverse arches all sprang up, taking pressure off the affected nerve. I was reminded of how taking Alexander Technique lessons made me start to hate cushy chairs.

As I have shared these insights with friends and students, several of them have become interested enough to work on their feet, with similarly striking results for problems such as bunions and bursitis of the heel. I also discovered some unexpected additional benefits: better balance, a more sure-footed feeling on uneven ground, a springier step, less impact into my knees and hip joints, and —most surprisingly — an instantaneous increase in my stamina for walking uphill.

I also discovered the very great pleasure of being able to sense the texture of the ground underneath me. Even the subway grills and manhole covers of my daily pathways through Manhattan feel interesting — and good! — under my feet now.

This is not a miracle cure nor, for most people, an overnight process: it takes time and persistence to make gradual changes — as we do in the Alexander Technique. I was able to switch my own shoes quickly because I already was spending many hours a day barefoot (albeit indoors). But people who are accustomed to wear conventional shoes for most of their waking hours need to transition slowly and carefully to more minimalist or barefoot options, to allow their tissues to adjust and to strengthen their feet and calf muscles.

However, based on my experience, I would say it is well worth the effort. In the Alexander Technique, learning to free your neck opens up a world of well-being. I believe the same is true of freeing your toes!

*********************

This series of three blog posts arose out of my experiences exploring the approach to foot health pioneered by sports podiatrist Dr. Ray McClanahan. I have only been able to skim the surface. If you are at all interested, I encourage you to explore the wealth of relevant articles and videos available at:

1. Foot Help

2. Natural Foot Gear (Click on the “Learn” tab)

3. Youtube channel of Northwest Foot & Ankle

And for a broader perspective on movement that embraces bare-footing and natural foot care, see Katy Bowman’s website nutritiousmovement.com and her books Whole Body Barefoot and Simple Steps to Foot Pain Relief: The New Science of Healthy Feet.

KAREN G. KRUEGER became a teacher of the Alexander Technique after 25 years of practicing law at two major New York law firms, receiving her teaching certificate from the American Center for the Alexander Technique in December 2010. Her students include lawyers, business executives, IT professionals and others interested in living with greater ease and skill. Find her at her website.

Bad Feet or Bad Shoes?: Part 2

by Karen G. Krueger

In Part 1 of this series, we looked at how the shape of a conventional shoe differs from that of a natural foot — that is, a human foot that has never worn shoes. We saw that whereas shoes of all types typically get narrower from the ball of the foot to the tips of the toes, a natural foot is widest at the tips of the toes.

The tapered toes of conventional shoes are just one of the ways conventional shoes put our feet in unnatural positions and change how they move. Let’s look at two different types of typical modern shoe:

The first shoe is intended for running, the second for business wear. But they share at least four characteristics that the sports podiatrist Dr. Ray McClanahan has identified as harmful to feet and to the entire body of the person who wears them:

Tapered toe boxes.

Obviously the dress shoe is narrower and pointier than the running shoe. But both are much narrower at the tips of the toes than at the balls. They do not respect the shape of a natural human foot, but compress the toes into a wedge shape, with the big toes pulled outwards and the pinkie toes pulled inwards.

In such shoes, the toes cannot engage the ground properly, and the functioning of the various muscles that attach on the toes is impaired. Long-term wear can lead to deformation and loss of toe function.

Heel elevation.

Both shoes have a small but distinct heel elevation, lifting the heel of the foot above the forefoot.

This shifts more body weight onto the forefoot, and requires a change in both the alignment of the entire body and the length of all the tissues. Notably, the Achilles tendon becomes chronically shortened.

Toe spring.

Notice that the toes of both pairs of shoes angle up from the forefoot, so that the toes are held above the forefoot, and off the ground.

This prevents the toes from supporting the wearer’s balance by contacting the ground, keeps the underside of the foot, including the plantar fascia, on constant stretch, and causes the extensors of the toes to be chronically shortened.

Rigid soles.

Shoes of this type typically have soles that are stiff and largely inflexible.

The foot cannot bend and flex as the wearer walks and runs, and the natural ability to perceive sensory information about the ground is almost eliminated.

These characteristics ensure that the feet that wear these shoes will be compressed and held in an unnatural shape, then subjected to the forces of walking and running without being able to respond with the resilience and spring inherent in a healthy bare foot.

In Part 3 of this series, I’ll share the benefits I have gained through a change in my footwear.. In the meantime, I invite you to take a good look at your shoes. How many of the adverse features described above do they have?

And if you are able to walk barefoot safely, see if you can identify how your barefoot walk differs from how you walk in various types of shoes — not only in how your feet feel and move, but how your whole body responds.

*This is the second of three posts about what I have learned from my experiences exploring the approach to foot health pioneered by sports podiatrist Dr. Ray McClanahan. For a wealth of relevant articles and videos, see:

1. Foot Help

2. Natural Foot Gear (Click on the “Learn” tab)

3. Youtube channel of Northwest Foot & Ankle

And for a broader perspective on movement that embraces bare-footing and natural foot care, see Katy Bowman’s website nutritiousmovement.com and her books Whole Body Barefoot and Simple Steps to Foot Pain Relief: The New Science of Healthy Feet.

