you're not supposed to do this but your feet will apprecaite this:) I personally believe feet are very important as we make direct connection with the ground through our feet, meaning we receive so much sensory feedback through feet, which our nervous system use to organize our posture, movement, balance. Most of us wear shoes for hours daily, so feet are constrained in tiny boxes. Movement of toes, feet are very limited. Feet don't get sensory feedback directly from the ground. As a result, we lose awareness of our feet, mobility of feet, which affects our movement, balance, breathing, all functions. In modern countries, people often have very limited mobility and awareness of feet. Compare adults' feet to feet of babies, young children. very different! Gently touching, moving your toes, feet provides sensory feedback to your nervous system through your toes, feet, which is missing for a long time. This will bring more awareness into your feet, and bring more mobility and aliveness into your feet.
@@TaroIwamoto I broke my left ankle at the start of this year and when my left foot came out of the cast it felt totally numb like it wasn't my foot but just some boney appendage hanging onto the bottom of my left leg. 8 months later I am still trying to wake up muscles and tendons in it to get full feeling back. I've developed crooked toes where my big left toe is pushed in towards the others and there is about a 30 degree misalignment from it's natural position. I just did this exercise and it feels sooooo good in my foot! I have pins and needles and warmth rushing through it, more areas waking up. I really miss that feeling of having my full foot work for me. Our feet are everything and I didn't relaise how much I took them for granted until I couldn't put my weight on one for 8 weeks! Feet are our foundation. I'm a dancer and I love to walk outside in nature but feeling disconnected from my balance and connection to the Earth on one side of my body has been really disheartening and disorienting. As a dancer both feet balanced on the ground is essential to getting the stability and movement I need to express myself. I can even feel the repercussions of the lack of balance through my left knee and left hip. I'm going to do this exercise every day and hope to regain full functionality. Do you think it would help getting the misalignment of my big toe back to it's natural position too?
@@amaliacsanchez5209 No question is silly. Everyone is ignorant to something, nobody knows everything there is to know. Not even the whole of all of humanities knowledge put together is even everything there is to know. There is no need to be ashamed of ignorance. If you don't ask questions, how can you learn? If you don't ask questions, how can you overcome your ignorance? Hiding your ignorance gets you nowhere and nothing other than more ignorance.
Here's is something very important I want you to know. Our culture (modernized culture, mostly Western culture) trains us to be disconnected from our bodies. Our culture trains us to view our bodies as external objects as an outside observer. Our culture trains to look to outside experts to fix us, fix our body issues but doesn't train us to connect with our own body, own sensory experience, "listen" to our body, feel our body, and learn from our inner intelligence. This is cultural influence on our beliefs influences our behaviors. Many people believe that they need more information in order to overcome their limitations and challenges. Many believe that they just haven't found the "right" information yet so keep seeking outside for their answer. Reality is that we have too much information, and we are so disconnected from our own body and experience. It's easy to view my videos as another exercise video, and approach it from that mindset, that is to approach your body like fixing mechanical parts that lie external to you. Then, you are really missing the point. This is not a conventional way of thinking in Western culture, so it's easy to let my message pass through you. But, don't worry! I am persistent and will repeat over and over and over:) I'm not here to teach you exercises to correct your body structures. I am here to help you connect with YOUR BODY, YOUR SENSORY EXPERIENCE, learn from YOUR BODY, and create a new way of movng, using yourself, being in your body! This paradigm shift is necessary for transformation, changes in your nervous system, movement patterns, quality of life because your body and mind are one! I really encourage you to keep this message in your mind as you watch my videos and practice movement!
Have been noticing this disconnect being strengthened lately by recommendations that we should walk x number of steps each day. I run into people out walking in nature and noticing nothing because they're busy counting up to a thousand or more. And that's worsened by carrying their phone.
when I was a professional dancer, I did this every day. it realigned my toes ankles arches keeping hips happy too. THKU for reminding me to do it again.
Wow, I’ve been wearing a toe separator for several years now bc of a cyst in the ball of my foot. It’s almost crippled/paralyzed my 4th toe and increasingly becoming worse. This really helped IMMEDIATELY restructure the joints, muscles and fascia for free movement. I’m gonna do this daily until it’s completely healed. Thank you so much. I’m telling my podiatrist about this. Blessings for sharing this to help people from suffering. It helps the collective consciousness. Good karma for you too!
I've just found this exercise too and going to do it daily to correct misalignments and atrophed/spasmed muscles. Keep us posted on your progress would love to hear it!
