Rolling

Strengthen Your Feet

Strong, healthy feet are essential to your balance, but they’re also a significant part of your physical and emotional well-being. They keep you centered and grounded while allowing you to move freely through your days.

Strong Feet Support You

Dr. Dawn has known about the importance of strong feet for decades. In her book “Natural Solutions to Common Foot Problems,” she writes that most foot-related problems develop because the foot has lost strength. When your feet are weak, your foot shifts out of alignment.

When the foot is misaligned, one is more likely to develop bunions, hammertoes, corns, calluses, neuromas, and other conditions and problems with knees, hips, and backs.

So, what is the answer? Fortunately, it’s as easy as spending a few minutes a day exercising your feet. We’ll look at some of the best ways to get strong, supple feet.

Tips to exercising your feet:

• When possible, exercise them barefoot or in grip socks.
• Start slow, and work your way up to more intense exercises.
• Stretch your toes gently after every exercise.

Holistic Foot Exercises

Some exercises do more than exercise your body. Yoga, dance, and barre exercises engage your mind and body and are foot strengtheners. These mindful, meditative forms of exercise enhance your awareness, lower your stress levels, reduce chronic pain, help you breathe better, and make your bones stronger. Make mindful exercise part of your day and reap the benefits of mind, body, and spirit.

Walking Barefoot

Walking barefoot has many benefits!

First, it gives your feet a workout that engages the natural range of motion. When you free them from shoes, your feet can move freely and engage all their musculatures.  Removing your shoes will relieve pain and pressure if you have bunions, hammertoes, or other conditions, which is also a treat. 

Second, walking barefoot forces your feet to balance on all surfaces. To make this work for you, be sure to walk on uneven ground and try to walk on different surfaces. As your feet cope with changing terrains, they will naturally get stronger.

You’ll also enhance your balance, which is increasingly important as you age. Walking barefoot in the sand is one of the best exercises you can do, but it can be tiring if you’re a newbie, so only walk short distances first.

Third, and just as important, walking barefoot is a form of grounding. Grounding connects you to the earth’s electrons, a powerful antioxidant! Let the earth move under your feet!

Rolling

Rolling your feet is one of the best ways to exercise them. Rolling feels excellent, and it is a beautiful way to release stiffness in your ligaments. Rolling connects your feet to other body parts with enhanced blood flow and mobility. Here’s how to do it.

• Do this while seated or standing.
• Place a tennis ball or other small ball on the ground. You can also use a foam roller or similar item.
• Place your foot on the ball, and roll the ball gently.
• Start at the toes, and move the ball to the arch.
• Move slowly back and forth a few times.

Pickup Game

Don’t forget those toes! Exercising toes can prevent rigid unsightly hammertoes and claw toes. You will need a chair, a large bowl, and 10 to 20 marbles.

• Sit with your feet flat on the floor.
• Place several marbles and the bowl on the floor in front of your feet.
• Pick up a marble using only your toes, and drop it into the bowl.
• Use one foot to pick up all the marbles, and then switch to the other foot.

In the book “Natural Solutions to Common Foot Problems” by Dr. Dawn Olsen Figlo, you’ll learn these and other ways to heal your feet with safe, natural remedies.