The calf muscle and the heart.
According to Dr. Simon Wikler, MD, the calf muscle (primarily the gastrocnemius) can be considered the second heart of the body. In his decades of experience in working with feet he concluded that the gastrocnemius is anatomically designed to function as a pump when we walk and run which assists the…..
What a delight to read Marilyn DeMartini’s review of Put Your Best Feet Forward. Her enthusiasm is just the emotion I hoped for! Thank you Marilyn!
There are various schools of thought and practice when it comes to the location of the spinal reflexes on the feet.
To answer this question appropriately we must view the feet as a microcosm (mini-map) of the body. It is popularly agreed by Reflexologists around the world that each foot represents one half of the body. The right foot is made up of reflexes that have connections to the right side of the body, and the left foot is comprised…..
Several years ago I had the privilege to visit with Mildred Carter, one of the great pioneers of reflexology and famous for her first book, Helping Yourself with Foot Reflexology, 1969. She was in her early 90’s at the time of this visit, yet still very able and spry. I had been traveling the west coast for a few weeks by then and feeling a bit tight in my digestive track, but I put this detail aside for my purpose…..
When was the last time you stopped to ponder your connection to the earth?
Gravity is a brilliant force that allows us to live day-to-day without the care of drifting from our attachment to the earth. Like a mother to child, the earth holds us close so we don’t falter. When our feet connect to the earth…..
It’s an exhilarating event to watch a baby learn to walk. Seeing a youngster attempt to upright themselves and take their first steps makes the heart sing and usually applauds and ovations prompt the baby to his or her striding success.
With each attempt to stand and walk the baby’s feet gain strength and slowly their soft cartilaginous bones begin…..
Reflex zones stars and stripes illustration by Geraldine Villeneuve©
It seems we notice our feet most when they hurt–because suddenly our sense of freedom to move the way we want to is challenged. What we also need to be aware of is how other parts of our body react to foot pain, especially the brain–which…..
Excerpt from Chapter 5 of my book Put Your Best Feet Forward.
The Relationship between the Arch of the Foot and the Spine.
The brilliant Dr. John Martin Hiss, MD, DO, was a very influential teacher in the development…..
The bunion. Is it a growth?–Is it lump?–Did I inherit this?–What is thing on the side of my big toe???
It is the belief of many that bunions are caused by a hereditary gene passed to them from a parent or grandparent because they had one too. This however, is more folklore than actual. There are many potential causes of the development of a bunion but today let’s talk about the most likely cause: The toe-box design of Shoes. The truth…..
If your feet chronically hurt it is most likely due to extreme muscle and joint tension. Though the pain is in your feet, often the precursor to this discomfort is coming from the muscles that move your feet, and those are the muscles found in the lower leg. In fact there are 13 muscles in the lower leg I like to refer to as long foot muscles, which attach to the foot and are responsible for coordinating foot movement. So if you want to relieve foot…..
