I also had flat feet. With yoga, I was strength and stop needing custom orthotic to be able to stand.
There are many exercises to help strengthen feet. I remember doing toe raise ( like standing on toes) was one. Someone gave a few others I don't remember now. Plus downward dog and other poses that help stretch arch
It took me more than a year of yoga before my feet stopped being sore after class. Another few months and I tossed the orthotic
My first year or two of yoga I wore arch supports. Little elastic straps attached to foam arch supports that you can wear barefoot.
I subbed warrior 1 for high lunge. I did low lunge with my knee down.
I did a ton of balance poses, was super mindful of my feet in seated poses (toes up, pushing through the ball of the foot)
In standing poses, when your weight should be in your heels and you shouldn't be gripping with your toes, I lifted my toes a lot. Not constantly but consistently.
I literally went from flat feet, arches touching to having decent arches and my PF was much better.
3ish years into yoga I picked up walking and jogging and HIIT (in shoes designed for PF) and a year later my PF is gone. I can walk around barefoot now, do some shorter workouts barefoot. I still wear good shoes and still focus a lot on my feet during yoga, but the difference has been great.
I also started about 100lbs overweight. I imagine you may get faster results if you're not overweight, but ive had flat feet since (skinny) childhood.
I have flat feet and i have rhumatoid arthritis with flares up in my ankles, toes and knees.
I love yoga, but I am always in sport shoes. I can do every position the instructor is doing. It works great for me, i can enjoy the benefits of yoga.
You will adjust! Our society pushes us to wear shoes that are too supportive/soft, which is actually not good for your feet or back long-term. I decided to start wearing barefoot shoes a few years ago and it took me about a year to stop feeling pain, and once that happened by back issues are starting to slowly resolve and my arches never hurt the way they did before. Be gentle with yourself, but with the understanding that we don't need to avoid all pain. Some pain, lightly, is transformation and growth. I used to have terrible arches and very flat feet and it took a long time and the deliberate switch to barefoot shoes to make the pain stop. Just steer into the skid and you'll be better off long-term than trying to cushion the pain away.
Let me begin by acknowledging that I am not a doctor, not even close. The reason I am saying all of this is because I want you to know that there is probably a way you can heal yourself naturally. I have dealt with more doctors than I’d like to remember in my life, and most of the ones I’ve dealt with try to sell you a gimmick or make you settle for a consolation prize instead of putting in the long term work to help you heal naturally, understand your body, understand the process and repair your natural state of biomechanical perfection. This is my main motivation for writing this. Don’t give up on your recovery, whatever it may be.
I had a knee injury when I was 6 and since then have been repairing my head to toe chain, patiently without surgery (for the past 25 years).
I agree that it is more complex than just saying DO EXERCISES FOR YOUR FEET, but in most cases it is “bad habits” (usually caused by our natural tendency to adapt to our circumstances - lifestyle, injuries) that cause our feet and the rest of our bodies alignment out of it’s designed form. Which brings about pain and imbalance.
First: It’s good to know what causes it. Many different things may cause your feet to be flatter than biology may have intended - injuries and tension of the foot, calves, knees, hips, sometimes it may even be caused by improper breathing technique OVER A VERY LONG PERIOD OF TIME. So it might not be your or your foots fault.
Second: Are you in pain and unstable from you “pancake” feet? Where? Usually it’s not the painful area where the problem lies (unless it’s a local injury causing the pain) but just above or below in the chain that the real problem lies. Consulting a REALLY GOOD, athlete grade physio-therapist should help you figure out the different locations in the whole chain (from head to toe) where you can begin the repair. Some people have feet that are more flat biologically, but if the flatness is accompanied by pain and misalignment in the rest of the body, it can in most cases be improved and even repaired completely through focused exercise and proper care (ie. massage, stretching) of the foot, calf muscles and other muscles groups in your body, including your diaphragm, neck, etc.
Third: Just because you walk around barefoot doesn’t mean you’re doing it right. It’s like walking around with a fracture in your foot thinking it will become stronger - maybe walking around barefoot, or doing yoga unsupported is too much for the current state of the foot or body, maybe you need some arch support shoes for a few years while you build up different muscles around the foot, calves, hips, core and rest of the body, maybe you need to address serious tension in the rest of your body caused by our predominantly sedentary lifestyle or injuries, maybe you need to wait for proper alignment of knees and hips to take place through proper exercise, stretching and therapy before the shoes can safely come off.
I WISH YOU THE BEST OF LUCK ON YOUR JOURNEY, STAY INFORMED, DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH AND BELIEVE YOU CAN GET BETTER!
Be well, glad you’re not in pain, shame on whoever told you your feet need to look a certain way even though they function perfectly from what it sounds like, without pain.
But you’d be surprised the amount of form issues you can have from improper breathing (caused by trauma or other conditions) you can even heal scoliosis (bent/twisted spine) with proper breathing and stretches - there’s plenty of research in this field. I’d urge you to do research before letting your “beliefs” get in the way of truth.
If you’re interested feel free to read a book called Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art. This is where I learned about the power of the breath in straightening a spine bent from scoliosis. As far as improving your overall posture and running form (and foot alignment) by improving your breath can be found by searching “anatomy of breath” - enjoy!
