How to release tension from your feet and ankles
If you are someone who does a lot of walking or running you will probably find that the muscles in your feet and your calf muscles get tight quite easily. The reason for this is that during walking (or running), our calf muscles and the muscles under the foot contract strongly to propel us forward. It’s important to keep these muscles supple as over time, you can start to get niggling injuries due to the lack of movement in your joints.
Wearing high heels can be another cause for these muscles becoming too short.
One of the more common injuries that can result from tight calf and foot muscles is plantar fasciitis. To avoid this type of injury it’s a good idea to make sure you include postures in your daily practice that keep the lower leg muscles and feet muscles supple.
The muscles that plantar flex the ankle (point your foot). These are the muscles we use to propel us forward in walking.
Plantar fasciitis is a common injury in the foot. The plantar fascia is made up of ligaments that support the arch of the foot. When the muscles of the feet become too tight or your calves become too tight it can overload this area causing inflammation and pain.
POSTURES TO RELEASE TENSION FROM THE CALF MUSCLES
Adho mukha svanasana (downward dog) lengthens out the calf muscles (the gastrocnemius muscle in particular). If your heels do not reach the ground it means these muscles are tight. Work to gradually improve this over time. Even if your heels don’t touch the floor you will still get a good stretch in this posture.
Ardha utkatasana (half-squat) is good for lengthening the soleus muscle.
POSTURES TO RELEASE TENSION FROM THE UNDERSIDE OF THE FEET
This posture stretches the toe flexors and the deep plantar flexors of your ankle. Be very gentle to make sure you don’t overstretch and cause injury.
As well as stretching the calf muscles Downward dog also stretches the feet.
Utkatasana also stretches the feet.
POSTURES TO RELEASE TENSION FROM THE TOP OF THE FEET
Vajrasana. By sitting on top of the feet you are apply extra weight to stretch the tops of the feet. If this is too much of a stretch at first, you can place a rolled up towel across the front of the ankles to decrease the angle.
Virasana. This posture will stretch the feet even more. If the stretch is too much you can sit up on a blanket or a block to decrease the pressure on the feet.
written by Jean Campbell
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