"Hips Don't LIe - and Neither do Your Feet!" #WednesdayWisdom For the #NotOldArmy

Okay y'all - you know I refuse to embrace the label "old."  Except, maybe, when it comes to my feet.  As a little girl (like a LOT of little girls do) I wanted to tromp around in high heels and could not wait until my Mom said "yes" to my first pair of heels.  THEY WERE GLORIOUS! I remember them like yesterday.  A pair of wood bottomed, dark burgundy leather "platforms" from Tom McCann.  They were AMAZING! And my passion for all things high heeled was born.  The more sparkly, flowery, wedge-y, lacey, buttery-leathery THE BETTER.  Oh, Beloved - what we didn't know THEN could fill Google search pages.  Lemme give you a little foundation, if I may.

Each human footis made up of 26 bones, 30 joints and more than 100 muscles, tendons and ligaments, all of which work together to provide support, balance and mobility.
In The Beginning THERE WERE NO SHOES and folks didn't have bunions, plantar fasciitis, hammer toes, neuromas and corns.  They didn't have ingrown toe nails and impaired balance.  The feet were divinely designed to be the platform for carrying us around.  And NOTHING aboutthat has changed.  Except --our insane passion for fashion (this is me, grimacing) and someone's ridiculous idea that our feet need to be squished into a pointed shape (me.... grimacing again). (most women don't truly understand the total kinetic damage that is caused by high heeled shoes that tip you forward onto the balls of your feet). 
FINALLY (how many hundreds of years later) smart people are saying "STOP THE INSANITY" and there is a huge, popular movement to get people connected to their feet, to get the feet reconnected to their bodies and make foot HEALTH a priority.
As a result of years of truly injurious footwear, I now have several of the maladies described above.  The good news?  Because I have implemented foot healing therapies (toe stretching, grounding, wider toe box shoes, going barefoot while strength training, getting to the beach so I can grind my toes into the glorious sand) I am beginning to have much stronger feet, better strength ability and better mobility and stability at almost 61.  Is there discomfort in healing?  Yes.  Especially asking my feet to return to a "normal" shape which means encouraging very tight tendons to relax.  Stretching my feet to a "normal" shape means pulling against the injured shaped.  It is uncomfortable but the more I do the work, the more my feet are responding.  
Our feet, friends, WERE designed like the rest of our bodies to last a lifetime.  And we can take steps to remedy most every malady and dysfunction in our bodies with intentional, focused, guided care and treatment.  Rather than consulting with a traditional allopathic podiatrist for surgeries, plates and screws, if you're experiencing problems with the platform, consult a professional trainer or therapist about natural, holistic ways you can restore strength, health and function to your feet.  A pain-free platform is a REALLY good thing.  
As we age well, foot health means more stability (I haven't fallen and I can still get up are REALLY good tips for #agingwell), better mobility that leads to better cardiovascular funciton means we have the energy to keep living life with passion and purpose.  And THAT is #wisdom we can all benefit from! . 
Sending you love and prayers for total health, head to "toe!"  Coach A

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