June 1st was Vesak day, a day that commemorates the birth, enlightenment and death of Gautama Buddha. When visiting a temple or paying homage to the triple gem there is a traditional sitting etiquette to follow.
Our yoga asana this month closely resembles one of these polite ways to sit and honour the achievements of the Buddha. I thought it fitting that we focus on padazakatanasana this month, also known as toe stretch pose.
A very regal posture with an important job, and this leads me to my second inspiration this month, soothing the sole. Yes that’s right this month’s asana is literally a soul to sole experience!
The plantar fascia is the thick connective tissue which supports the arch on the bottom of the foot. It runs from the heel bone forward to the heads of the bones between each toe and the bones of the mid foot.
It has a very important function of supporting the soles of the feet and sometimes this area becomes injured from poor footwear, heaving jumping or excess running. It is also commonly diagnosed in individuals with poor foot biomechanics that stress the plantar fascia.
Flat feet or weak foot arch control muscles are two common causes of plantar fasciitis. I have seen this injury quite a lot over the last few months. Padazakatanasana is the answer to this problem.
Besides directly working the bottoms of the feet, this posture also focuses on opening the calves, another extremely important factor in treatment of plantar fasciitis and shin splints.
The tendons of the deep muscles of the calf wrap around and under the foot so extra tension or overuse of those muscles can put extra stress on the bottom of the foot.
This asana is so simple to perform, but if you have not paid your feet much attention before, I am not going to lie, you will feel this stretch! I like to think of the awesome benefit this pose is doing to soothe your soles and as you politely sit in padazakatanasana, you can also contemplate the ways of Buddha, for your soul.
Here is how we perform the toe stretch pose:
1. Sit in a kneeling position with the toes curled under and heels together.
2. Sit your bottom onto your heels with your shoulders stack on top of the hips.
3. Let more and more body weight settle onto the heels as time passes. It may be very difficult at first, but try to work your way up to holding this for two and a half to three minutes.
4. Breathe steadily, visualising the bottoms of the feet getting soft and gaining length. Soothing yourself from sole to soul.
Happy stretching!
See you next month.
Metta, Kim, oxo