Foot warning: if you can't feel it, your brain can’t move it!

Our feet have 33 joints and have the most proprioceptive nerve endings than most other joints.  What this means to you is that your feet need to move.  Your brain needs to be able to move your feet and feel the different kinds of sensory inputs feet are capable of providing.

Ultimately, we live our entire life in shoes.

Rarely do people go barefoot and the result is your feet can't "feel" the different kinds of sensory sensations they were made for.  As a result, your feet lose the ability to feel sensation.  Numb feet can't feel the  surface you're walking on.

As a brain practitioner or heck, as a movement professional, let me tell you that if you can't feel it, it's hard for your brain to move it.  As a result, your brain can't move your feet very well.

People who have diabetes commonly develop peripheral neuropathy, or the inability to feel the ground and other sensations on the feet.  This permanent nerve damage is exasperated by lack of movement.  The less you move a body part, the less familiar your brain becomes with that body part. 

This is because your brain has "maps" of the body.  The more clear the map, the better the movement.  Poor mapping results in poor movement.  If you want to be stable in life and prevent a fall,  it helps to feel your feet and the surfaces underneath them.

Feet are so important for balance and prevention of falls that I spend an extraordinary amount of time re-introducing people to their feet!  We do foot and ankle mobility drills in my Brains and Balance Training classes so people can 'retrain their brain' how to move their feet again.  

Here's a great foot and toe mobility drill I learned from Dr. Cobb of Z-Health Performance Solutions.  Here's the deal when doing these brain based exercises, you have permission to be really bad when you first try these.  Your feet have been in "foot coffins" your entire life.  You haven't been asked to do this type of foot movement in ......FOREVER...... so it's only natural that this can be difficult.

In fact, don't be surprised if you can 't do them.  Your brain hasn't had to move your feet in this way in a long time, if ever, so don't get frustrated.  Keep practicing and you will get better!

The science of neuroplasticity proves that your body will re-wire and change for survival.  Feeling your feet in contact with ground, and being able to move them, is part of survival.   Have fun.  

Move those feet!  Rub those feet!
Kelly