Massage Your Feet at Home

How Can You Massage Your Feet?

One of the concerns expressed by some clients who get massage, structural integration and craniosacral therapy is that after a few days, their bodies start to go back into the old habit of movement.

My observation, especially after working with the fascia for so long, is that people continue to change after the session. Once the fasica has been touched or manipulated in any way, it changes the rest of the continuous web of connective tissue that envelopes the body.  After a 10 series of SI, the body has been taken into new places from different angles and various degrees of depth to bring the body back into structural integrity. The body is then in a work of process for many months while the body learns to integrate in a new way.

However, during sessions, while the work in my personal opinion, can be life altering, not everything can be “fixed”.  Often clients do come in wanting to feel great after a session or two with strong expectations.  While Massage and Bodywork can do wonders, it does take time create the habits that result in your personal posture.  So, it is helpful to think that it takes time and also personal responsibility to shift imbalances into correction. The body will shift and remold if you receive good work and re-educate the physical with new movement.

What I would like to recommend today is to take a look at your feet.  If you are walking around on the earth with stiff feet, how are you going to create positive change in the rest of your body.  We are so accustomed to wearing shoes for running, walking, playing that we have forgotten how to feel the natural movement of the naked foot on the ground.  In order to find balance in your body, explore your foot and how it rests on the ground.  Listen to the stiff areas and become mindful of how you relate as a whole to your feet.

Once you have a good idea of how your feet feel and move, look for ways to improve mobility, range of motion and flexibility.  An easy thing to do is to stand on one foot and build strength in the line of your leg.  Personally, I like to practice foot relationship on a body roller that is cut in half.  They are relatively inexpensive, easy to play on, and only a few minutes each day can make a profound change in how you walk.

Massage in Columbus

Free your feet!

 

Each morning, start your day by placing your foot on this roller and explore with different positions to release foot tension.  Notice how the alignment in your whole body starts to shift as your heels come down or your arch begins to relax. You might feel so much better than you feel like your feet have been massaged for an hour:)  There are also good sport classes such as gyrotonics and tai chi that will help you reconnect to the feet better as well!

When you visit your favorite Massage Therapist or bodyworker, she will have a much easier time getting into the foot and the more relaxed tissues of the leg.

Massage is a great way to awaken and open the body, but taking personal responsibility on a daily basis for physical change exponentially impacts the body in a healthy way.  This foot exercise is an easy way to begin self-care for your posture.

If you have any further questions, call Sharon Hartnett LMT for a free 15 minute phone consult.

Warmly,

Sharon Hartnett LMT 

740 966-5153  

For a ball roller, look at:

www.optp.com