I was battling with foot pains for 7 years. It turns out I just had to unlock my joints! Since I did this my pain is 100% gone!!! This is incredible!!! THANK YOU!!!
Excellent. A suggestion, as I look at the screen, to mimic, follow you, I must use Left side when you say Right . if you say Left as you use your Right, I can follow more exactly.
I normally wear Vibram 5 Finger shoes but recently I started wearing my Kuru's. Yesterday I noticed that after wearing the Kuru's for a few months that I no longer have the spaces between my toes that the Vibram 5 Fingers supports. So this exercise and back to my Vibram 5 fingers for daily wear unless I need the protection and support that the Kuru's provide. This exercise is perfect to do while watching tv at the end of the day when shoes come off. The motion also helps my arthritic ankles. Thanks, Taro.
This is the best exercise complex I've ever seen! I've got bunions, foot trauma & fluid around the ankle, sciatica and numbness in the foot and whole leg.. and recently varicose veins also came into play.. . But after doing these exercises my feet felt blissful. Thank you so much.
my videos (my channel) focus on retraining the nervous system through movement retraining. This is not so much about stretching tight muscles/tendons, etc. People carry so much tension in their bodies including toes and feet and carry those tension habitually into their daily activities and all functional movements including walking. Just as orthotics don't really change flat feet, toe separators don't really change your habitual movement patterns, how you use your toes and feet in your functional movements, thus, you're most likely to carry same habitual tension with or without toe separators. Nothing wrong with using them however. It probably works even better when you combine it with this movement retraining!
Wow! The difference I felt after doing the exercise on one foot was remarkable. My balance on that foot was so much better, the foot felt lighter. Good for loosening my hips, too! Thank you for sharing and for jumping right into it, without long intro.
Wow! I can recommend these exercises for anyone who is a runner. I wish I had discovered them years ago, I might have been able to slow down my bunions from forming and the need for painful surgery. I might show these to my friend who suffers with plantar.
I walk barefoot mostly, and thought I had pretty relaxed feet but this brought them into a state of bliss. I could really feel the difference between the feet after doing just one foot- it felt more open, balanced and connected. I am currently working for an older woman with mild dementia and terrible hammer toes and messed up feet. She is always losing her toe separators and is not steady on her feet. I am excited to share this with her.
@jojo5715 could you work with the old woman and how did it go? thx for sharing your experience - i stored the vid and will use it tomorrow in the morning.
After working on my feet cashiering for a 7 hour evening shift, my feet ache and I have a hard time getting to sleep. This makes them feel way better! Thank you!
I have had problems with my feet for years and doing this exercise was amazing in relaxing and loosening up everything foot related. I saw a big difference in the spacing and most importantly, I could actually balance on one foot with very little difficulty. That hasn't happened in years! Thanks you for sharing this.
Thank you, Taro. I found this video some months ago, practised then stopped. My toes have stiffened, spaces between closed up, and I am walking tipping my weight onto front of my feet and toes feel numb. Not good so I returned to this video and practised again. I noticed so much more how i have space between my toes, they are not clawing onto the ground, they are not collapsing under and onto themselves ie: third toe and weight is better distributed across the foot at the ball of the foot and also moved back over my heels so i feel better upright posture, more balanced on my feet. This is a great, eye opening exercise with many benefits for me. Thanks again, Taro. I will keep practising and noticing what's happening in my feet, ankles, and toes. I am 77, had ankle problems since childhood, so very lucky to have Feldenkrais assistance. Also, so many other video sites have exercises but I notice your wisdom that the mind/body is a totality and must include retraining with the nervous system. I can see and feel this more and more. Greetings from Australia. 😊
Done this for 5 days now on both sides, feel my balance is better, and the toes on right foot still need lots of work but do feel better. Thank you, hope others with toe issues find this video to help themselves as well.
Hi! i'm a yoga teacher, and we have done this tree pose with the balance on one foot (rigth), the other only the toes on the floor and the heal on the rigth ancle, pushing one with other. Wips pointing fowar, glutes contracted, hand extended toqether in front of the chest. The balance test starts when you take both arms with the palms together and lift them above your head and you follow with your eyes your thums. even you are looking to your thums your atention is on your feet, feeling the balance and the wheight distribution. after what you showed, I was more aware about the toes opening and balance on my foot, I'm going to share with my yoga class on saturday! thank you!
Thank you. My doctor prescribed toe seperater to me yesterday. And today i get this recomendation on TH-cam. So my phone is spying on me or the higher power send a message.
