There are 26 bones that make a foot. Together, both feet contain a quarter of all the bones in our body. That in and of itself is a great fact. So, it is no wonder that many people are enthusiastic about feet. From a linguistic point of view, I like the transformation of the letters between ‘f’ and ‘t’ from one ‘foot’ to two ‘feet.’ Surely, there are a lot more amazing facts about feet.
It was summer when I met a bunch of those self-proclaimed foot nerds online for four consecutive classes. Bowspringers from different countries joined together to learn more about their feet and how to take good care of them in daily life so that we can rely on them for a much longer time. For a brain worker like me, this was very interesting. My mental need to learn something was met by theory.
And then something happened that many Bowspringers call body-mind relation or even body-mind evolution. My body did exercises, and I understood both physically, and mentally what changes occurred in the body as a result. The more I learned and knew about my body, the easier it was to do various exercises.
At first, it was very difficult to lift individual toes. I don’t mean collectively, but for example, only the big and the little toes and then vice versa: then the middle three toes. But with a little practice, it was very easy. My understanding of the feet has completely changed. I have so much respect for these 26 bones, which together with muscles, tendons, ligaments, and fascia form my feet and make me walk, run, and jump. It is a miracle how many different movements start in the feet and how much weight they have to (and can) carry every day. Feet are amazing. I would also like to be a foot nerd.
So, I started digging into all kinds of books about feet, buying myself balls to massage my feet, and putting more awareness into my feet. I observed them when I walked and when I stood still for a while. I watched the position of my feet as well as the weight shift during walking. I now also make a lot of movements with my toes and feet under the table while doing my screen work.
I am glad that I met the foot nerds. They are physiotherapists, anatomy teachers and much more, who have inspired me. What I learned from a book written by someone working with biomechanics; the status of the feet is simply a current status, and it is never too late to change it. There is always something you can do to change shape and flexibility. That makes me very optimistic. I also noticed it myself when I was wearing high heels and climbing shoes. They squeezed my toes together and made the footprint tighter. Now that I stopped wearing those shoes and I walk barefoot a lot, my toes have spread again in a more natural way. There is hope for everyone. There are barefoot shoes. There are exercises. And last but not least: there are foot nerds who can accompany you and help you improve the status of your feet and thus your overall well-being. Go ahead. Let’s meet the foot nerds. Online or in real life.
© Barbara Neubauer 2021-11-02