Our feet are amazing structures. Even Leonardo DaVinci once said, “The human foot is a masterpiece of engineering and a work of art.”

A survey from The American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA) found that nearly 8 out of 10 Americans have foot pain. Furthermore, those who do report chronic foot pain are significantly more likely to have pain in other parts of their body.

This survey of 1,021 adults over the age of 18 found that people with chronic foot pain are more likely to have other health problems such as:

• 65% back pain
• 59% eyesight issues
• 58% joint pain / arthritis
• 56% weight issues
• 52% knee issues ¹

It’s not surprising that half of all adults say that foot pain has restricted their daily activities like walking, exercising, and even standing.

Most traditional therapies agree that your feet are critical for optimal health. In fact, there are entire systems of healing that rely solely on the health of the foot to treat conditions affecting your body.

Your foot is a strong, mechanical structure that contains 26 bones, 33 joints, and more than 100 muscles. The 52 bones in your feet make up one-quarter of all the bones in your body. Many health & wellness experts believe that when the bones of your feet lose functionality, so does the rest of your body.

Maybe most importantly, the APMA states that the average person takes 8,000 to 10,000 steps a day, which adds up to 115,000 miles in a lifetime. When you add up all those miles, you’ve just walked 4 times around the circumference of the globe. Yes, our bodies (and our feet) are designed for movement!²

In the Kaiut practice, we develop healthy, functional feet. It’s true, with all those bones and moveable joints, most of us have some restricted movement in our feet. Every time we take a step, there is a resonance that ripples upward through the body. When the movement of the foot is restricted, the wave that moves upward will also be distorted causing compensation patterns in the bony structure, as well as the soft tissue.

Poor foot function can have a fairly negative impact on the whole body. However, proper foot function and mobility can be improved over time with the Kaiut Method. Through the Kaiut practice, we use specific shapes (as well as time and gravity) to regain foot function and ankle mobility.

As we methodically work the joints of the foot, we gain access to the whole of our nervous system, the brain, the nerve endings throughout our bodies and the energetics of our systems. Over the course of time, many students report that as the foot returns to its natural design and movement, conditions like bursitis, arthritis and even plantar fasciitis improve beyond expectation. Somewhat surprisingly, many students also comment that their headaches lessen, their sleep improves, and their moods become more even as foot function and their entire body mechanics improve.

Our feet are an important aspect of improving our overall health and most definitely not something to overlook or ignore!

We love hearing your stories. If your feet have improved with the Kaiut Yoga method, contact us and share your story. If you’ve got a friend who is impacted by the pain in their feet, please pass along this post.

References:

1. Anson, Pat. “America’s Aching Feet”, National Pain Report, May 20, 2014.
http://nationalpainreport.com/americas-aching-feet-8823864.html

2. Ladhani, Alnoor. “Top 25 Most Interesting and Fun Foot Facts”, Foot Facts, July 26, 2016.
https://stepbystepfootcare.com/blog/top-25-interesting-fun-foot-facts/