How are your feet?
Do you have beautifully shaped feet, with a perfect longitudinal arch and a transverse arch that functions just as perfectly? Not a trace of calluses? Congratulations! Keep reading anyway to find out how you can keep your feet in such perfect condition. Do you have flat feet? Fallen arches? Spaced-out toes? Deformed toes? Calluses everywhere? Heel spurs? High arches? Hammertoes? Swollen ankles? Be sure to keep reading!
By Benita Cantieni
Most foot deformities stem from a colossal misunderstanding: the misconception that the foot is meant to carry us. Based on this assumption, most people in our part of the world stand and walk on their feet—rather than with their feet.
The foot is our connection to the world and all its surfaces. It serves as a probe for the terrain. A delicate structure consisting of 26 bones and over 30 joints. Anatomically speaking, the foot features two bridge-like structures: a transverse arch at the tarsal bones, which form the body of the foot, and a longitudinal arch extending from the metatarsophalangeal joint of the big toe to the center of the heel.
I find a third arch on the forefoot of every foot. This arch is cushioned by a fascinating muscular bridge. This muscular structure on the forefoot arch has a lovely Latin name, *Caput transversum*, but it is rarely taken seriously. Most shoes mistreat this double bridge by forcing the forefoot to lie flat and spreading the toes upward with every step.
In a healthy child’s foot, these three structures—composed of bones, tendons, ligaments, and muscles—are intact, strong, and ready for movement. They naturally support every step, every jump, and every hop, and provide perfect cushioning upon landing.
When body weight pushes downward, these bony bridges are flattened, the tendons become stiff, and the muscles atrophy.
Now the foot tries to protect itself by developing calluses. The foot becomes increasingly stiff, and the calluses grow thicker and thicker. Eventually, even the calluses can no longer protect the foot. The bones become deformed.
The ankle joint, which connects the foot to the leg, is also subjected to stress and deformation and can react to this overload with a variety of symptoms.
“That’s just the way it is; there’s nothing you can do about it”—that’s the resulting misconception. The foot is mutilated… pardon me, operated on. It is rendered helpless by shoe inserts. The misery takes its course.
On the left is the muscle pad on the sole of the foot. The transverse muscle bridge in front of the toes is the caput transversum. This muscle bridge protects against deformities of the “hallux.” On the right is the support layer, one layer deeper: muscles, ligaments, and tendons that prepare your foot for every adventure life has to offer.
Of all the muscles in your body, your foot has a truly amazing “inner shoe.” Tendons, ligaments, and fascia protect and support the joints, helping them move and perform their functions.
There is a healthy way: the way of the foot’s biomechanical nature
The foot and ankle are enveloped by a veritable marvel of tendons, ligaments, fascia, and muscles. When properly understood and well-used, this forms a sturdy inner shoe that dances through life with you. If left unused, this “inner shoe” atrophies, causing everything to stiffen and shorten—including the person standing on that stiff foot. I’m fascinated by how closely the stiffening of the spine in older people goes hand in hand with the stiffening of the feet.
I’m going to assign you a multi-step exercise. This exercise encompasses everything I want to instill in your heart and put into practice:
- Tensing the body, relieving the feet of all weight
- Strength Training for the Muscles
- Actively Revitalizing the Fantastic Inner Shoe
- The Joy of Movement for Your Joints
And you’ll need two handfuls of glass marbles. The classic little ones.
Make your feet happy. All the way to the crown of your head.
This challenging exercise can only be done barefoot. You can take a photo beforehand—one of the sole of your foot and one of the top of your foot. Take another photo after the exercise, put on your glasses, and marvel at the differences.
Part 1
A stool without a backrest. Sit on the front edge, high enough so that the backs of your knees are above your heels.
Sit on the stool, as far forward on the edge of the seat as possible. This way, only your pelvis rests on the stool’s surface, and your hip joints are free. Your thighs are suspended, and you’ll notice and feel the chain reactions you’re about to set off with the structures in your feet—on good days, all the way up to the head joint…
Bring your legs and feet together. Align the backs of your knees directly above your Achilles tendons. Using both hands, rotate your thigh muscles outward from your groins and into your groins.
