by Cirsten Verleger, Certified Advanced Rolfer® and Rolf Movement™ Practitioner
Draw on the innate intelligence of your feet
The soles of our feet are little wonders of sensuality. Packed with receptors, they gather vital information for our movement coordination. For instance, they detect how we distribute our weight. Knowing this enables our body to stabilise us in an automatic way that does not need our conscious intervention. This, in turn, facilitates effortless movement.
Listen to your feet
Do this little experiment: Stand upright, the feet hip-width, and ask yourself if your weight is more on your forefoot or more on your heel. Once you have decided, shift your weight intentionally slightly towards the toes. Can you sense your body’s reaction? Maybe your calf muscles tense up a little to prevent you from falling forward?
The following exploration can help you experience the effect that an optimal balance of one’s weight over the feet has on the whole body. In addition, at the end of this blogpost, you will find a link with inspirations for setting up a kind of barefoot adventure path in your living room. This way, you can prepare your feet for an active start into spring. Our bodies are made for effortless movement, and alert feet have a key role in this.
Draw on the power of the midline
Ideally, in standing, our weight should fall into the ground slightly in front of our shin bones. From there, the weight can distribute to the front and to the back part of the foot - and our calf muscles do not need to work as hard. Instead, we are bouncily ready to move in any direction.
However, you do not have to consciously try to find that spot. Just ask yourself: “Where is my weight falling into the ground just now?” By training your awareness, you revive your innate bodily intelligence, and your body learns to find its optimal coordination without your conscious intervention. The following exploration facilitates this and – as an added treat - feels great.
Wellness (not only) for your feet
Take a thick pair of winter socks and pull one sock over the other. Then, place the socks under your foot, at the spot you see in the figure - directly at the point where the front edge of your shin bone meets your foot.
Now sense where your bare foot touches the socks. Depending on their material, the socks will be firmer or softer. Just sense this. And the socks will have a certain temperature. And if you are very attentive, maybe you can sense the texture of the material. Is it a rather coarse woollen sock or a fine cotton sock?
After you have been sensing for some time, make tiny movements over the sock, as shown in the figure - from side to side, i.e. in and out. If you like, you can place a small, flat pebble into the sock. But be careful: it needs to feel good. People with harder soles generally benefit more from softness, while those with softer soles may find a flat pebble in the sock helpful.
Subsequently, place your foot on the ground again and sense. Take time for that. … Then, it is the other foot’s turn.
Real sensing needs practice
This is important: You need to sense what is. Even if you know that your sock will be somehow soft and what material it is made of, it does not suffice that your head knows this. No, your feet need to actually feel it. Knowing is processed in other parts of our brain than this sensuous information, which our body then uses to optimise our movement coordination.
Do you feel like you have no idea how to do this? No problem. Just ask yourself: “What temperature do I sense? Is it cold or warm?” “What kind of material do I sense? Is it soft or hard?” “Can I sense anything else?” – Such questions vivify your nervous system, and one day it will give you the answers.
Effortlessness through alert feet
Do you already walk barefoot a lot and are you used to sensing into your body? Then you are more likely to have recognized a different kind of presence of your foot on the ground after this little exploration. Did it feel more natural and somehow more connected? Was there maybe a feeling of relaxation and softness travelling up your leg, potentially as far as to your back?
If you felt that, you have gotten a first taste of how your body could feel after a Rolfing® session. Of course, during a Rolfing® process, we will awaken the whole body to bring it into relaxed alertness and effortless uprightness and movement.
Click here to find suggestions on how to build your personal “barefoot adventure path” in your living room.
Author: Text and drawings © Cirsten Verleger, Certified Advanced Rolfer® and Rolf Movement™ Practitioner, Dortmund, Germany.
Cirsten Verleger's Website & LinkedIn channel
Cover image: Copyright © Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash
Learn more about Rolfing® Structural Integration.
Find a Rolfer® or Rolf Movement™ Practitioner near you
More information on how to become a Certified Rolfer®.
Curious for more?
Sign up for our newsletter and receive regular information about Rolfing® Structural Integration.