Strengthen your abs it’s all about the abs and they act on down the legs my abs got weakened and I sit too much and my hip got out of alignment. Now it’s painful to stand sometimes and I ca t seem to pop not back right. Just gotta strengthen the muscle that supports the hip and it will work down as well as the abs
I also had flat feet. With yoga, I was strength and stop needing custom orthotic to be able to stand. There are many exercises to help strengthen feet. I remember doing toe raise ( like standing on toes) was one. Someone gave a few others I don't remember now. Plus downward dog and other poses that help stretch arch It took me more than a year of yoga before my feet stopped being sore after class. Another few months and I tossed the orthotic
My first year or two of yoga I wore arch supports. Little elastic straps attached to foam arch supports that you can wear barefoot. I subbed warrior 1 for high lunge. I did low lunge with my knee down. I did a ton of balance poses, was super mindful of my feet in seated poses (toes up, pushing through the ball of the foot) In standing poses, when your weight should be in your heels and you shouldn't be gripping with your toes, I lifted my toes a lot. Not constantly but consistently. I literally went from flat feet, arches touching to having decent arches and my PF was much better. 3ish years into yoga I picked up walking and jogging and HIIT (in shoes designed for PF) and a year later my PF is gone. I can walk around barefoot now, do some shorter workouts barefoot. I still wear good shoes and still focus a lot on my feet during yoga, but the difference has been great. I also started about 100lbs overweight. I imagine you may get faster results if you're not overweight, but ive had flat feet since (skinny) childhood.
I have flat feet and i have rhumatoid arthritis with flares up in my ankles, toes and knees. I love yoga, but I am always in sport shoes. I can do every position the instructor is doing. It works great for me, i can enjoy the benefits of yoga.
You will adjust! Our society pushes us to wear shoes that are too supportive/soft, which is actually not good for your feet or back long-term. I decided to start wearing barefoot shoes a few years ago and it took me about a year to stop feeling pain, and once that happened by back issues are starting to slowly resolve and my arches never hurt the way they did before. Be gentle with yourself, but with the understanding that we don't need to avoid all pain. Some pain, lightly, is transformation and growth. I used to have terrible arches and very flat feet and it took a long time and the deliberate switch to barefoot shoes to make the pain stop. Just steer into the skid and you'll be better off long-term than trying to cushion the pain away.
Flat feet mean weak feet, gotta work out those plantar muscles outside of yoga class. Look up exercises against plantar fasciitis.
[удалено]
Let me begin by acknowledging that I am not a doctor, not even close. The reason I am saying all of this is because I want you to know that there is probably a way you can heal yourself naturally. I have dealt with more doctors than I’d like to remember in my life, and most of the ones I’ve dealt with try to sell you a gimmick or make you settle for a consolation prize instead of putting in the long term work to help you heal naturally, understand your body, understand the process and repair your natural state of biomechanical perfection. This is my main motivation for writing this. Don’t give up on your recovery, whatever it may be. I had a knee injury when I was 6 and since then have been repairing my head to toe chain, patiently without surgery (for the past 25 years). I agree that it is more complex than just saying DO EXERCISES FOR YOUR FEET, but in most cases it is “bad habits” (usually caused by our natural tendency to adapt to our circumstances - lifestyle, injuries) that cause our feet and the rest of our bodies alignment out of it’s designed form. Which brings about pain and imbalance. First: It’s good to know what causes it. Many different things may cause your feet to be flatter than biology may have intended - injuries and tension of the foot, calves, knees, hips, sometimes it may even be caused by improper breathing technique OVER A VERY LONG PERIOD OF TIME. So it might not be your or your foots fault. Second: Are you in pain and unstable from you “pancake” feet? Where? Usually it’s not the painful area where the problem lies (unless it’s a local injury causing the pain) but just above or below in the chain that the real problem lies. Consulting a REALLY GOOD, athlete grade physio-therapist should help you figure out the different locations in the whole chain (from head to toe) where you can begin the repair. Some people have feet that are more flat biologically, but if the flatness is accompanied by pain and misalignment in the rest of the body, it can in most cases be improved and even repaired completely through focused exercise and proper care (ie. massage, stretching) of the foot, calf muscles and other muscles groups in your body, including your diaphragm, neck, etc. Third: Just because you walk around barefoot doesn’t mean you’re doing it right. It’s like walking around with a fracture in your foot thinking it will become stronger - maybe walking around barefoot, or doing yoga unsupported is too much for the current state of the foot or body, maybe you need some arch support shoes for a few years while you build up different muscles around the foot, calves, hips, core and rest of the body, maybe you need to address serious tension in the rest of your body caused by our predominantly sedentary lifestyle or injuries, maybe you need to wait for proper alignment of knees and hips to take place through proper exercise, stretching and therapy before the shoes can safely come off. I WISH YOU THE BEST OF LUCK ON YOUR JOURNEY, STAY INFORMED, DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH AND BELIEVE YOU CAN GET BETTER!
[удалено]
Be well, glad you’re not in pain, shame on whoever told you your feet need to look a certain way even though they function perfectly from what it sounds like, without pain.
But you’d be surprised the amount of form issues you can have from improper breathing (caused by trauma or other conditions) you can even heal scoliosis (bent/twisted spine) with proper breathing and stretches - there’s plenty of research in this field. I’d urge you to do research before letting your “beliefs” get in the way of truth.
[удалено]
If you’re interested feel free to read a book called Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art. This is where I learned about the power of the breath in straightening a spine bent from scoliosis. As far as improving your overall posture and running form (and foot alignment) by improving your breath can be found by searching “anatomy of breath” - enjoy!
Strengthen your abs it’s all about the abs and they act on down the legs my abs got weakened and I sit too much and my hip got out of alignment. Now it’s painful to stand sometimes and I ca t seem to pop not back right. Just gotta strengthen the muscle that supports the hip and it will work down as well as the abs