Our foundation
Do you ever think about your feet and what they do for you? If you think of your body as stacked blocks – feet, legs, pelvis, torso and head – your feet are a very small block supporting the rest of the larger blocks. That’s a lot of responsibility and opportunity for things to go wrong. Our feet are designed to give us the lift and spring to propel us forward. But a large percentage of us are not using our feet properly. This can be due to many things such as prior broken bones in the foot and leg, ankle sprains, knee injuries and tendon or muscle tears. Once injured we compensate to get away from the pain, but this resets the bio-mechanical movement pattern.
A new movement pattern results in some of us walking with our feet pointed out or in or maybe one of each. The best position for the feet while standing and walking is straight ahead with all the toes pointing forward. In this position the foot can work bio-mechanically correct. Feet in any position other than forward can potentially lead to collapsed arches, bone spurs, bunions, plantar fasciitis, knee, hip, back, neck and shoulder issues. In short, nothing else in the body works properly.
Why is the forward foot position so important?
We have 3 arches in our feet and they only work properly if our feet are pointed straight forward. The arches spread our body weight to the weight bearing points of the sole (heel, balls, toes and outside edge of the foot). The arches act as shock absorbers with their spring-like action. As the old adage goes, if you don’t use it you lose it. By going through the Structural Integration 10 series we can reset the bio-mechanical movement pattern and the feet and legs start functioning as they should.
Sessions are recommended once per week for 10 weeks but can be spread out more if necessary. Structural Integration may be reimbursed by your extended health insurance plan if you have massage therapy coverage. If you have questions and would like to do a consult you can easily book online by clicking this link Request an Appointment with Gwen
Submitted by Gwen MacLean, Certified Structural Integrator and Registered Massage Therapist