Bending the toes in sitting
Explore various ways to bend your toes in their base joints: by lifting the heel, or by lifting the knee, or by actively bending the toes. Habits are challenged by shifting weight towards various end points: to the big toe or the small toe, or anything in between. Strategies include to direct the foot more through the ankle than trough the knee, taking more or less weight off the toes, exploring in standing vs sitting.
This lesson may help to re-activate a deep tissue reflex that's important for walking, and to become more aware of how-to use the feet for walking, and it's also might be useful for increasing the flexibility of the toes. This lesson aims to increase safety and awareness for movement, and possibly reduce foot pain, and hopefully (in the long term with regular practice) toe joint deformation such as with posture related hallux valgus, and chronic inflammation due to faulty gait patterns.
heels-under-pelvisfootanklewalkingUP3sittingstanding bending_the_toes_1
Sit on the edge of a chair – or your bed – sit on high, your thighs should be at least horizontal or slanting downwards towards your knees, stand your feet flat on the floor.
Sit and feel
Move your awareness to your right foot, feel how your foot is standing.
- Feel the weight of your leg pressing down on your heel, feel how each ball of each toe (metatarsal pads) is on the ground, feel your toes and their contact to the floor.
Don't wiggle or move your toes - or foot - in order to feel, but sit still, breath, sense.
Sit and feel
Move your awareness to your right foot, feel how your foot is standing.
Sit like before, but pull your right foot closer, more towards being under your pelvis, but move it only as far as the whole foot keeps standing on the floor, firmly, the heel must not lift off the floor.
Lift your right heel
Lift your right heel a little bit off the floor, so that your toes bend at their base joint.
- Move slowly. Only lift your heel a little bit, less than one inch. Your toes must stay on the floor.
Feel the base joints of your toes bend. Feel how more and more weight is shifted gradually onto your toes.
Then return your heel to firmly stand on the floor again.
Lift your right heel
Lift your right heel a little bit off the floor, so that your toes bend at their base joint.
Sit like before. Take a long scarf, place the middle of it under your knee, cross the scarf behind your knee, and hold both ends above your knee with both hands.
Right heel be lifted
Pull on the scarf's ends to lift your knee, let your leg hang down passively, feel your toes bend at their base joints.
- Your toes and their base joints must stay on the floor at all times. Yet weight comes off your toes, instead of your toes pressing harder against the floor.
Lift your knee slowly and delicately enough for you to feel your heel being lifted, gradually, and the base joints of your toes being bent, gradually.
Right heel be lifted
Pull on the scarf's ends to lift your knee, let your leg hang down passively, feel your toes bend at their base joints.
Sit like before, stand your right foot a bit further away to the front than before.
Lift toes of right foot
Lift the toes of your foot. See how you do it. Does your small toe lift just as well as your big toe?
- Don't tighten up, relax your shoulders, your jaw, keep breathing rhythmically.
Simply lift your toes and let them drop to the floor again, a couple of times.
Lift toes of right foot
Lift the toes of your foot. See how you do it. Does your small toe lift just as well as your big toe?
Sit like before, with your right foot standing a bit further away from you to the front.
Roll foot onto edges
Roll your foot to lean on the inside edge, then on the outside edge.
- Once allow your knee to move right and right, then keep your knee still and do the movement only with the ankle of the foot.
Do this often enough for the movement to be fairly clear to you.
Roll foot onto edges
Roll your foot to lean on the inside edge, then on the outside edge.
Sit like before, with your right foot standing a bit further away from you to the front.
Curl in your toes
Curl in your toes as if you would like to pick something up with your toes.
- Once lean your foot on the inside edge and curl in your toes: pull the tip of your big toe closer to your heel.
Then lean your foot on the outside edge and curl in your toes.
Then stand squarely on your foot and curl in your toes.
Curl in your toes
Curl in your toes as if you would like to pick something up with your toes.
Sit, again pull your right foot closer, more towards being under your pelvis, but move it only as far as the whole foot keeps standing on the floor, firmly, the heel must not lift off the floor.
Lift right heel towards each toe
Lift your right heel off the floor, each time towards a different toe.
- Move slowly. Feel the base joints of your toes bend.
Feel how more and more weight is shifted gradually onto your big toe, your 2nd, 3rd, 4th and little toe.
Feel towards which toe it is the easiest, most comfortable.
Lift right heel towards each toe
Lift your right heel off the floor, each time towards a different toe.
Sit like before
Circles with the heel
Lift your right heel towards bending your big toe, then roll all the way to the small toe, then lower your heel again.
- You roll over the base joints of the toes of your right foot, one by one. Viewed differently, it's circles with the heels.
Change directions.
Feel where it's a circle, where there are edges, or pockets, different shapes emerging.
Circles with the heel
Lift your right heel towards bending your big toe, then roll all the way to the small toe, then lower your heel again.
Sit like before
The Don't-Do-That! reflex
When you lift your heel and the weight rolls over the balls of your toes you might experience a sudden jerk or shaking.
- This shaking is a deep tendon reflex (maybe reminiscent of or similar to the Plantar reflex or Stepping Reflex).
You probably have been told in the past to suppress this kind of shaking. That's why I call it the Don't-Do-That! reflex.
This reflex is like a boost for each step in your walking. Allow this shaking to happen. Learn it. Make use of it in walking.
The Don't-Do-That! reflex
When you lift your heel and the weight rolls over the balls of your toes you might experience a sudden jerk or shaking.