I learned this practice with my yoga mentor, (find myself doing this when seated several times a day)and love it!! Such a difference when only one foot is worked. Thank you~
I have been into exercise and fitness, and studying the science and Eastern Traditions behind it, since I was a kid.... And besides a few martial arts warm up moves, I have NEVER seen anything like these exercises for the feet! These stretches and moves were so challenging for me! (For my feet!) Wow. Blown away by these. Totally makes sense and I think these are so important that I will be sharing your vid with many. Thank you so much🙏🏼
Thank you for this video, Taro. Along with all your other videos, I have learned how to feel how my hips needs to move better with the rest of my body! I have now realised that I was walking with stiff hips, and now that my body is looser, I am walking naturally on the outer half of my feet instead of flat arches! This has really changed how I walk!
You're so welcome! Feet/toes receive feedback directly from the ground, so stimulating all sensory receptors there can do a lot of things such as changing how you walk:)
@@TaroIwamoto You are so right! I had nerve root damage at my spine 10 years ago affecting my right leg and foot. I worked to keep the foot mobile doing everything you had described except never tried the fingers between the toes. I already have atrophy on the right leg muscles and have lost the ability to arch my foot as well as my left. The doctors just shrug. I saw myself walking in a mirror the other day and realized that I don’t move symmetrically now, attributing it to my partially numb foot. I am going back for your other videos to see if I can get some improvement. Thank you!
I was watching about morton neuroma before this video and guess what. You literally save me from buying toe separator and fix my painful feet now my feet feel ten times better. Obviously we just need to stretch and exercise our whole body to keep it pain free but sometimes even these simple feet exercises is also forgotten. Thanks for the very helpful video.
I tried these exercises on my right foot first. For the first time in 30 years, I did not feel any cracking of my sesamoids when I raised up on my toes. Simply AMAZING!!!!!!!! Before today, I would not dare to raise on my toes on bare wood floors. I would only attempt it with good cushioning. And after doing these exercises one time, I was able to easily raise up on my toes with only my right foot with ZERO discomfort. It is almost unbelievable. THANK YOU!
Thank you very much! The biggest thing I got from this video is watching how flexible your feet are, compared to mine. This is very encouraging to me, I’m going to do it. Thanks again 🙏🏻
My test was to rise onto the balls of my feet, usually my ankles roll out and I end up on the outside borders of my feet. After doing this on both feet I could rise up easily with even weight distribution across balls of feet! Can feel the expansion. Thank you Taro!
Amazing how this improved my squats! I finally got all my toes on the ground, usually big one goes a bit off, but after tjis exercise it stayed flat! ❤
I used to stretch my toes like this when I was a kid all the time. It was just a natural thing for me to do after spending all day playing outside. My older sister would say that I was "gross" for messing with my feet so I eventually stopped doing it. Little did I know that "messing" with my feet was actually helping them to stay healthy and flexible. Thank you so much for this video. I will be doing incorporating this stretch again from now on.
I felt much more balanced on my feet and on one foot and the other after the exercise. Moreover, my upper body was very relaxed afterwards. Thank you Taro !
I just discovered your channel and did the foot exercises. Wow! The toes on my right foot are actually tingling--they are soooo happy! I'll do this daily to see where it takes me as I have a bunion on the right foot that gives me problems from time to time. Plus, I'm an old lady and need all the help I can get to continue being balanced and mobile :-) Thank you so much!
Wow, your demonstration convinced me. I could really tell the difference in my balance on the foot I worked on. This explains a lot. I didn’t know how much it affected my balance.
Oh my! Have serious problems w/ circulation, stiffness, pain, and on! Now feel sore but warm & wonderful. So glad I saw you & participated. Thank you! Every day thing from now on! ❤
I feel so lucky to cross this exercise from you. It will benefit for the rest of my life. I believe toe exercises like what you showed will improve my longevity!
just found your channel, you are brilliant, will do it every day for my achy feet. thank you, cam mot wait to check out you other videos. the feeling in the feet is amazing, light and heel pain is reduced . Thank you, i a, very grateful.
This is fantastic. I have been told to have surgery on my feet for years now and despite running I avoided that so far with toe spacers and exercises for my feet. But this is taking the latter to a whole different level. Definitely a follow for this! Thank you!
I noticed while doing this exercise along with my foot, my neck loosened up considerably. Interestingly in reflexology the base of the toes represents the neck. I will definitely use this simple exercise again and share it. Thank you!
