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Be strong then, and enter
into your own body;
there you have a solid place for your feet.
Think about it carefully!
Don’t go off somewhere else!
From the Kabir Book by Robert Bly
3. The Arches of the feet 3/12/03
Alignment starts with our arches being raised rather then pronated or collapsed. This is a shift that can consciously be made to maintain our lower body alignment. If you are a runner or jogger I would suggest you work with this idea because if there is pronation then the severity of running can compound non-alignment throughout the body. This can show up over time as ankle, knee, hip and back problems. The other side of the coin would then be, running while maintaining an arch, compounds alignment.
In the 1980’s a Doctor of some 50 years told me as we were discussing physical alignment, that when the jogging craze hit in New York City the staff doctors noticed a marked increase in lower body problems, including the lower back, showing up at the hospital!!
I could say a lot more on this subject but, I leave you with the basic idea, you may try it and see what evolves. Any feed back on this will be helpful.
Being aware of having an arch and also relaxed knees while walking, helps us to reverse the tendency to pronate. This is a feeling-understanding that will illustrate itself as you work with the simple idea of maintaining the arches in your feet.
To start feeling this, raise your arches by shifting the weight of the body as it is flowing down in to the ground through the outside pads of the feet, with relaxed knees. This will reverse the feeling of collapsing the arch and locking the legs. Now stand with locked knees and a collapsed arch to experience the difference. Go from a collapsed arch to standing with the arches in place while the knees are relaxed, do this move three or four times and feel the differences. This will help you get a feeling understanding of the good sense that having an arch makes. You can then try walking with the different feelings of collapsed arch and locked legs as well as walking with your arches in place and your knees relaxed. The differences are experiential and will give you a better understanding of the different feelings of using your legs and feet to promote alignment for your body.
Posted by Harmon
Comments
Harmon,
As I have been using the SpiritRiser (mini-trampoline) very regularly, one of the things that I have noted is that how I have my feet and heels makes a hug difference in how I experience bouncing, and I think this may relate to my arches. Do you have any experience on a SpiritRiser?
Posted by: Jordan on March 21, 2003
Hi Jordan
No I have not tried the Spirit Riser. But I do occasionally get to play on a larger trampoline when visiting my grandson. Great workout! (since the writing of the article I have used the mini trampoline and have found it rewarding.)
Yes, you can use this apparatus to see what happens when you go to the outside of the foot vs. what happens to your balance when you allow the arch to collapse. This gives us a feeling for the sense of maintaining a feeling of the arch as we walk.
This then becomes an awareness that is helpful for having lower body alignment, all that is required to change a flat footed situation is the conscious change of working to create the arches of the feet. Even though this may feel artificial at first it works with everyone I present it to.
What ever the physical exercise this can make a huge difference in performance since the interaction of the feet with the ground is in a more dynamic relationship. I would assume that the difference you feel in power or height is directly linked to how you are positioning the feet and pushing off the surface of the mini Tramp.
Posted by: Harmon 3/22/03
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