Foot Therapy

Source teaching · Alex Julian, 2024

The original lesson

In yoga, the feet represent the “most present” part of the body. The body is always grounded in the present moment, and the feet are closest to the ground — anchoring us on Earth. When a yoga teacher says to live in your heart, that means to live in love, but it also means to be present in your body. How about we bring our awareness all the way into the body? Instead of having a predominately cerebral experience, let’s allow our awareness to spread throughout the body — giving us access to more intelligence in the process.

The more aware you are of your feet, the more present you will be. You don’t need to be constantly thinking of your feet to do this, but you can simply bring some sensation to a desensitized part of the body. One of my first yoga mentors called shoes something pretty intense. She called them “foot coffins”. In many ways, shoes can damage the feet. This doesn’t seem like a big deal until you realize the feet are literally the foundation of physicality.

Unfortunately, we have lost much of the sensitivity, strength, coordination, and awareness of our feet through always wearing shoes. This is one of the reasons why yoga is typically practiced barefoot. Being barefoot more often will help a lot. Warm foot baths, and toe-spreaders can help tremendously with bringing awareness and sensation back into the feet. Balance poses and mountain pose will help too.

Once you have more awareness in your feet, you will find you are more productive, more relaxed, and more at home — in the present moment.

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