So often we ignore what we can’t see. How many of us make an effort to see our legs, much less stretch them on a daily basis? Unless you are a competitive athlete or professional dancer you probably don’t pay much attention to your stems. How many of us love to go shoe shopping? I would bet that most of you love it (or at least secretly love it and don’t want to admit it). The shoes we wear everyday constrict our feet and for about 90% of our day we don’t feel the soles of our feet sprawl out on the earth beneath us like our cavemen ancestors used to.Think of the human body as a tensegrity model. The tensegrity, a.k.a. tensional integrity model is often used to illustrate the dynamics of the musculoskeletal system. Tension holds up in space independent of gravity. Our ligaments, muscles and tendons hold us upright by pulling our bones this-a-way and that-a-way thereby exerting tension on the bones. Therefore, it’s essential to strike an equilibrium between the structures creating this tension so the entire structure, i.e. the human body maintains its upright integrity. True, our bones hold us up yet they don’t actually touch one another. Bones are attached to bones via tough fibrous connective tissues like ligaments and stretchy muscles and tendons. If examine the human body from this perspective, it’s fair to say that if one area is off kilter, the entire structure will be off kilter.

If you are an athlete or a professional dancer and train in a highly specified manner, your muscles, tendons and ligaments only see one side of the coin. For example, in my case dancing on my toes for hours a day shortens my Achilles tendons and contracts my calve muscles so much that these actions become physical samksaras engrained through muscle memory and I develop chronic knots and soreness. Even unthinkable mundane activities like shackling our feet with this relatively modern contraption called shoes, especially uncomfortably tight shoes or high heels, exert uneven stress on our “human tense integrity structure.” We are literally getting pulled out of whack! To reverse this and bring equilibrium back we need to lengthen the backs of the legs so they pull as evenly possible on the bones. Here’s where the yoga comes in…You can use various sequences and asanas to bring your body back to its physical and mental equilibrium.

YOGI TIDBIT TO TRY:

Watch this video for a simple calf stretch sequence to help alleviate tightness, soreness and stiffness.