Balancing feet

One of the most important things I learned in my training at the KORE academy is re-balancing feet in every treatment…This part of treatment can be missed out or overlooked for a variety of reasons, but it really does make the whole treatment more effective.

Now personally, I hate people working on my feet, I tolerate it because I know it does so much good, I’m sure that many share my feelings here…While the majority of us are happy to work on feet, because, well… they are just feet.. I have seen massage students visibly cringe and the thought of working on feet.. something they had to work through because it is a key part of treatment.

So why is it so important? Our bodies are constantly adjusting to pressures, loads and restrictions, our feet are amazingly designed to adjust to every one of these to keep us balanced so we can keep on moving, get to food and away from danger. If, for example, you were to go to a massage therapist for lower back pain, they work on your back, your hips, your neck…but don’t touch your feet…this treatment will help give you some relief, but your feet are still in the pattern which was used to adapt to the restrictions and imbalances causing and resulting from the pain you were experiencing, when you stand up after your treatment, your feet have not been re-balanced, so some of those restrictions will fall back in to place, reducing the effectiveness of the amazing treatment you just had.

Working on your feet, unwinding any tension and restrictions in them can make your treatment more effective and help those effects to last longer.

This doesn’t have to be restricted to the treatment room, releasing your feet on a regular basis can be a really handy bit of self care that can be integrated in to your daily life, making sure that your feet are balanced can help in your aims for better movement in general. For more info on balancing and strengthening your feet, and the benefits of spending more time bare foot, I suggest reading (or listening to) “Whole body barefoot” by Katy Bowman. Katy has a whole range of books, blogs and podcasts which are all really clear and interesting.

Simple things you can do at home are rolling a small massage ball under your feet, or sitting with your foot resting on the opposite knee, massaging your feet with some moisturiser (or even better, some magnesium lotion) these are 2 simple things that you can do at home in the evening, while you are relaxing and getting ready for bed. I love those small tweaks which can be easily integrated in to your daily life, as they say – every little helps.

Of course, this is a little adjustment to help keep you more balanced, If you have lots of stiffness and restrictions going on, its a great idea to also add in a regular Thai Massage to unwind those restrictions and stretch out your tension. Click the button here to book your appointment now