Recently we had a record snowfall in London, Ontario. Tractors were not coping so it was a chance for us humans to beat the paths through the deeper snow. And those beaten tracks were ‘naturally imperfect’ of course – uneven, full of little bumps and cavities. I felt that to avoid slipping, stumbling and falling I had to work quite a lot with my foot and ankle. I was especially aware because as it happens the last online Awareness Through Movement class I taught was about feet and toes.
Human foot has 26 bones and 33 joints, allowing adaptation to the widest range of surfaces and situations. As we go through our lives clad in shoes and other footwear, we limit the range of possibilities. Most often we lose differentiation of toes, so that they can only move together rather than individually. We also lose flexibility in the ankle. Since the foot and the ankle cannot adapt, to keep our balance we increasingly start using larger muscles of the leg which are slow and not nearly as nimble as the small muscles of the foot.
Now think of slipping, that split second when our feet lose traction and the area of support is very quickly moving from under our centre of gravity. What could be corrected automatically by small smart foot and ankle movements now takes time and effort. And if we’re late, we’re down.
Coming back to the online class where I taught differentiation of toes, it was amazing to see improvements in the hip joint, along the side, all the way to the neck. All the little clicks and adjustments improving overall organisation of the musculoskeletal system were achieved through bringing to awareness many more possibilities of toe and ankle movements beyond the limited range of habitual ones.
Some have pins and screws in their feet and ankles repairing fractured bones. This can significantly limit certain movement, but even in these cases – with 26 bones and 33 joints there are possibilities to expand range of possible movements and improve overall functions of walking and standing.
Happy walking everyone!
Human skeleton foot image credit: Foot Bones PNGs by Vecteezy
Acture FM 