@teresa6635 - thank you very much for your comment reminding me about the reflexology & connection between toes & neck.. I was surprised how stiff my toes are doing this video exercise, but have an old whiplash injury, "too straight" neck & degenerating C4+5.. & it's hard to do neck massage for oneself, but I was forgetting I can do it via my toes! ~Very grateful (& for this video /channel) ~🙏 💖 😀👣
This same point is what I heard loud and clear. 1981 whiplash, my car was hit in the front by a car turning across my path, resulting in hyper mobile neck, and now am praying more toe and foot manipulation might soon keep me from the regular chiropractics. Thank you!
These movements are so very beneficial for my often painful hammer toes! The practice makes me feel more securely in contact with the ground, and I think it will lessen the likelihood that I might fall. Thank you, Taro
Love this Taro. I feel the tingling and more circulation. i practice this every evening and use a bit of magnesium footcream. I have several pair of toe shoes also. Complete comfort. Thank you. 😊
I'm astounded - it did feel different! I have been using toe separators for some months and barely seen any changes, s will definitely give this a try.
This was awesome! I've been lucky enough to be barefoot most of the time for close to a year now, spending a lot of time hiking or jogging in the woods. I could really feel this along the fascial lines running up, especially the first part where you rotate the finger inside the web of the toes. Thanks for the introduction to Feldrenkrais, too! Gotta start learning about that now lol
I LOVE this, thank you so much! Wish I found it a while ago, but better late than never. In the last 2 years I have spent a lot of $, time and energy going to "experts" to "fix" my back and foot issues. I really should have known better because I've always had to figure things out on my own. Providers just don't have the time. In addition, each one has a different opinion depending on their own biases, how they were trained and, most importantly, what's in their best financial interest. I got very discouraged and decided I was done chasing this crazy illusion that only keeps our healthcare system broken and stupidly expensive.
I came across this video when looking for hammer toe exercises. The Feldenkrais method appears to be a cousin of massage therapy and chiropractic adjustments. I have watched several videos just prior to this, and I find this more complete. I will be trying asap! Thank you.
This exercises are spot on and effective. I learned them from a yogi too. However wearing toe spacers is also good to do daily I wouldn't say to stop using them. Combining the use daily toe spacers wear and practicing exercises is the path to happy feet. Thank you
I had an ankle joint replacement 6 months ago and parts of my foot is still quite stiff. These exercises will help me restore alignment and balance, thank you !
I’m happy to have discovered this video. I had been looking for a way to improve my foot flexibility after an injury to my big toe 2 years ago. After doing the exercises just now, my feet already feel better and more ‘alive’ - as if they are waking up. I’m planning to do these exercises every day for the next while and will track the improvements. Thanks so much! :)
great! giving your attention to your body can make your body feel more alive like you wrote, and help you become more aware of your body! That's how you retrain your nervous system:)
I can feel the difference! And I can feel great pain and some kind of energy starting to move in my body while I’m putting fingers between toes… it hurts as f**k, but in the same time it’s releasing and making me feel more relaxed so that I can even take deeper breath. Beautiful feeling, thank U ❤
We enjoyed this exercise, even following it for the first time, not even doing it for ten times each, my wife felt a big difference when she stood up, so we are hoping to make this part of our daily routine, thanks Taro!
@@TaroIwamoto Yes, quite a different sensation! I couldn’t do it as I have a recent problem, - it feels like there’s a small ball-bearing under the pad of my middle toe, very painful to walk on, don’t know what it is, will have to pop down to the Pharmacist for a check-up!
I have had two broken feet and surgeries bitched and redone on one foot and other needs surgery. This was incredible. I feel so lucky to have run across this video. Thank you! I hope this will continue to improve my feet- have had so much trouble!
I felt much more grounded in my right side after doing this. I could balance longer on my right foot. Can't wait to see the full results after doing this on my left side. Thanks!
I have plantar fasciitis in both feet (more prominent in the right foot). Most mornings I wake with stiff achy feet and poor dorsiflexion. I tried this foot drill and was shocked by how relaxed and loose my feet felt and improved dorsiflexion range of motion improved just after 1 min with each foot! I will be adding this to my morning, bedtime, and post daily 5-6 mile walk routine. Thank you!
O M G!! I have happy feet now!! My ankles and toes are very stiff and this helped immediately!!! Thank you so much! Cant wait to do this every day and feel the change!! Feels soo good! I have some ankle pain that im trying to work out and i think this will help!! Feels good already!! Thank you!!
