A (7)

PHALANX

METATARSAL

METATARSOPHALANGEAL

(MTP) JOINT

your practice

Body of knowledge

Feel more solid and grounded

by strengthening your big toes.

By Ray Long, MD

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ANATOMY

SOMETIMES THE SMALLEST ADJUSTMENT

makes all the difference in how comfortable

and stable you feel in a yoga pose. Consider

your big toes, for example. You may think

they function unconsciously, especially

during tasks such as balancing on one

foot. But paying more attention to, and

adjusting, your big toes during asana

practice can revolutionise your alignment

and balance, instilling a calming sense

of groundedness. For instance, the next

time you are in Uttanasana (Standing

Forward Bend), notice where the weight in

your feet is. Many of us practice with our

hips back and our weight in our heels.

This prevents you from stacking your bones

in a way that allows you to stabilise, and

could strain your hamstring attachments

at the pelvis. But a simple, mindful big-toe

adjustment can create stability in the

bones, ligaments, and muscles of the feet,

enhancing the mind-body connection and

creating a secure foundation for safe and

comfortably aligned poses.

So how does the anatomy work? Muscles

in your big toes support the ligaments and

bones that make up your arches. Healthy

arches (as opposed to fallen ones)

act like shock absorbers, transmitting

kinetic forces, or the forces of motion, up

through the ankles to the knees and up

the kinetic chain of the body, potentially

causing issues with alignment, joint health,

and muscle strength. For example, weak

big-toe flexors, the muscles that bend the

toe, may change the strength and

effectiveness of your largest glute muscle,

gluteus maximus. And the glute max is

critical in supporting most poses. For

the big-toe muscles to do their job well,

protecting your body from impact and

instability, they need to be dynamically

stable, meaning they should respond to

shifts in movement, weight, and balance.

The good news is that you can

train your big toes. In a pose such

as Standing Forward Bend,

evenly press the

INTERPHALANGEAL

(IP) JOINT

ADDUCTOR

HALLUCIS

FLEXOR HALLUCIS

BREVIS (FHB)

ABDUCTOR

FLEXOR HALLUCIS

LONGUS (FHL) TENDON

fl eshy part of the big toes into the mat. Do

not grip the toes; instead, imagine you are

gently pressing a button with them. This

button-pressing action can strengthen the

big-toe fl exors to awaken the kinetic chain

of muscles on the back of the leg and bring

the hips into alignment above the ankles.

After you strengthen your big-toe fl exors,

you’ll want to stretch them using

poses like Chaturanga Dandasana

(Four-Limbed Staff Pose) and

Adho Mukha Svanasana

(Downward-Facing Dog Pose).

Both stretching and

strengthening exercises

are needed to

maintain

dynamic

stability in

the toes.

80

july 2016

yogajournal.com.au