Traditional yoga provides a bounty of benefits on the body, both generative and regenerative. Whether you're trying to gain new skills, never before acquired, or rehabilitate old skills that fell away with wear and tear, this ancient practice will help you reach your highest potential. This series of posts guides you on how to utilize yoga therapeutically for different parts of your body in order to stabilize, realign, and strengthen areas that have become unstable, misaligned and weakened.
This post highlights how to use yoga therapeutically to strengthen the feet, rehabilitate the ankles, and generally provide a stronger foundation for your body. Specifically, you learn a technique called pada bandha, how it supports your body, and how to incorporate it into rehabilitative yoga exercise,
Pada Bandha
Pada bandha, often referred to as the "foot lock" in yoga, is a foundational element that focuses on engaging and strengthening the muscles of the feet. The term "pada" means foot, and "bandha" translates to lock or bind. This yogic technique involves activating specific muscles in the feet to create a firm connection with the ground that locks the foot into the leg to promote stability.
By consciously applying pada bandha in your yoga and exercise practices, practitioners enhance their overall experience, creating alignment and stability from the ground up, deepening their connection with the earth while creating a more empowered connection to their bodies.
Here's a step-by-step guide on how to practice pada bandha:
Sit or Stand Comfortably:
Begin in a comfortable seated or standing position where your feet touch the ground.
Ensure that your spine is lifted, shoulders over the hips and relaxed down the back.
Connect with Your Breath:
Take a few deep breaths to center yourself.
Bring awareness to your lower body, legs and feet.
Spread Your Toes:
Feet should be flat on the ground, parallel to one another. If you're sitting, feet directly under or in front of the knees. If you're standing, ensure your weight is evenly distributed on both feet.
Spread your toes wide, creating a broad base of support. Feel the connection between each toe and the ground. Allow the knuckles to gently bend.
Lift and Engage the Arches:
Lift the arches of your feet by pressing the balls of your feet evenly into the ground.
Engage the muscles along the outer edges of your feet and inner heel.
Activate the Entire Foot:
Avoid gripping the floor with your toes, instead, focusing on a balanced activation throughout the entire foot so the toes almost suction cup to the ground.
Feel the connection between your heels, the balls of your feet, and the toes.
Maintain Ankle Alignment:
Ensure that your ankles are in line with your knees and hips. Notice and avoid rolling to the inner or outer edges of your feet to maintain balanced activation of the feet,
Integrate Pada Bandha Into Exercise:
As you move through your yoga practice and physical exercise, consciously maintain the engagement of pada bandha in standing, balancing, and even seated poses.
At the end of this post, we use it in a couple different yoga exercises that are particularly beneficial for improving ankle stability and strength.
Mindful Awareness:
Throughout your practice, maintain mindful awareness of the sensations in your feet.
Pay attention to how the engagement of Pada Bandha influences the overall stability of your body whenever you consciously utilize it within your physical exercise.
Relax When Needed:
It's important to find a balance. While you want to engage the muscles, avoid unnecessary tension. If you feel any discomfort or strain, release and readjust.
If endurance becomes problematic, start by engaging the bandha primarily when you exhale, releasing it when you inhale.
Remember that consistent practice is key to developing a strong connection with your feet and body's foundation. Over time, this engagement becomes more natural, contributing to improved balance, stability, and alignment in your yoga practice as well as relief from long-standing ankle issues. Awakening the muscles in the feet, particularly the arches, helps individuals create a more grounded foundation in various standing and balancing poses. This increased stability enhances the physical execution of postures as it fosters a deeper sense of mental and emotional balance.
Additionally, Pada Bandha plays a crucial role in cultivating proper alignment throughout the body. As the feet are the foundation of many yoga poses, activating the muscles in the feet properly helps align the ankles, knees, and hips, creating a more balanced and harmonious posture. Proper alignment not only reduces the risk of injury but also allows for a smoother flow of energy through the body, improving mood as well as recovery. This alignment-focused approach contributes to a more integrated sense of unity between mind, body, and breath. Overall, the incorporation of pada bandha can bring a profound sense of awareness, stability, and alignment to one's overall life.