I've been doing this for years without realizing (never watched any videos of it either, this is the first one), and while it felt good I thought nothing of it. Now I'm convinced it was the body somehow making me do it passively.
this is powerful. upon standing i could feel the difference right away. when i put more weight on the one i didn't fix, it concentrated alot of the weight on the side of my feet...making me feel like losing balance. while for the other one i just fixed, it was centralised. another thing i noticed is that the toes individually adjusted themselves on their own to distribute the weight. i could see each toe press down. it was a sight to behold. it also felt a bit weird because i am not used to feeling each toe do its own thing at the same time. while the other toe that was not fixed was completely stationary like a block of wood. very easy to do and very effective. thanks.
great! i just want to remind you that nothing is broken, so nothing you need to "fix". but our nervous system and body have the ability and capacity to improve, so you just improved how your nervous system interacts with your foot on one side, and you can do the same thing on the other side, but again nothing broken, nothing to be fixed. Enjoy improving your relationship with your body:)
Thank you for this video. I have arthritis in my toes and I have just done this with you and feel so relaxed. I am certain it wil be something I do before bed every night and first thing each morning before my yoga stretches. I have tried toe separators with some success but this technique is something much more sustainable and can be done anytime to ease aching toes and feet. Thanks again Taro Iwamoto
Thank you very much for the explanations and the video. May I ask if you recommend any particular type of footwear for when we go about our daily activities and for sport/cross training?
Some of my toes are webbed as much as 20 to 30 %. It’s hard to separate those, but the others, It feels really good. Pilates is also very good for the feet.
Why are we supposed to do this
you're not supposed to do this but your feet will apprecaite this:) I personally believe feet are very important as we make direct connection with the ground through our feet, meaning we receive so much sensory feedback through feet, which our nervous system use to organize our posture, movement, balance. Most of us wear shoes for hours daily, so feet are constrained in tiny boxes. Movement of toes, feet are very limited. Feet don't get sensory feedback directly from the ground. As a result, we lose awareness of our feet, mobility of feet, which affects our movement, balance, breathing, all functions. In modern countries, people often have very limited mobility and awareness of feet. Compare adults' feet to feet of babies, young children. very different! Gently touching, moving your toes, feet provides sensory feedback to your nervous system through your toes, feet, which is missing for a long time. This will bring more awareness into your feet, and bring more mobility and aliveness into your feet.
@@TaroIwamoto I broke my left ankle at the start of this year and when my left foot came out of the cast it felt totally numb like it wasn't my foot but just some boney appendage hanging onto the bottom of my left leg. 8 months later I am still trying to wake up muscles and tendons in it to get full feeling back. I've developed crooked toes where my big left toe is pushed in towards the others and there is about a 30 degree misalignment from it's natural position. I just did this exercise and it feels sooooo good in my foot! I have pins and needles and warmth rushing through it, more areas waking up. I really miss that feeling of having my full foot work for me. Our feet are everything and I didn't relaise how much I took them for granted until I couldn't put my weight on one for 8 weeks! Feet are our foundation. I'm a dancer and I love to walk outside in nature but feeling disconnected from my balance and connection to the Earth on one side of my body has been really disheartening and disorienting. As a dancer both feet balanced on the ground is essential to getting the stability and movement I need to express myself. I can even feel the repercussions of the lack of balance through my left knee and left hip. I'm going to do this exercise every day and hope to regain full functionality. Do you think it would help getting the misalignment of my big toe back to it's natural position too?
People don't ask silly questions! Don't show your ignorance!🤔
@@amaliacsanchez5209 No question is silly. Everyone is ignorant to something, nobody knows everything there is to know. Not even the whole of all of humanities knowledge put together is even everything there is to know. There is no need to be ashamed of ignorance. If you don't ask questions, how can you learn? If you don't ask questions, how can you overcome your ignorance? Hiding your ignorance gets you nowhere and nothing other than more ignorance.
don"t do it you will be sorry later
Here's is something very important I want you to know.
Our culture (modernized culture, mostly Western culture) trains us to be disconnected from our bodies. Our culture trains us to view our bodies as external objects as an outside observer. Our culture trains to look to outside experts to fix us, fix our body issues but doesn't train us to connect with our own body, own sensory experience, "listen" to our body, feel our body, and learn from our inner intelligence.