Draw the sacrum into the body and, together with all the other vertebrae, visualize it rising toward the crown of the head; guide it upward. In your imagination, stretch the pelvis away from the stool, also toward the crown of the head.
Notice what happens in your lower back: Your sit bones move toward each other. That’s because this stretch, done while sitting on a stool, activates your deep muscles—including your pelvic floor!
Hold this delightful stretch. Say “ng ng ng” to yourself, let that “ng ng ng” flow into your skull, breathe it in, inhale it.
I recommend singing this “Ng ng ng” deep in your mouth. It lifts the root of your tongue and helps you maintain the tension.
Continue humming. Take small side steps with your toes; your heels follow with a tiny step, and your toes spread apart with yet another tiny step.
Keep your upper body straight and slightly arched, stretch forward a little, and look at your feet, which now form a gentle V.
Use the sides of your hands to stretch your groin further backward. Your body leans forward.
This is roughly what it should look like when you look down at your feet from above. They form a V, with your heels slightly closer together than your big toes.
The black dots indicate the spots where you can grab the marbles and, eventually, lift them. Really, I promise …
Now place a marble under the center of each heel.
Straighten your torso, draw your sacrum in, send your vertebrae up to the crown of your head, and hum “ng ng ng” deep inside your skull.
Place the backs of your hands on your thighs. Stretch the back of your right knee forward and the left hip socket backward and upward. Stretch the back of your left knee forward and the right hip socket backward and upward. Repeat each diagonal stretch three times.
Your legs should already feel as light as a feather.
Now imagine drawing the two marbles up toward your heels. Through the heel bone, through the ankle joint, through the fibula—without any effort. Draw, draw, draw…
Trust your senses: As the marbles are sucked in, it triggers a chain reaction—you’ll feel the impulse from your heels almost instantly in the seat of your pants. The ischial tuberosities realign the bony pelvis because the movement from the feet activates the innermost layer of the pelvic floor.
Sounds great? I think so, too. If you trust the two-marble method, alternate between sucking in the right, the left, and the right marble. The ischial tuberosities will respond on one side. All the joints in your feet, legs, and pelvis are involved in this weightless dance.
Here are the two spots again where the marbles should be placed: in the center of the transverse arch and in the center of the heel. During the actual “marble insertion” process, the marbles disappear into the flesh.
Now place two additional marbles under the arches of your forefoot. Suck in both marbles under your forefoot at the same time. 20 times. Alternate between left and right. 30 times.
Suck in the balls of your feet and the arches of your feet at the same time, on both feet. Alternate between the right foot and the left foot.
Relax. Cross your arms in front of your torso. Stretch your groins toward the wall. Stretch your hip sockets backward and upward, then squeeze them together. 20 times. On the 21st repetition, use that gluteal strength to stand up so that your knees stay where they are: over your heels.
If you can do that, you’ll hardly feel the marbles while standing still.
Part 2
Sit back down. Align and position yourself as described. Keep the sides of your hands in your groin to stabilize your pelvis. Grasp the marbles under the arches of your forefoot as if your foot were a hand. Alternate between right and left.
After 20 attempts, lift your working foot very slightly. Does the marble stay in place? Put it down and let the other foot have a turn.
Sooner or later, you’ll be able to stand up and take a few steps with the marbles under the balls of your feet.
From now on and forever: Walk as if you were holding a marble under the soles of your feet—that is, off the ground, off the ground, off the ground. The “Ng ng ng” helps.
Has this piqued your interest? Are you ready for more foot bliss?
If you’d like to see Benita Cantieni take a few steps with four marbles under her feet, if you’d like to learn more exercises, if you’d like to get rid of your shoe inserts, if you’d like to reverse your hallux valgus, varus, or rigidus, if you’d like to experience how footwork can make you happy – click here to register for the online foot-and-full-body workshop.
The foot exercise lesson is recorded and will be available to you in a separate classroom for one month. You can download the audio file to continue practicing. Practice makes for healthy feet.
You can find the dates and details for the next workshop here:
