​The human foot is a strong and complex mechanical structure containing 26 bones, 33 joints, (20 of which are actively articulated), and more than a hundred muscles, tendons and ligaments.

The two long bones of the lower leg, the tibia and fibula, are connected to the ankle bone to form the ankle.

The five irregular bones of the mid-foot form the arches of the foot, which serves as a shock absorber. The mid-foot is connected to the hind and forefoot muscles and the plantar fascia. The forefoot is composed of five toes and the foot has three arches.

​The strength of your arches depends upon two factors: the tone or tightness of the ligaments that hold the foot together, and the strength of the supporting muscles. When the ligaments are loose, or become loosened over time, we must make an extra effort to strengthen the supporting muscles.

Fallen arches can result in tendonitis and contribute to the development of bunions, shin splints and pains in the knees and hips. Due to the way our bodies are connected, they can even affect the lower back, neck and shoulders.

The human body, including the human and foot and human legs, evolved in order to provide us with the optimum mode of transport and that is what our body is designed for. Our body was not designed to wear shoes! Shoes can limit the flexibility of the foot and can lead to higher incidences of flexible flat foot, bunions and hammer toes.

So we can benefit greatly by going barefoot sometimes! Going barefoot can awaken muscles that have atrophied in our shoes, it can awaken nerve-endings and our balance system. It can mean that we develop a stronger body, have less joint pain, have better posture and more mobility.

By feeling the ground under our feet, we can wake up the vestibular (balance) system of the brain and use muscles in our feet we never knew we had. Using them can also help to tone all of our leg muscles.

Practising yoga and Pilates in bare feet can help improve so many foot conditions. As the muscles in the feet strengthen, it can help with plantar fasciitis, bunions and even arthritis as the foot develops greater strength, flexibility and blood flow.

Going barefoot can also give reflexology benefits. Reflexology is the process of stimulating nerves on the bottom of the feet to stimulate the immune system, reduce inflammation and pain, reduce blood pressure, reduce stress and tension and to stimulate many other healing processes in the body. Studies have shown great reflexology benefits to going barefoot and stimulating the soles of the foot.

Walking barefoot results in a more natural gait, allowing for a more rocking motion of the foot, eliminating the hard heel strike, thereby generating less force in the heel and the lower leg.

One of the biggest changes I see in people when they have been practising yoga and Pilates for some time is the improvement in their balance. Standing on one leg or raising up onto the toes and closing your eyes is a great way of testing your balance. The stronger the muscles in the feet, the easier it is to balance. Being able to balance can help not only with other sports, but also with everyday tasks and makes us far less susceptible to slipping and falling over.

So take those trainers off and try going barefoot sometimes. See the difference it can make!

I’ve been neglecting my lovely Pilates students in recent weeks, so this week we’re going to cover some Pilates exercises you can all do at home between sessions.

Warm Up — Roll Down

Stand up tall, with the feet about hip-width distance apart and the shoulders drawn up, back and down. Gently engage core muscles — refer to this article on finding your core if you need to know how to do this. Inhale and prepare for the movement. As you exhale, tuck your chin into your chest and begin rolling the spine downwards, allowing the weight of your arms to carry you down. As you move towards the floor, soften your knees and allow your hands to hang down as if your fingers have lead weights attached to them. Inhale at the bottom of the move, then as you exhale slowly rebuild the vertebrae in the spine until you come back up to a standing position.

Repeat up to 5 times.

Swan Dive

Lie on your front and open your arms out on the floor, aligning your elbows with your shoulders. Make a surrender shape with your arms and draw your shoulders back and down. With your eyes looking down, keep your neck in line with your spine. Engage your core muscles and tuck the pelvis slightly under. Inhale to prepare and, as you exhale, lift your chest from the floor, keeping the neck in line with the spine. To begin with, keep the movement small and your elbows and hands in contact with the floor, using them for stability as you lift, but keep the emphasis on lifting with the muscles in the back rather than those in your arms. If there is no discomfort in the lower back, you can increase the range of movement by lifting the elbows and forearms off the floor, ensuring the shoulders stay drawn down.

Repeat up to 10 times

The Hundred

Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor, a comfortable distance away from your bottom, arms by your sides. Find your neutral spine position and engage your core muscles. Soften your shoulders away from your ears.

Inhale to prepare. As you exhale, lift the right foot off the floor and bring the bent leg up so that the knee is over the hip and the shin is parallel to the floor, keeping the foot in line with the knee. Use your core muscles to maintain a neutral spine position and hold the leg in this position for five deep, even breaths. Concentrate on keeping your hips aligned. On the fifth exhalation, slowly lower the leg back to the starting position, using the core muscles to reduce any movement in the back. With the next exhalation, lift the left leg and repeat the movement, holding the position for a further five deep, even breaths. The goal is for the back to stay in a neutral position throughout the exercise.

