jogging

Welcome to the second blog post in our series on running. My name is Michelle Ball, and I am a Gokhale Method™ teacher in Tasmania. I am a life-long runner, and am passionate about sharing my experience with beginners and would-be beginners, as well as seasoned runners and everyone in between. If you missed Part 1, you can catch up here. 

Reactivate your feet

When it comes to advice about running, the feet often get overlooked as the subject immediately turns to shoes. While shoes are an important subject (spoiler alert! Part 3 is about shoes), I prefer to start with that miracle of bioengineering that actually does the work—your feet.

Our feet become very passive from walking on flat, featureless surfaces rather than natural, more undulating terrain. They are also constrained, misshapen and deconditioned by less-than-ideal footwear, which, sadly, includes many running shoes on the market.

Running on sand trains my feet to grab the ground and push it behind me.

Learning to engage and strengthen my feet has been a game changer, enabling me to recover from old running injuries and enjoy running into my sixth decade. I would therefore like to share some well chosen exercises you can do in addition to training on the job. These will both strengthen your feet and train them in better patterns of muscle recruitment. Your feet will soon engage more actively than they are likely used to doing. 

Some basic anatomical knowledge can help us get to know and appreciate our feet. This beautiful 1850s engraving (by Henry Vandyke Carter, Gray’s Anatomy) illustrates the primary arch that gives the foot its convexity. Wikimedia

Exercise 1: Inching your way to stronger feet

Inchworm is an excellent warm-up exercise, mobilizing the toe joints, mid foot, and heel bone, contracting and releasing the plantar muscles, and lifting the inner arches and also the transverse arch which spans the base of the toes. It mimics the grabbing action our feet naturally make when accustomed to walking on more varied surfaces.

This video shows how my plantar muscles contract and release to inch my foot forward. I alternately release my heel, and then my toes, from the ground.

Exercise 2: Kidney-bean shaping the feet.

One of my favorite Gokhale Method® concepts to help develop strong, functional feet, is “kidney-bean shaping.” Like inchworm, it strengthens the four layers of plantar muscle, helps raise the inner arches, and also preserves the transverse arch which spans the base of the toes. Restoring tone in these areas confers the springiness you are looking for and protects against common foot problems such as plantar fasciitis, Morton’s neuroma, and bunions. Infant’s feet have this more bean-like shape, and this is the shape preserved into adulthood among more traditional, nonindustrialized societies around the world.

Infants’ feet have a notably bean-like shape.

In nonindustrial societies a bean-shaped foot is maintained throughout life.

In addition, kidney-bean shaping the foot enables us to find a healthy outward angle for the feet and legs, and weight in our heels when standing. This multipurpose exercise is taught in all three formats for learning the Gokhale Method—our in-person Foundations course, our online Elements course, and our Pop-up course. Directions can also be found in Esther Gokhale’s number one best-selling book, 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back, and her DVD (streamable), Back Pain: The Primal Posture™ Solution.

These photos show how, if you have a tendency toward flat feet (left), kidney-bean shaping can restore your arches, and counter any tendency to being pigeon-toed (right). It also guides your big toe home, reducing bunions. Modeled by Tegan Kahn, our Gokhale Method teacher in Australia.

Exercise 3: Bob before you jog

If you are not in the habit of jogging, or even if you do so already, it is good to ensure you jog with spring in your feet. This contributes to both push off and, most importantly for injury prevention, absorbs energy on impact. This is a natural, effective, and sophisticated mechanism that uses your muscles and foot structure rather than relying on heavily padded shoes to cushion your landing. It helps care for and protect all the weight-bearing joints in the body, as well as your feet. 

CAUTION: If you have back pain or reason to believe you may have spinal degeneration, we recommend you take one of our courses to learn appropriate techniques to protect your spine before doing this exercise.

Getting started with bobbing 

I recommend you start bobbing by shifting from one foot to the other with the heels scarcely leaving the ground. Initially just a few minutes may be plenty, and you can develop resilience for greater bounce and duration over a number of weeks. I like to suggest students play music and make it a dance. A few tracks each day will quickly build strength in your feet. 

Esther demonstrates bobbing on the feet. These clips are from her 1-2-3 Move program for Alumni. Each 15-minute Dance Party has bobbing covered!

