Besides our backs,
the feet are the most neglected part of our body in our culture. We also neglect to realize what we can do to make our whole physical health better when we focus on the feet first. After all, in our culture, going "feet first" is a synonym for being dead. It's time to take off our shoes and to wake up and live.
Connect to a Yoga mat. Yoga s one
of the oldest surviving athletic activities that is practiced barefoot. True
Yoga practice becomes much like practicing a martial art. We use ancient Yogic
exercises called Bandhas, or “locks” to release internal stress from the body
and allow the muscles to function normally again. To get better abs from being
barefoot, you have to do some Yoga.
In the cultures of India and the Far
East where Yoga originated, the feet are not regarded as a “lowly” part of a
person. In the ancient Yogic traditions, people actually touch the feet of
their gurus, and sometimes even kiss them, as a sign of reverence. The leading
Yoga magazine
Yoga Journal calls the feet the foundation of the body as a
temple, as well as the body’s physical foundation. All cultural ideas aside,
the feet are indeed the foundation of the body.
Using the Pada Bandha. Pada Bandha
means “foot lock” in the Sanskrit language. The Pada Bandha is applied to raise
the arch in the sole of the foot while standing. This triggers the leg muscles
to tighten gently on the leg bones. The trigger from the arch send the same
signal through the pelvis and into the muscle groups that create the “pelvic
floor”. The muscle groups there support the weight of the abdomen
and keep the pelvis from moving too far.
YogaFit Trainer
Brett Barnes incorporates
the Pada Bandha into the fundamentals of the YogaFit Anatomy classes where he
has been training Yoga instructors for many years. He instructs his students to
engage to foot lock and subsequently the root lock, or Mula Bandha.
As
Lauren Imparato explains on
MindBody Green: “In Sanskrit mula means root, and thus Mula Bandha is the root
lock. To find it, sit, stand, or even be in an asana, and if you are a man,
contract the area between the anus and the testes. If you are a woman, contract
the muscles at the bottom of the pelvic floor, behind the cervix. Initially the
anal sphincter will also contract, but with time and practice you will be able
to hone in on the Mula Bandha region and leave the rest aside.”
The four groups of abdominal
muscles are triggered by the same signal from the feet, and they begin to
tighten so that the chest lifts and lets the abs work while they remain
long-that means you develop them evenly and don’t strain the back. The final
phase of the exercise is to engage the Mula Banda, to lock the muscles in the
lower, internal abdomen and slightly lift the digestive tract. When the lock is
released, the digestive tract relaxes and distress is removed from the interior
and the entire body’s stress level is reduced to improve calmness and
concentration ability.
So, not only can being barefoot
get you better abs, it will make you feel better all over. Using the Bandhas
restores the natural length of the abs in the process, so you can develop all
of each muscle instead of developing smaller areas that will make your
strength, your balance uneven, along with your ultimate well being.
