Thank you pinky toe! Small and powerful.

How the pinky toe can change your body and spiritual mindedness.

Anusara Yoga Instructor, Elizabeth Goodman, takes an intricate look at The Svadharma of the Pinky Toe. She inspects the duty or calling of this tiny phalange. The little guy on the end that may fall under the neighboring toe, or have such a tiny nail that polish can barely hang on, or it sticks out of your shoes or scrunches in to fit in a pair of shoes:

The pinky toes are homely looking things, they do not fit well into most women’s shoes, they rather painfully bump into things, and they are hard to move independently. They are not essential for living and do not have the emotional charge of the heart and brain, the exquisite connection to the world of the sense organs, or the connection to life itself of the lungs.

The point is, that this little pinky toe has the ability to change the whole body.As she continues with:

Despite this, the call to lift and spread the toes, to draw the pinky toe toward the heel, or the hip happens just about every time I go to the mat in my practice or teach a class. Activating the pinky toe by opening it and spreading it apart from the other toes is a conscious act of opening that helps hug the shins to the midline. In hugging the shins in by means of activating the pinky toe, the yogi on the mat can then safely move the thighs back and apart, creating an expansion of the pelvic floor that provides room for more strongly tucking under the tailbone to access core power.

It’s a great reminder of the function and form of the human body. And upon greater examination, the pinky toe’s power is a great lesson for life off our yoga mats:

Off the mat, when all parts of the whole are fully conscious of and know their svadharma, the whole will itself have more consciousness, more light, and better experience the bliss of being. It is easy to see, without judgment or question, that the pinky toe cannot do the work of the heart, although when the pinky toe is working it can help contribute to an integration of mind and body that will further the opening of the heart and thus the whole person.

Stretch out so you can hug in. Thank you pinky toe!

Read more at www.rosegardenyoga.com

Are toe socks better for your feet?

YES. And now let me explain.

Sure, they feel a little weird when you first put them on…but in that ‘weirdness’ lies the magic. Your toes are spreading. I know, it doesn’t seem like that big of a deal. But think about it - wearing regular athletic socks draws the toes together, making them act as one unit. The purpose of the toes is to spread and anchor to the floor to help the body balance and stay aligned. By restricting this natural movement, you are inhibiting the body’s design and function. When toes spread, blood circulation increases and other muscles are activated.

The human foot is a remarkably well-design instrument with 26 bones, 33 joints, 20 muscles, and hundreds of sensory receptors, tendons and ligaments. The action of spreading the toes signals the shins, which signal the thighs, hips, and back. The smaller foot muscles, like the abductors, are commonly atrophied due to lack of use. When the toes spread out, these small muscles are used and strengthened, promoting foot health, cell renewal, and full-body support.

Toe socks are exercise for your feet even while wearing shoes.

Something they’re not.

To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Look at your feet. You’ll probably find five toes on the left foot and five toes on the right. Wiggle those digits and spread them wide. It might feel liberating or it might feel a bit straining (especially if you haven’t stretched your toes in a while). Now, appreciate the design of your body; there is an intention for how we are made. Our toes, each significant, separate to allow us to grip the ground, spring our bodies into motion, and help us stand still and straight.

However, whether for fashion, fitness, hygiene or comfort, we put our feet into shoes forcing our toes to squeeze in and act as one unit. Something they’re not.

We don’t wear one-legged pants or shirts with no sleeves, so why would we put our feet in one tube? How inhibiting is that? It’s time to think differently about what we put on our feet.