A lot of us stand all day at work!

Standing all day, or even driving all day causes our low back and hips to tense up, and our feet to feel sore. Hip openers can relieve low back pain from standing all day, and massaging out the feet will make them feel brand new!

I focused last night’s class at LA Fit Santa Clarita on teaching the different parts of the feet, hip-openers, and three different self-massage techniques for the feet.

Don’t Take Your Feet for Granted!! 

Our feet are the first body parts that hold up our ENTIRE BODY, and yet not many people think to give them a little tender love and care for giving us the gift of walking.

Massage Technique #1 – The Dancer Warm-Up

I Stand A Lot At Work Part 2!! Love your feet You can easily massage your feet by doing slow movements as if moving through water. Flex, point. Lifting just the toes up, spreading them apart, planting them down. Ankle rolls while flexing and pointing. Read more in depth in my blog yogaismymedicine.wordpress.com

A video posted by Shannen Roberts (@shannenrobertsyoga) on Apr 1, 2014 at 2:15pm PDT

Believe it or not, you can literally massage your feet by performing simple movements very slowly as if moving through water.

Flex and Point

Start with either seated with your legs in front of you, or lying dow with your feet flexed. Keep the toes up but slowly lower your foot down. Then ever so slowly, point your toes.

Lift just the toes

Start sitting down, knees bent, feet planted in front of you. Lift the toes, spread them out, plant them down, relax and repeat.

Ankle Rolls

Toward each other, and then away from each other.

Massage Technique #2 Thumbs to Feet

I Stand A Lot at Work Part 3 Use your thumbs to place mild/moderate pressure on your feet. Draw lines from your heel to each toe, and then massage just the metatarsals!! More info on my blog yogaismymedicine.wordpress.com

A video posted by Shannen Roberts (@shannenrobertsyoga) on Apr 1, 2014 at 2:19pm PDT

Grab the outer edges of your feet, and massage heel to toes with your thumbs. Draw lines from your heel, to the pinky toe, then heel to the fourth toe, all the way til you get to your big toe! Don’t be afraid to place pressure with your thumbs into your feet. Your feet will thank you.

Massage Technique #3 Metatarsal Circles

Focus on the metatarsals. The metatarsals are the meaty part of your feet that include the ball of your foot and right underneath the toes. Make circles with your thumbs to massage them out! It may be sore right underneath the ball of your foot.

Easy Hip Openers for After Work

Thread the Needle *Sway side to side to lightly open up the hips*

Practice directing your breath into those spots of tension. By doing so, your breath will teach your muscles to relax. More in depth in my blog !! #threadtheneedle #yoga #yogateacher #yogaismymedicine #therapy #breathing

A photo posted by Shannen Roberts (@shannenrobertsyoga) on Mar 25, 2014 at 3:55am PDT

Bend your knees and hug them into your chest. *Sway side to side if you’d like*

Childs Pose

Lunge, to High Lunge, to Crescent Pose (video of this sequence below!!)

I Stand A Lot At Work Part 5 After work, our low backs our tense and need hip openers to relax the muscles!! This sequence is great for after work Lunge, High Lunge, Crescent Pose. More in depth in my blog yogaismedicine.wordpress.com

A video posted by Shannen Roberts (@shannenrobertsyoga) on Apr 1, 2014 at 2:40pm PDT

 

Hope this helps you feel good after work !! If you have any questions you can email or comment on my instagram @shannenrobertsyoga

-shan xo