Yamuna Foot Fitness
Yamuna Foot Fitness (YFF)
Just like Yamuna Body rolling, Yamuna Foot Fitness is a practice developed by Yamuna Zake. It is a series of self-correcting routines with and without props to help you realign and strengthen your feet. Your feet are the foundation of your entire body. There is no doubt that the structure and mobility of your feet, have direct effect on rest of the alignment and function of your body. Your joints above your feet compensate for foot patterns in order to keep you functioning and upright. Unfortunately, especially for women, we wear shoes the majority of our lives that deform the natural structure of our feet. Crowded the bones in our feet disconnect us from the normal sensory input our feet receive and cause the muscles of the foot to atrophy. If you have ever had to wear a cast or hard brace, then you understand how immobility impacts integrity.
Most of the content on this site will use foot wakers. They are dome shaped with small nubs which provide stimulation and stretch to the feet. YFF consists of sitting and standing routines, which are easy to learn and can be performed anywhere. This work is for everyone, whether you consider your feet healthy or if you are one of the many that suffer from problems with bunions or plantar fasciitis. Like all of Yamuna’s work, the goal of foot fitness if to create space in the feet. By restoring length and width range of motion is restored to the joints and function to the small muscles of the foot. You will also notice and improvement in circulation.
I focus on proper gait, foot function, and the anatomy of the foot. You will be able to maintain our results with as little as 10 minutes of work a few times a week. Of all the routines, Yamuna herself spends at least 30 minutes on her feet every day. In her mid 60’s she is able to wear whatever shoes she chooses comfortably. For me personally, I was starting to transition to minimalist shoes when I re-certified in this work. YFF has continued to help me on this journey and I am happily barefoot most of the time now. When I first learned this work in my mid-twenties I don’t think I appreciated it, now in my mid-forties (especially after having kids) this work is changing my life. Had I stuck with this work consistently I could have prevented a lot of issues, however it is never too late to improve your feet, even after foot surgery.
Benefits of Yamuna Foot Fitness
- Directly stimulates bone, balancing impact from repetitive stress
- Addresses deep and superficial fascia
- Realigns body structure
- Offers feedback for deepening gait and posture awareness
- Educates you about your own anatomy
- Reduces stress by soothing the nervous system
- Free restricted movement patterns
- Improves circulation
- Allow you to address the entire length of a muscle including tendon connections
Is Yamuna Foot Fitness Right for Me?
Yamuna Foot fitness if right for everyone. Whether you are an elite athlete or a person struggling to walk comfortably, foot fitness is for you. Everyone raised western society has had to contend with shoe styles that are not created for optimal foot health from the time we are children. We also spend the majority of our time standing or walking on man made surfaces. We accumulate minor or major injuries, with ankle sprains and broken toes being commonplace.
Foot pain and foot deformities are common. The incidence of bunions is over 20% of the population. Plantar Fasciitis related heel pain is responsible for over 1 million office visits a year with the incidence being report as 7% of the population 50 years and older. Hammertoes are Morton’s neuroma’s are also common, sometimes debilitating foot deformities. All of these complaints can be improved by creating space in the joints of the foot and restoring proper gait.
The use of YFF foot wakers can help stretch and shape the foot. Routines with and the without the use of props can help retrain the foot to bear weight properly to relieve the stress on the plantar fascia and lesser toes. The progress made with Foot wakers is easy to maintain and can require as little as 10 minutes a day. Functional, pain-free feet are often taken for granted until you do not have them. It is never to late to benefit from YFF even if you have had foot surgery or are contemplating surgery.