Yoga Exercises for the Ankles
Strengthening and stretching exercises improves ankle flexibility and stability, and incorporating pada bandha into these exercises creates a top tier training routine to align, strengthen and stabilize your ankles past minor issues. If you're able to activate pada bandha without experiencing pain, go deeper into your natural rehabilitation following these yoga exercises that target the ankles:
Standing Toe Tapping:
Stand with your feet hip-width apart, toes 45-degrees apart and activate pada bandha.
Lift your right foot in front of you, keep the leg straight without tilting either side of the foot, and tap your toes on the ground while keeping your heel lifted.
Do this for 30 seconds, then switch to the left foot.
Repeat for a 3-5 rounds on each side. Do this 3-5 times a week to strengthen or realign. Hold a table or chair for stability while strengthening a weak foot or ankle.
Downward-Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana):
Start on your hands and knees.
Lift your hips towards the ceiling, straightening your legs, ground your feet and activate pada bandha while in the partial inversion.
If your heels don't touch the ground, keep activating them gently toward the floor in a balanced fashion to stretch the calves and ankles.
Hold for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Do this 2-3 times a week to strengthen or realign. If it's too difficult to stay still, inhale off the heels and exhale activate them back down.
Tree Pose (Vrikshasana):
Stand on one leg, activate pada bandha on the ground and place the sole of your other foot on the inner thigh or calf (avoiding the knee), activating pada against the inner leg.
Bring your palms together in front of your chest.
Hold for 30 seconds to 1 minute, then switch legs. Do this 3-5 times a week to strengthen or realign. If it's difficult to maintain balance, instead of completely lifting the foot, ground the ball of the foot completely on the ground and place the heel above the ankle.
Garland Pose (Malasana):
Place feet hip-distance or more apart at a 90-degree angle from one another. Squat down low to the ground, activate pada bandha and anjali mudra, or prayer hands.
Hold for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Do this 3-5 times a week to strengthen or realign. If this hurts the hips or knees, do a shallow squat instead with hips above the knees while focusing on the proper activation of pada bandha. ||| Try to keep the knees pointing out toward the middle toe to avoid collapsing the knees inward.
Seated or Lying Toe Tapping:
Sit or lie down with your heels together or within a few inches of one another, aligned like in pada bandha with both sides of the feet even with one another.
Open and close the feet, gently tapping the big toes together and pulling them apart.
Do this for 30-60 seconds, then relax for 30-60 seconds.
Repeat for a 2-3 rounds. Do this 3-5 times a week to lengthen and restore. If the lower back hurts, sit up with the hands behind the back to open the chest.
Seated Ankle Stretch:
Sit with your legs extended in front of you, feet aligned like in pada bandha.
Spread your toes and flex them back toward your shins, stretching your ankles.
Hold for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Do this 5-7 times a week to lengthen and restore.
Ankle Circles:
Sit comfortably with your legs extended, feet starting aligned like in pada bandha.
Lift one foot off the ground, gently spread your toes, and rotate your ankle in both clockwise and counterclockwise directions.
Rotate for 30-seconds in each direction, then switch to the other ankle. Do this 5-7 times a week to lengthen and restore.
Hero Pose (Virasana):
Kneel on the mat with your knees together and sit back on your heels.
Keep your spine straight and place your hands on your thighs.
Hold for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Do this 3-5 times a week to lengthen and restore.
Reclining Hand-to-Big-Toe Pose (Supta Padangusthasana):
Lie on your back and extend one leg towards the ceiling.
Hold the big toe with your hand and gently pull your toes towards you.
Hold for 30 seconds to 1 minute, then switch legs.
Remember to listen to your body and never push it too hard. If you have moderate to severe ankle issues or pain, consult with a healthcare professional before attempting these exercises. On the other hand, if these exercises feel rehabilitative and strengthening, practice them as indicated for two to three months for recent ankle issues and six month to a year for chronic or long-term.