Forrest Basics: Active Feet
Spent 25ish hours in the yoga studio over the past 4 days.
Managed to massacre my toe walking a few extra blocks to Starbucks in slippy shoes.
Ahhh, the irony.
The ginormous blistering occurred after my 2nd class yesterday, before teacher’s practice & assisting. Active Feet kept me functioning through those practices, but the walk home last night in shoes was a wincing, limping mess. There was much whining at home last night, 
and today I’m focusing on chillin’ & resting before the world spins back into action tomorrow. (Get to sub Lynne’s Forrest class tomorrow (Wednesday) night at Back Bay! It’s a large class usually & I want to honor the space she creates & her very deep, mellow vibe.)
That was all just a lead in to elucidating a crucial element of Forrest yoga: Active Feet. The purpose of active feet is to give a strong foundation for the knees/legs/hips/back & to keep you present & grounded in your body.
For active feet, press the heels & balls of the feet into the earth, the lift & spread the toes. The inner arch will lift & the whole foot wake up.
To try it out, lift one foot & point the whole foot from the ankle to the end of the toes, like a ballerina. Then flex just the toes back. It looks like you’re standing on tip toe in the air, or, my fave description, like “Karate Barbie Feet.” 
Place the foot down & continue to press down the ball & heel & keep the toes up.
Also, for healthy feet, spend more time barefoot in studios than wandering around in ill-fitting shoes.
Tags: Forrest Yoga
October 6th, 2009 at 6:20 pm
Ouch, sorry to hear about your toe! I was infamous for wandering about barefoot when I was a kid…which lead to many splinters, glass and nails in my feet. I never learned
October 6th, 2009 at 6:21 pm
Wish I could take class with you tomorrow night, I’m sure you’ll do great—remember to do your squats
April 27th, 2010 at 8:49 am
Good work, keep us posting, you are good writer.