Party Trick or Life Skill

Is this a party trick, or a life skill?

Do it at your next party and everyone will marvel at your flexibility...then watch them all get down on the ground and try it!  

Chances are, most will fail  because according to dictionary.com, only a mere 1 in 2,000 humans can do this:

This action is called interdigitate. 

It's a verb which means to interlock the fingers of both hands.  A feat (pun intended), according to dictionary.com, that humans cannot do with their toes.

So why, besides becoming the life of the party, would you want to do this?

My answer is: what could soft, responsive toes do for you?

Think about that for a moment.  Plantar fasciitis and painful feet are epidemic in baby boomers.  We have neglected our feet for most of our lives, taking them for granted.  We spent years wearing uncomfortable shoes with pointed toes and high heels. Now we exercise and have learned to hold ourselves our "center," over-using our hips, knees, and feet. Many of us clench our toes!  

Without realizing it, we hold our stress in our feet.  

In order to interlace your toes, you must know what you are doing with your hips, your spine, and your belly.

Having hips that are stable (yet movable) is key at any age.  Stable hips mean you can maintain a posture that works no matter what activity you choose to do.  Do you like to dance? Play tennis? Having a flexible, competent spine along with those stable hips will allow you to bend, squat, and lift.  And we must know when to contract our abdominal muscles and when to relax them because, contrary to current theory, our core muscles are not meant to be held tightly at all times. Odd as it sounds, when we are constantly clenching our abdominals, we have a tendency to overuse our feet; especially when walking.

Learning to interlace (or interdigitate) our toes is a complete exercise.  You will be surprised at the knowledge of yourself you gain as you learn to do this.  You will learn how to pay attention to parts of yourself that you may not have known were related.

I know the burning question that you are having right now:  Can I actually do this? Yes you can. You can learn to have the soft, flexible feet that you once had! 

You can learn to do this and more.  You will be amazed to discover that all it takes is learning (or re-learning) through paying attention to how your body works. (NOTE:  it's not about strength, or even flexibility.  You'll struggle if  you try too hard!)

For now it might be enough to know that you could be able to do this if you wanted to.  

Keep and open mind and keep moving.

Class starts Tuesday, September 5th. 10:30 to 11:30 for 6 weeks. Come learn something new. See how your life improves.  Feel your blind spots disappear.