Backwards, to Bounce

My sneakers are light and cushion my steps. They give me spring even when I'm feeling fatigue. Unfortunately, I get a little lost in them. I get soft in them..
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Our bodies are made to pump on their own: to stretch, suspend, relax and come down, again. We have certain curves that are excellent at this: our cervical curve (the neck), our lumbar curve (the lower back) and the curve of our legs -- the reason why dance teachers harp on about unlocking the knees. The diaphragm is a horizonal curve. It curves up and down and keeps our lungs pumping. We think about the diaphragm a lot in yoga, because it can give us insight into how to connect everything.
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But, there's another curve that often goes unnoticed: the arch of the feet.

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I had a teacher, named Regine, who once told me to feel the bottom of my feet, just before the pads of the heel, where the arch starts. She called this area 'the heart' of the feet, even though it's not in the middle. It's the spot where pressure comes down through the legs and goes either forward, through the toes, or back, through the heels. And, that spot, it turns out, can be far more active than we think. It can act like very subtle pump.

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In other words, our heels don't just stand there. When our toes reach out, they're reaching back. Or, to put it in the most dramatic way, our feet have the dynamics of the claws of birds of prey.

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Standing Exercise #1

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1) Stand barefoot on a pleasant, firm surface. Knees unlocked and head floating, happy and round as a helium balloon.

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2) Imagine that you're wearing skis. The skis go in both directions until out of sight. Give special attention to the back half of the skis. We spend our lives looking down and into mirrors and already have a pretty good sense of 'front.' (We often have a good sense of other people's butts. But that's where our sense of 'back' usually ends.)

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3) Feel how this image -- skis going out, forward and back -- gives a sense of direction to your feet and, thus, reinvigorates them. When a part of the body snaps out of it after it has been half-asleep, other parts can finally relax. Can you feel where you relax -- where your weight falls better -- somewhere else?

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4) Imagine that spot towards the beginning of the arch of your feet, towards the heel -- the heart. Imagine it letting go of tension and opening up. Don't force anything. Just imagine and invite. Do you feel the pressure from your body going more clearly in different directions? Do you feel your arches becoming light? If you normally stand with your weight back on your heels, do you feel your body moving slightly forward, realigning itself? Is your weight more evenly displaced? When you breathe, do you feel a slight pumping effect in your feet?