This is cultural influence on our beliefs influences our behaviors. Many people believe that they need more information in order to overcome their limitations and challenges. Many believe that they just haven't found the "right" information yet so keep seeking outside for their answer. Reality is that we have too much information, and we are so disconnected from our own body and experience.
It's easy to view my videos as another exercise video, and approach it from that mindset, that is to approach your body like fixing mechanical parts that lie external to you. Then, you are really missing the point. This is not a conventional way of thinking in Western culture, so it's easy to let my message pass through you. But, don't worry! I am persistent and will repeat over and over and over:) I'm not here to teach you exercises to correct your body structures. I am here to help you connect with YOUR BODY, YOUR SENSORY EXPERIENCE, learn from YOUR BODY, and create a new way of movng, using yourself, being in your body!
This paradigm shift is necessary for transformation, changes in your nervous system, movement patterns, quality of life because your body and mind are one! I really encourage you to keep this message in your mind as you watch my videos and practice movement!
I will try
Love your philosophy. It is that principle way of thinking that leads to a dynamic life. Thank you…
A reminder of how we neglect our bodies and look too quickly to gadgets and meds for a quick fix.
Thank you for that explanation.
Have been noticing this disconnect being strengthened lately by recommendations that we should walk x number of steps each day. I run into people out walking in nature and noticing nothing because they're busy counting up to a thousand or more. And that's worsened by carrying their phone.
when I was a professional dancer, I did this every day. it realigned my toes ankles arches keeping hips happy too. THKU for reminding me to do it again.
my pleasure:)
Wow! Look at that flexible foot! Grateful this showed up on my YT feed.
Wow, I’ve been wearing a toe separator for several years now bc of a cyst in the ball of my foot. It’s almost crippled/paralyzed my 4th toe and increasingly becoming worse.
This really helped IMMEDIATELY restructure the joints, muscles and fascia for free movement.
I’m gonna do this daily until it’s completely healed.
Thank you so much.
I’m telling my podiatrist about this.
Blessings for sharing this to help people from suffering.
It helps the collective consciousness.
Good karma for you too!
I've just found this exercise too and going to do it daily to correct misalignments and atrophed/spasmed muscles. Keep us posted on your progress would love to hear it!
Just started the toe separators and toe exercises! Have cyst problems in my ankles and now getting results for the first time in five years!!
I tried these exercises. My feet felt like after a hot bath and a long rest! So relaxed! Will do this every day! Thank you.
I was battling with foot pains for 7 years. It turns out I just had to unlock my joints! Since I did this my pain is 100% gone!!! This is incredible!!! THANK YOU!!!
Excellent. A suggestion, as I look at the screen, to mimic, follow you, I must use Left side when you say Right . if you say Left as you use your Right, I can follow more exactly.
I normally wear Vibram 5 Finger shoes but recently I started wearing my Kuru's. Yesterday I noticed that after wearing the Kuru's for a few months that I no longer have the spaces between my toes that the Vibram 5 Fingers supports. So this exercise and back to my Vibram 5 fingers for daily wear unless I need the protection and support that the Kuru's provide. This exercise is perfect to do while watching tv at the end of the day when shoes come off. The motion also helps my arthritic ankles. Thanks, Taro.
This is the best exercise complex I've ever seen! I've got bunions, foot trauma & fluid around the ankle, sciatica and numbness in the foot and whole leg.. and recently varicose veins also came into play.. . But after doing these exercises my feet felt blissful. Thank you so much.
my videos (my channel) focus on retraining the nervous system through movement retraining. This is not so much about stretching tight muscles/tendons, etc. People carry so much tension in their bodies including toes and feet and carry those tension habitually into their daily activities and all functional movements including walking. Just as orthotics don't really change flat feet, toe separators don't really change your habitual movement patterns, how you use your toes and feet in your functional movements, thus, you're most likely to carry same habitual tension with or without toe separators. Nothing wrong with using them however. It probably works even better when you combine it with this movement retraining!
Wow! The difference I felt after doing the exercise on one foot was remarkable. My balance on that foot was so much better, the foot felt lighter. Good for loosening my hips, too! Thank you for sharing and for jumping right into it, without long intro.
Wow! I can recommend these exercises for anyone who is a runner. I wish I had discovered them years ago, I might have been able to slow down my bunions from forming and the need for painful surgery. I might show these to my friend who suffers with plantar.
I walk barefoot mostly, and thought I had pretty relaxed feet but this brought them into a state of bliss. I could really feel the difference between the feet after doing just one foot- it felt more open, balanced and connected.
