one of the things i am always studying is how to walk and stand.  the upper body depends on what we are doing below.  we are made of connecting tissue that warp and shrink as time and injuries, wear and tear occur.  i am fortunate that i was able to start, from  studying the works of tom myers tp://www.anatomytrains.com/ and also doing yoga studies with radhasri fogel http://www.hathayogashala.com/index.html and her teacher shandar remete http://www.shadowyoga.com/

i was on a ski lift last month and an elderly skier was telling me that his knee was acting up and i gave him some simple pointers to stabilize his knee while on a 10 minute ride up red chair on whistler (www.whistlerblack.com) i have had to make the work easy to do so that people that i work for can understand the concept of moving from the front body and letting the back body relax and elongate. 

tapping the big toe to initiate a connection to the inner knee connections.  setting up the front leg to hold the upper frame.  from the inner knee to the front hip bones.  engaging the leg to hook up with the abdominal muscles in the belly.  again, making the muscles in the front body engage into the walk/stand state.

when looking down at your feet, are they symmetrical.  are you aware of being on all four parts of your feet.  can you feel the heel, is it in the middle of the strike.  i remember one of my teachers saying that in the region of the heel, there is a point that has the potential to relax all the ligaments in the total body.  i have spent many hours looking for that point in my walk.  as all my clients can attest, i have a very strong fixation with the feet.  i have taken feet apart and put them back.  one client just commented that since the economical meltdown, he has not been able to work with me as much as in other years and his feet have curled back to his original state – his commitment is to return to the bodywork i do for him. 

another client had knees that swelled till they looked like a burl (A burl (British bur or burr) is a tree growth in which the grain has grown in a deformed manner.)   from the past three years with weekly sessions, his knee now looks normal and his neck and shoulders have relaxed its intensity.

when the lower body is not holding its optimum, the upper body in the lower back and neck and shoulders have to over engage to counterbalance the faults of the legs and the tilted hips.  the best way to hold the legs in line is to learn the big toe.  shandar remete, suggested in his workshop that the way to use the body is learn the legs, using mainly the muscles from the knee down.  that includes the knee joints, the ankles and the feet. 

i wont describe the usual ways that people work their leg body, because if you have lower back pain, you are doing it.  i am hoping to build this posting as i think of more things to include in it.  be aware, of yourself and others around you.  look at all the shapes.  look for symmetry. 

look down and shape your footing.  if the shape is that of a V, then understand that the back shape is not large enough to support the hips,  the space between the heels should be about two fists wide.

  if one foot is turned out, the pressure will be more on that one hip.  work the foot till it looks like the letter H.  that cool look that you are standing in will only result in a hip that shapes the lower back.  which then will zigzag up the spinal column. 

of course, if you are my client, you will have heard from me about the chung shi shoe.  http://footsolutions.com/vancouver/page-chung_shi.html  tell christian that i sent you in.  as a working mom, i need to make good networks so that i can make a living and i treasure the shoes i get from this shop.  i got a pair of mbt boots for all the shoes i have sold for him.  lol  ( i am looking foreward to getting a pair of chungshi boots for next winter!!!)

why do i love my chung shi technology!  they have a roller bar that resides under the arch which massages the instep as i walk.  it makes my foot have to move that extra few motions into the toe.  it makes the ankle roll and the achilles stretch that little bit more.  so every step is training the body to use the foot more and that in turn makes the leg more effecient.  ask any person who wears chung shi and you will hear the passion in the use.  as a bodyworker, i understand that my lymph system is more engaged.  the fluid that goes to the foot is pushed by all the pressure the shoe provides.  the sole creates the unstable platform that makes the muscles work harder.  the script for the benefits are long and please take the time to read them.

take care and walk consciously. 

call me if you have any questions that will make writing this even more informative.

book yourself  session at http://moneca.ca/yyoga-ca , i work there on thursdays, in the mornings.