KAREN G. KRUEGER became a teacher of the Alexander Technique after 25 years of practicing law at two major New York law firms, receiving her teaching certificate from the American Center for the Alexander Technique in December 2010. Her students include lawyers, business executives, IT professionals and others interested in living with greater ease and skill. Find her at her website.

What Do Chairs and Shoes Have in Common? Part 1

by Karen G. Krueger

One common side effect of Alexander Technique lessons is a need to change furniture. After a course of lessons, a lot of chairs that once seemed adequate or even comfortable start to be very annoying. No chair can make you sit well, but a bad one can make it impossible to do so.

I have come to believe the same thing about shoes.

You’re no doubt familiar with the still-controversial barefoot running movement. You may even run barefoot or in “barefoot” or “minimalist” shoes. But have you thought about the effects of the shoes you wear daily, and the shoes you have worn throughout your life, on the shape and functioning of your feet?

In this and subsequent blog posts, I will invite you to consider whether what you wear on your feet is helping or hurting you, and I’ll provide resources for further exploration.

Let’s start by taking a good look at some basic shapes. Here are the feet of a typical newborn baby:

Baby Foot

And here are is a pair of adult feet that have not habitually worn shoes.

This adult did not wear shoes regularly

This is the natural human foot: shaped like a triangle widest at the toes. Each toe aligns with its metatarsal, and the metatarsals and toes spread out like a fan.

Does it surprise you to see the adult foot? Have you ever considered how a baby’s little triangles turn into the foot shape we think of as normal — widest at the balls, with toes pressed together and towards the midline? This striking photo suggests an answer:

The foot pictured below is that of an adult who had never worn shoes on the left; on the right, that of a boy who had worn shoes for a few months. (Source: Conclusions Drawn From a Comparative Study of Barefoot and Shoe-Wearing Peoples, The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery. 1905; s2-3:105-136.)

Left: never wore shoes; Right: wore shoes for a few month

Now look at the shape of couple of major-brand running shoes (looking at the bottom of the soles):

Running Shoe

Running Shoe, 2

Note that both are shaped nothing like a natural human foot. Rather than spreading out to the toes, each shoe gets narrower from the ball to the tips of the toes. And these are shoes intended for athletic activity! Dress shoes, whether for men or women, are typically even pointier at the toes.

How can it make sense to run and walk in shoes that compress the toes into a wedge shape, instead of allowing them to spread out? What is the long-term effect of immobilizing the toes in this position for hours at a time?

In my next post, I’ll look at some of the other features of conventional shoes that are at war with the natural shape and functioning of the human foot, and talk about the resulting deformation and de-conditioning they cause.

In the meantime, try going completely barefoot for at least a little time every day — really barefoot, not even with socks on. Spread your toes, rub and manipulate them with your hands, find out what it feels like to have them actively engaged on the ground as you stand and walk. If you are like me, you will find it very enjoyable.

This is the first of three posts about what I have learned from my experiences exploring the approach to foot health pioneered by sports podiatrist Dr. Ray McClanahan. For a wealth of relevant articles and videos, see:

1. Foot Help

2. Natural Foot Gear (Click on the “Learn” tab)

3. Youtube channel of Northwest Foot & Ankle

And for a broader perspective on movement that embraces bare-footing and natural foot care, see Katy Bowman’s website nutritiousmovement.com.

KAREN G. KRUEGER became a teacher of the Alexander Technique after 25 years of practicing law at two major New York law firms, receiving her teaching certificate from the American Center for the Alexander Technique in December 2010. Her students include lawyers, business executives, IT professionals and others interested in living with greater ease and skill. Find her at her website.

Organization: start with yourself

"When we have our body and mind in order, everything else will exist in the right place, in the right way.  But usually, without being aware of it, we try to change something other than ourselves, we try to order things outside us.  But it is impossible to organize things if you yourself are not in order.  When you do things in the right way, at the right time, everything else will be organized. "   -- Shunryu Suzuki (Japanese Zen Master)

When I read this quote, I saw the Alexander Technique.  Our reaction to our environment is to be pulled in by it, losing our connection to our support - quite literally, the support our skeleton offers us.  Much of the time, we are pushing ourselves out into the next moment, and falling off of our bones.  Our muscles come into action, gripping to hold us up, while trying to move us at the same time.

• How often have you spoken only to wish you had taken time to think more fully about your response?
• How many times have you worried over something that never came to be? 
• How often have we missed the mark, whether bowling, playing pool or golfing, not having taken the time to allow our body to coordinate with our eyes?

While I cannot say that everything in my life is existing in the right place, in the right way all of the time, when I slow down and come to a place with more stillness and presence, I can feel tension and pain ease in my body, I can enjoy a sunny day in the middle of winter, I can delight in my cat playing "hockey" with his bottle caps.