I am currently working for an older woman with mild dementia and terrible hammer toes and messed up feet. She is always losing her toe separators and is not steady on her feet. I am excited to share this with her.
Glad you felt difference!
Thank you for sharing I so felt the difference on my foot, will be following your great advise.
I got my mom a pair of wool Vibram 5-fingers. She loves them for stability.
Everybody taking good care of Moms...beautiful
@jojo5715
could you work with the old woman and how did it go? thx for sharing your experience - i stored the vid and will use it tomorrow in the morning.
After working on my feet cashiering for a 7 hour evening shift, my feet ache and I have a hard time getting to sleep. This makes them feel way better! Thank you!
my pleasure!
Be sure to get a Grounding Sheet as they help pain and sleep very much- wonderful!!. This Doc is great, quite the discovery finding him here!
I have had problems with my feet for years and doing this exercise was amazing in relaxing and loosening up everything foot related. I saw a big difference in the spacing and most importantly, I could actually balance on one foot with very little difficulty. That hasn't happened in years! Thanks you for sharing this.
😊
I'm seriously impressed!
Thank you, Taro. I found this video some months ago, practised then stopped. My toes have stiffened, spaces between closed up, and I am walking tipping my weight onto front of my feet and toes feel numb. Not good so I returned to this video and practised again. I noticed so much more how i have space between my toes, they are not clawing onto the ground, they are not collapsing under and onto themselves ie: third toe and weight is better distributed across the foot at the ball of the foot and also moved back over my heels so i feel better upright posture, more balanced on my feet. This is a great, eye opening exercise with many benefits for me. Thanks again, Taro. I will keep practising and noticing what's happening in my feet, ankles, and toes. I am 77, had ankle problems since childhood, so very lucky to have Feldenkrais assistance. Also, so many other video sites have exercises but I notice your wisdom that the mind/body is a totality and must include retraining with the nervous system. I can see and feel this more and more.
Greetings from Australia. 😊
I had a knee op and my toes went 'hammer' shaped 2 weeks afterwards - this is really great!
Done this for 5 days now on both sides, feel my balance is better, and the toes on right foot still need lots of work but do feel better. Thank you, hope others with toe issues find this video to help themselves as well.
Hi! i'm a yoga teacher, and we have done this tree pose with the balance on one foot (rigth), the other only the toes on the floor and the heal on the rigth ancle, pushing one with other. Wips pointing fowar, glutes contracted, hand extended toqether in front of the chest. The balance test starts when you take both arms with the palms together and lift them above your head and you follow with your eyes your thums. even you are looking to your thums your atention is on your feet, feeling the balance and the wheight distribution. after what you showed, I was more aware about the toes opening and balance on my foot, I'm going to share with my yoga class on saturday! thank you!
my pleasure!
I broke both ankles in May. Bones have healed well, but tendons and ligaments are so, so tight. These stretches are amazing. Thank you ❤
You are very welcome!
Thank you. My doctor prescribed toe seperater to me yesterday. And today i get this recomendation on TH-cam. So my phone is spying on me or the higher power send a message.
both are true
I learned this practice with my yoga mentor, (find myself doing this when seated several times a day)and love it!! Such a difference when only one foot is worked. Thank you~
my pleasure!
I had a stroke 25 years ago and now one foot is bigger than the other. I was looking for help with bunions and I found your video. Wow! Thank you…..
you're welcome:)
I have been into exercise and fitness, and studying the science and Eastern Traditions behind it, since I was a kid.... And besides a few martial arts warm up moves, I have NEVER seen anything like these exercises for the feet! These stretches and moves were so challenging for me! (For my feet!) Wow. Blown away by these. Totally makes sense and I think these are so important that I will be sharing your vid with many. Thank you so much🙏🏼
Thank you sharing
Wow I can try ❤🇨🇦
This helps .I have noticed a big change in flexibility and gait.Best method I've ever seen.Thank you .
Thank you for this video, Taro. Along with all your other videos, I have learned how to feel how my hips needs to move better with the rest of my body! I have now realised that I was walking with stiff hips, and now that my body is looser, I am walking naturally on the outer half of my feet instead of flat arches! This has really changed how I walk!