Bobbing is a very adaptable exercise for all levels of foot strength—from slowly shifting your weight from one foot to the other, to your first split second of being airborne. As you get stronger you can intensify the work with more skipping and even hopping. 

Free Online Workshops

If you would like to find out more about how the Gokhale Method can help support you, whether you are currently sedentary or a seasoned runner, sign up to join one of Esther’s upcoming FREE Online Workshops.

Welcome to our first blog post in a new series on running. This series is designed to be useful to beginners and would-be beginners, as well as seasoned runners and everyone in between. 

Running is primal

Running was a defining feature in our development as a species. We are built to run. As children, almost all of us enjoyed this facility. You may believe that you are too injured, too old, or too uncoordinated to consider jogging—and you may be right—but I would still like to invite you to bring running onto your radar as something to work towards. 

As little children we would break into a run without a second thought—it was fun! Pexels

To quote the title of a best-selling book on the subject¹, we were all “Born to Run” in the same sense that we were born to sit, stand, and walk. But unlike the Mexican tribe featured in the book, we no longer have a healthy baseline posture on which it’s safe to add the additional healthy stress of running. 

Christopher McDougall’s 2009 bestseller, Born to Run, popularized the debate on natural running. Profile Books Ltd, 2009

The primal posture principles that prepare us well for running are beneficial to our health and fitness even if we never become a regular runner. I have jogged, on and off over the years, and enjoyed the many benefits it provides. 

The benefits of running:

• Improves cardiovascular health, strengthening heart and lungs
• Boosts metabolism, supporting a healthy weight
• Builds lower body strength
• Exposes you to fresh air and daylight, especially important for indoor workers
• Elevates mood and relieves stress via natural biochemical changes
• Creates community with other runners, or time for yourself, as per your needs 
• Practices and integrates healthy posture in a holistic activity

These park runners are enjoying themselves and getting fitter! But some twisting torsos and tucked pelvises here are likely taking a toll. Healthy posture makes running more efficient and avoids damage.

I’ve engaged with running experts like Danny Dreyer, Dan Lieberman, and Barefoot Ted and reflected on how the Gokhale Method® interfaces with running. Our teacher Michelle Ball, who, amongst the avid runners in our community, has possibly had the most experience of putting Gokhale Method principles into running practice, will author the upcoming series. We begin here with her story in her own words:

Gokhale Method teacher Michelle Ball teaches in Tasmania and mainland Australia (when borders are open).

Michelle's story

I started running when I was 18 years old. At my first attempt I was able to run a block and then I had to walk a block. Each day, I was able to run a bit longer and walk less. Doing run-walk intervals, when you are learning, is the best way to ease your way in safely and stay motivated. Eventually, I was able to run without walking in between. 

I loved the freedom of being able to put on my shoes and go. I found that it was great for stress relief, mental clarity, and my fitness improved. I could pack my shoes wherever I travelled. Running allowed me to see more of a place in the same amount of time as walking did. I ran through parks, in cities and anywhere else that I could. It was addictive! I now live in Tasmania, and I still run most days, mainly on trails or at the beach. It is the most consistent thing I have ever done in my life. I consider myself a recreational runner. I run because I enjoy it and it has become a form of meditation for me.

Michelle runs on one of Tasmania’s beautiful coastal trails.

It has not always been a bed of roses though. I experienced some injuries before discovering the Gokhale Method, but the Gokhale Method influenced me to change my running style and gave me tools to help prevent further damage. 

Today, many of my massage clients tell me they don’t run due to injury. They say, “My knees/hips /back won’t allow it anymore.” I feel sad when I hear about people giving up on things they once enjoyed. Having a better understanding of how the body is meant to work can open doors and possibilities once more. 

I look forward to sharing my experiences as a runner and posture teacher with those of you on this journey.

Michelle Ball, Gokhale Method Teacher, using healthy posture to support her running.

Workshops

If you would like to find out more about how the Gokhale Method can help support you, whether you are currently sedentary or a seasoned runner, sign up to join one of Esther's upcoming FREE Online workshops.

Reference:

¹ Christopher McDougall, 2009, Born to Run, Profile Books Ltd