To increase the intensity of the move, extend the lifted leg from a bent, right-angled position to a straight leg at an angle of approximately 45 degrees. Because the lever length — the leg, in other words — has been extended, it might be more challenging to maintain a neutral spine for the full five breaths. If you feel the lower back arching, bring the leg back to a right angle.

One Leg Circle

Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor, a comfortable distance away from your bottom, arms by your side. Find your neutral spine position and engage your core muscles. Soften your shoulders away from your ears.

Inhale to prepare. As you exhale, lift the right foot off the floor and bring the bent leg up so that the knee is over the hip and the shin is parallel to the floor, keeping the foot in line with the knee. 

Keeping the right knee bent, draw small, imaginary circles on the ceiling with the knee, ensuring that it remains directly above the hips. Inhale as the knee comes in towards the centre of the body, exhale as the knee travels away from the body. Perform five circles in each direction, trying to increase the size of the circle very slightly each time. Once you have drawn five circles in each direction, breath out and slowly lower the leg to its starting position. Repeat with the other leg. The challenge is to keep the hips in alignment and maintain a neutral spine position throughout the movement.

Ending The Session

End the session by drawing both knees into the chest, holding on softly around the shins and rocking gently from side to side, giving the sacrum a little massage.

Place the feet back onto the floor one at a time and take the arms slightly wide of the body. Let the shoulders soften into the floor. Inhale to prepare, exhale and allow both knees to drop to the right, letting them rest on the floor, keeping the shoulder blades in contact with the floor. Turn the head gently to the left. Hold for five slow, deep breaths. Inhale to prepare, exhale and draw the knees and head back to the centre and then all the way over to the left, gently turning the head to the right. Inhale to prepare, exhale and draw the knees and head back to the centre and then allow the legs to lengthen out along the floor.

Allow yourself to rest in this position for at least ten slow deep breaths.

And then you’re done!

The Yoga Sutras, written by the sage Patanjali in, scholars believe, the second or third century CE, are a collection of aphorisms which give us guidelines for living a meaningful and purposeful life. 

The first Sutra in Patanjali's third book says:

Desabandhas Cittasya Dharana

Here’s what those words mean:

Desabandhas — binding to one place
Cittasya — of the mind
Dharana — concentration

Dharana concerns the binding of the mind to one place, object or idea.

When the mind is caught up with one thing or attached to one place, it is in dharana.  This is the beginning of meditation. Concentration is the beginning of meditation and meditation is the culmination of concentration; they are more or less inseparable.

Here’s a real-life example of what I mean. Last week I was in the Lake District. Cumbria has been on my list for years and it’s crazy that it took me so long to visit such a beautiful part of the country. But better late than never!

We spent the first couple of days in a hotel looking out over Lake Windermere and it was quite difficult to stop ourselves just losing ourselves in the view from our room. The colours were bright and everything seemed so defined, so peaceful.

We did the usual touristy things, like catching a steam train from Haverthwaite Station so that we could get the Windermere steamer to Ambleside. It was wonderful to be in such beautiful surroundings. We really loved getting away from it all...

Or so we thought!

I’d been expecting walkers, dogs, families, mud and rain, but not the hordes of extreme tourists! What do I mean by “extreme”? I’m talking about coach-loads of people running — literally running — from one view or attraction to the next, taking photos, selfies, videos, chattering non-stop and complaining about not being able to find a seat in the tea shop!!

What struck me was not only the total disregard for anyone but themselves they showed, but the fact that they didn't seem to really see anything! 

Smartphones mean that we’re always able to capture an image instantly, then move on. I’ve read that there are currently around two billion smartphones being used around the world and based on the ultra-conservative assumption that we each upload about two photos a day to various Internet platforms, that means we take four billion photos a day! What are people trying to capture? Markers of memories, or just web-browser bookmarks for our lives?

Yoga teaches us to have more appreciation of what’s going on right now.

Here’s a relevant quote from my go-to book:

"True reality can only be found in the ‘now’. It does not exist in our thought stream, in the past or future, in our hypothetical conversations, self talk, distractions or chronic doings. As long as we fail to fully live in the present moment we fail to experience true reality."
 Bhava Ram, The Eight Limbs of Yoga

We’re missing something in our lives — me as much as anyone — and need to be able to stop and appreciate what’s right under our noses.