Yoga for feet & standing

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Our contact with the earth

© 2002 Swami Avinashananda Saraswati
164 Dryandra St, O'Connor, ACT 2602
phone (02) 6248 6315
www.saraswatiyoga.com
Feel free to use with acknowledgement.

In one of our first standing poses, tadasana, we are given the instruction
'Steady the body and distribute the weight equally on both feet.' (Asana,
Pranayama, Mudra, Bandha, published by Satyananda Yoga Ashram)

Take a moment to stop and stand, barefoot.
Feel how you contact the floor through your feet.
Does one instep touch more? (inner and outer difference of ankle and leg)
Does one foot turn out more than the other? (difference in rotation of leg)
How does your standing position influence the rest of your body?
Get a sense of which side lifts up, which side has less support.
What does this say about the character you are expressing?

Look at the soles of your shoes. Notice the wear pattern. Notice both the
pressure on the heels and balls, and also weight on inner and outer sides of
the foot.
Now stand again on your mat, just in a natural position for you.
Take your weight into the position your shoes say you take.
(When I gave this exercise in class, half the group emerged with smiles,
seeming to recognise something about themselves.)

Then take your weight evenly distributed over your feet.
Who is this person?
How does the rest of the body like this new position?

Now try walking.
Consciously try to roll the weight from the heel to the ball as your shoes
say you do. Can you find the movement that is natural to you?
Get a sense of the character that expresses.
Have a go at evening the weight transfer.
What changes does that bring to your way of moving? Which parts of the body
are brought into action that have been less used, less conscious?

This exercise will also bring new energy into the ida and pingala nadi's,
the left and right sides of the brain and body. The less occupied areas will
start to awaken.
Notice inside for any shifts of emotion or thinking that may come with this
exercise.
Continue this awareness into other standing poses.