Getting Better Community

Here are a couple of quick and easy movements you can do to help your feet thrive. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeLRCLABmRw

Your Big Toe Runs the Show! If foot comfort and joy have you living in blissful unawareness of your big toe and its influence on your happiness and body mechanics, I recommend that you stay that way. But if you know all too well the pain and privations that big toe pain and limitation cause - for example, not being able to wear three-quarters of the shoes in your closet and wincing or teetering when you try to crouch - then you don't even need this introductory paragraph. The... reason the big toe is so important is illustrated by the bland and generic photo above. In order tocomplete a step, crouch to pet your pet,walk backward on your tiptoes carrying a large statue (if you don't do that then refer back to the first two examples), and reach for something on a high shelf you need that joint to bend backwards (extend) to just about the the "ankle angle" pictured. If you can't bend that far with ease, you'll probably make an unconscious compensation that may lead to future woes. It can slow your gait, and cause problems all the way up your body to your neck. If, in addition, extending your toe hurts, you'll be even more behind the 8-ball. Usually, the first effect of a non-extending big toe is changing where you place your weight in your foot as you stand and walk. Without weight on the big toe, you lose the power of your arch to absorb stress, and you put too much weight into parts of your foot - and your whole body - that aren't built to take it. Then you can get imbalances in the hip, S/I and thence up the whole spine. I'm sad to say that in a couple of instances, I only realized after several sessions that a client had a big toe restriction. When that was set to rights, usually the client's pain complaints elsewhere got better. Usually, a treatment and some education (and occasionally, orthotics) will help greatly with a big toe problem. And often, toe problems can be set to rights by taking your hands and moving the foot and toe around or by doing some exercises and mobilizations. Some of them are shown in the attached video. Try them out, and let me know if they work. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_E9TQtLlxw

https://youtu.be/RRpKbxANtlA

The ribs are usually deeply involved in shoulder pain. Working with the ribs can help reduce discomfort and help with releasing the muscles of the erector spinae and related shoulder muscles. Mobilizating the ribs and working the muscles will result in much more effective and efficient bodywork.

The arch of the foot is one of the most important structures in the foot as the it bears the weight of the body with the least amount of stress. Reportedly, the arch bears 200,000 to 300.000 lbs of stress each mile a human walks. Thus, it's smart to pay attention to your feet, especially the arch.

The hip joint is formed by the femoral heads inserting into the pelvic bones forming a ball and socket joint. It is via this joint that the singular downward weight of the body is dispersed onto the two legs. Ideally, the pelvis is evenly balanced between the two heads of the femur (aka Hip Joint) enabling humans to stand upright in a stationary position. If there are restrictions or misalignments, everything above the hip joint can be impacted, especially the spine and pelvic region. Here are a few options to work with the hip joint. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArWvrRT02wo