I was talking to our student Rhoda last week about the contoured support built into athletic shoes. I was shopping for a new pair of running shoes and couldn’t find a pair with a flat insole. This prompted further discussion about foot problems. I noted that when people’s feet aren’t tightening and have not been previously injured, the contours act to push up against healthy, well-organized feet rather than support them. This causes a disturbance rather than help. Likewise in unhealthy feet, muscle and connective tissue may have broken down to the state of needing special support. I also pointed out that many foot problems and injuries are linked to an automatic response of tightening in the feet that can originate in the neck.

The foot and neck are interrelated. The foot tightening accompanies tension in the neck. This neck tension leads tension and misbalance throughout the rest of the body, including the feet. The Alexander Technique has a term for this mis-use of the body; “pulling down”. Pulling down can be described as a chain reaction. It starts in the small neck muscles at the base of the skull. These muscles are very rich in nerve receptors constantly detecting muscle tone. When these muscles are in a state of contraction the nervous system detects this and automatically sends a message to tighten throughout the rest of the body. In addition to that, when these muscles are joined by the other muscles tightening, they pull the head out of balance with the neck and spine. This is detected by the vestibular apparatus which consists of the sensitive organs around the ear that alert the nervous system to the balance (good or bad) of the head. When the head is pulled down out of balance, the nervous system sends more messages of compensation for this problem.

Many people think that their foot problems are attributed to the weight above the foot bearing down on the supporting structures. In some cases it can be better understood by thinking that compensatory tension in the foot muscles acts to adversely pull on the supporting structures such as bones, muscles and connective tissues. I say compensatory because it doesn’t happen by itself. It is connected to other conditions in the body.

What happens during compensation is important. All the various muscles that are involved in this compensating tension have primary functions and secondary functions. In the foot, primary functions may include flexion and extension to help us move and adapt to terrain. Their secondary function is to help support compensation when we are out of balance. During the chain reaction of pulling down, the secondary function of assisting support kicks in and at the same time interferes with the primary function, causing a stressful tug of war in the feet.

This chain reaction and resulting foot tension is behavior. Tension is muscle contraction that is prompted by a message from the nervous system. The message is the response to some stimuli. In this case, the stimulus is originally picked up from the tone of the neck muscles.

If you are walking or running like this, you are at risk of developing a painful injury. If you already have an injury and are walking like this; you are continually aggravating the injury.

With the Alexander Technique a teacher helps restore an environment in the individual that is free from pulling down. Balance is achieved by returning to ease beginning in the neck and extending out through the body. It has nothing to do with holding yourself up. Holding is tension and tension is not a solution. It is the problem. In beginning lessons this may feel quite insecure having feet and legs that aren’t tightening to hold you up. This takes time to overcome. It illustrates how debauched your sense of balance has become.

Strengthening, stretching and even supporting the feet are all good ideas to help recover from a problem. But they do not stop the behavior of pulling down which is a major undermining cause. In fact, supports should probably be avoided by people who are well balanced and have healthy feet. They can start pain and injury problems. Use supports when truly need and be certain to develop a dependable coordinated balance.

Trying to figure this out by yourself can be long and arduous, but it can be expedited greatly with the guidance of a qualified Alexander Technique teacher.

Feel free to contact us for help. Reach us at: info@alexanderatwork.com.