Perhaps our internal state is more a predictor of our quality of life in any given moment than our circumstances.  How many times have you met someone who has things your wish for (a happy relationship, a beautiful home, physical health, artistic skill) and they are stressed and unsatisfied with their conditions.

Try This:
Can you find a way to be present to whatever abundance there is in your life?  Take 2  minutes now to find something in your immediate environment that reflects something you've created, or brought into your life that brings you pleasure, contentment or joy.  What is it like in your body and mind now?

(Originally Posted at www.brookelieb.com 3/13/18)

N. BROOKE LIEB, Director of Teacher Certification since 2008, received her certification from ACAT in 1989, joined the faculty in 1992. Brooke has presented to 100s of people at numerous conferences, has taught at C. W. Post College, St. Rose College, Kutztown University, Pace University, The Actors Institute, The National Theatre Conservatory at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Dennison University, and Wagner College; and has made presentations for the Hospital for Special Surgery, the Scoliosis Foundation, and the Arthritis Foundation; Mercy College and Touro College, Departments of Physical Therapy; and Northern Westchester Hospital. Brooke maintains a teaching practice in NYC, specializing in working with people dealing with pain, back injuries and scoliosis; and performing artists. www.brookelieb.com

The Body Loves: Cultivate Connectedness and Balance with the Alexander Technique

by Allyna Steinberg

Love -- a feeling an intense feeling of deep affection -- is something we all we want.  We often talk about love between people. When we talk about self-love, the discussion is often focused on the cognitive level, on our thoughts. Articles on self-love frequently share tips for changing our self-talk. There is an underlying assumption that "we are our thoughts" and that our thoughts are the key to building our capacity to love ourselves and others.  What if our body was also a key to finding love?

When we take in a beautiful vista, smell our favorite food, taste the ocean air, feel our softest sweater, or hear a beautiful melody, it certainly feels to me like deep affection -- like love.  Can love be found through our body?

We are equally our bodies and more than our thoughts. Then, why not consider thinking the sixth sense?  This puts our other senses - sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing - on an even playing field with our thinking.  And it gives us a powerful opportunity to drop into our senses when our thinking takes over or as a regular practice for living with love.

What daily ways do you already have of dropping into your body senses?  Enjoying the smell of your morning cup of coffee or tea or favorite breakfast? Your morning shower? My list of daily sensory moments covering the five senses include waking up with extra minty toothpaste (taste), taking in the colors of the art on my wall (sight), noticing how my clothes feel on my skin (touch), breathing in the aroma of essential oil (smell), and listening to a song with a good harmony (hearing).   Take a minute and see if you can think of the daily ways you drop into each sense: sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing.  And then I will share ways to use those experiences to deepen the love they give back based on the Alexander Technique.

Once you realize the body loves, you can tap into more connectedness and balance with a few Alexander Technique tips. Alexander found that the balance of the skull on the spine is central to coordination of posture and movement and that the body works as a whole (even though we like to talk about it in parts). So how does this relate to our dropping into our body senses?

• Sight, smell, hearing, and taste – all relate to sensory organs that point to where the skull balances on the tip of the spine. The tip of the spine is located behind our eyes and nose and between our ears – so all we’re seeing, smelling and hearing can remind us of where ideally our skull balances on the spine.  When the tongue is not tense (the tip of the tongue sits inside our lower teeth and the back of the tongue suspends high and wide by our upper back molars), taking a trip from the tip of our tongue toward our taste buds we’re on our way up the ramp our tongue forms toward the skull balance. Thus everything we’re tasting can also remind us of this important place in the body. Learn more about this via my post on Is there a Neck Joint?.
   
• Touch – relates to the skin, our largest sensory organ, covering our whole body. Everything we touch could remind us of this body covering that interfaces with our environment in omni(all)-directions. This helps us embody our multi-dimensionality, which through the suspension system of our body supports the balance of the skull on the spine.  Learn more about this via my posts on Our Body Concept Matters and Thank Your Body with Dynamic Support.

The next time you enjoy a sight, smell, taste or sound, notice how that’s a reference for where your skull balances on the tip of the spine. And with every touch, notice that you can pop into a whole-body awareness.  This practice will put you on a path to creating more connectedness and balance within your body, which Alexander Technique students often experience as feeling lighter, aligned or whole.  These hallmark experiences of Alexander Technique students remind me of a deep love integrating our senses and our whole selves.  The body loves.  Tap into it.

(This post originally appeared on alexandertechniqueforliving.com)

 Allyna Steinberg teaches the Alexander Technique in NYC, Hudson Valley, NY and via online coaching sessions.  Allyna also holds a Master of Public Health degree and has over 22 years of experience supporting communities, families and youth to improve their health. Allyna has practiced the Alexander Technique for 18 years, after learning about it from an orthopedist at Mt. Sinai Medical Center. She currently focuses her teaching on applications of the Alexander Technique to create relaxation and renewal in activity, heal from trauma, restore coordination through developmental movement, and reach the needs of diverse audiences including those with hypermobility (HSD/EDS).  Allyna also co-founded the Alexander Technique Diversity Coalition and offers inspirational tips on her Facebook page.