Orthotics and Yoga

I recently got a question about ankles and feet and a student said she was getting a lot of support from wearing her orthotics…

My response is - that is so WONDERFUL that foot insoles/orthotics can help with foot and ankle discomfort.

The downside of orthotics is that the shoe-insert will help shape the foot and ankle into a different position so that it no longer puts strain on the previously painful habit that the foot was moving in.

However, and this is a problem that we don't consider, over time, an orthotic will create yet another habit of the foot and put the use of the ankle into another pattern, another habit of use.

With orthotics, the potential, the resilience, the adaptability of the foot to move in different ways is lost.

This is hard to hear when people have spent hundreds of dollars on a new pair of orthotics!

What we find with the yoga I teach, based on the Kaiut Method, which has an incredible amount of foot work, that with regular practice is the regeneration of feet and ankle movements, those movements that we are born with (take a look at a baby's feet) can be regained.

These movements were available to our ancestors who walked mostly barefoot, or with just animal skins around their feet, and they walked on uneven surfaces, and they walked a lot.

In our modern life, we walk on flat surfaces, we have huge pads and cushions (think of the sole of some running shoes) between us and the earth, and most of us don't walk very much (thank you cars, buses, trains and bikes), on average I would say our feet get only about 10% of the movement that they were evolved for.

A regular yoga practice in the kaiut/joint renewal method will help you regain that lost mobility and keep your ankles and feet active.

So if you use orthotics, great!

My suggestion is to also try not to use them.

Try going barefoot as much as possible. Try walking on sand. Try wearing different shoes every day so that you do not put your feet into a holding pattern, but rather think about all the ways in which you can allow your feet to be free to explore the myriad of movements available to them.

Try yoga. And look for a yoga that will bring you into a better relationship with your feet and awaken the incredible potential they contain.