Mindful Walks for Foot Pain

Something to always keep in mind: your body is a sum of its parts, hard and soft, so when when our body is in movement, all parts of us follow suit. The body is fundamentally connected: the foot is ultimately connected to the neck, so pain in the foot could originate from neck function. Paying attention to the whole is always crucial.

Let’s hone in on the situation at hand (or foot!), though: our feet are made to be dynamic. Some therapists might have told you that you were “pro-nated”, perhaps someone told you your arches have fallen slightly or even “supinated”, which refers to your weight falling into the outside of your foot. Maybe I even told you things. What’s important to understand is that both conditions are proper in motion. When we fall forward into a step, our stepping foot should first “heel strike”:  your heel hitting the ground first. Once the heel strikes, we use the outer portion of our foot because putting our weight into the outer portion of our foot provides the most stability. To supinate is to find stability.  Once you supinate, the last part of taking a step is to roll into your big toe to “pro-nate”. The transition of this third step is what takes our foot from full supination to full pronation. Sounds a bit simple, but remember that the foot is designed to be dynamic, and we have two feet instead of just one, so when our feet function correctly, one foot successfully supinates, which enables the alternate foot to perform the heel strike simultaneously.

In many dysfunctional feet, folks are failing or skipping one step or another step in what seems to be a simple process. Walking is not something we think about while we walk, but we absolutely should. In my mindful walk, I focus on every motion from heel strike to big toe push off. We rarely pay attention to how taking a step feels, but if we did, we’d notice a good step always should feel like a rolling from the outside of your foot to the inside.  This takes more than a small amount of mindfulness, but don’t be discouraged! Try thinking about each of the steps the next time you take a stroll outside. You may experience a shift in the sensation in your feet as you attempt this exaggerated roll. As you proceed, take note of any alleviation or inflammation of your symptoms and bring that information to your next Rossiter session.