You're so welcome! Feet/toes receive feedback directly from the ground, so stimulating all sensory receptors there can do a lot of things such as changing how you walk:)
I recently realised the same thing! Congrats on your improvement! 👍👏
@@TaroIwamoto You are so right! I had nerve root damage at my spine 10 years ago affecting my right leg and foot. I worked to keep the foot mobile doing everything you had described except never tried the fingers between the toes. I already have atrophy on the right leg muscles and have lost the ability to arch my foot as well as my left. The doctors just shrug. I saw myself walking in a mirror the other day and realized that I don’t move symmetrically now, attributing it to my partially numb foot. I am going back for your other videos to see if I can get some improvement. Thank you!
i do already exactly all this for my clients ( im an MT ) without knowing is Feldenkrais modality ....Great !!!
I was watching about morton neuroma before this video and guess what. You literally save me from buying toe separator and fix my painful feet now my feet feel ten times better. Obviously we just need to stretch and exercise our whole body to keep it pain free but sometimes even these simple feet exercises is also forgotten. Thanks for the very helpful video.
I tried these exercises on my right foot first. For the first time in 30 years, I did not feel any cracking of my sesamoids when I raised up on my toes. Simply AMAZING!!!!!!!! Before today, I would not dare to raise on my toes on bare wood floors. I would only attempt it with good cushioning. And after doing these exercises one time, I was able to easily raise up on my toes with only my right foot with ZERO discomfort. It is almost unbelievable. THANK YOU!
Wow….2 years feet issues! This is fantastic! Thank you🙏
Great exercise. After exercise I was able to balance better.
This is why I wear toe separators daily and throughout the day.
They really help. This was good.👍🏾
Thank you very much!
The biggest thing I got from this video is watching how flexible your feet are, compared to mine. This is very encouraging to me, I’m going to do it. Thanks again 🙏🏻
you're welcome:)
My test was to rise onto the balls of my feet, usually my ankles roll out and I end up on the outside borders of my feet. After doing this on both feet I could rise up easily with even weight distribution across balls of feet! Can feel the expansion. Thank you Taro!
You're welcome:)
Amazing how this improved my squats! I finally got all my toes on the ground, usually big one goes a bit off, but after tjis exercise it stayed flat! ❤
Wow, I do this every day and I’ve been thinking about getting toe spreaders. Thank you for making this video.
I used to stretch my toes like this when I was a kid all the time. It was just a natural thing for me to do after spending all day playing outside. My older sister would say that I was "gross" for messing with my feet so I eventually stopped doing it. Little did I know that "messing" with my feet was actually helping them to stay healthy and flexible. Thank you so much for this video. I will be doing incorporating this stretch again from now on.
Thank you! It's so simple but it feels amazing!
I felt much more balanced on my feet and on one foot and the other after the exercise. Moreover, my upper body was very relaxed afterwards. Thank you Taro !
great! my pleasure!
This is gold....
This was amazing, thank you feet feel like they've had a workout and look separated. Love this.
I just discovered your channel and did the foot exercises. Wow! The toes on my right foot are actually tingling--they are soooo happy! I'll do this daily to see where it takes me as I have a bunion on the right foot that gives me problems from time to time. Plus, I'm an old lady and need all the help I can get to continue being balanced and mobile :-) Thank you so much!
Thank you!!! This is wonderful to know how to do. Appreciate your work!!!
Thank you! So useful and important!
That's really useful, I usually jogging an hour,now I avoid walking too fast,too long,I following the video, quiet relief, thanks so much!
Wow, your demonstration convinced me. I could really tell the difference in my balance on the foot I worked on. This explains a lot. I didn’t know how much it affected my balance.
Oh my! Have serious problems w/ circulation, stiffness, pain, and on! Now feel sore but warm & wonderful. So glad I saw you & participated. Thank you! Every day thing from now on! ❤
I thought that my main problems were with pinkies, but this exercise showed that the problem lies in my second and third toe. Thank you!
I've been following your channel for years and I still come across new great exercises! Thank you 🙏
I feel so lucky to cross this exercise from you. It will benefit for the rest of my life. I believe toe exercises like what you showed will improve my longevity!
I am going to do this daily. I want to be able to walk better with my bad feet. Thank you Sir
Again Taro sooooooo great exercise! God bleess!
just found your channel, you are brilliant, will do it every day for my achy feet. thank you, cam mot wait to check out you other videos. the feeling in the feet is amazing, light and heel pain is reduced . Thank you, i a, very grateful.
Really appreciate this video, thank you. There was an immediate impact in my feet, which felt refreshed, energized and more flexible.
Thank you Taro, I tried this technique, is amazing, the first foot felt so light and spacious. thank you so much for sharing this magic! 💫
How amazing! Ive just noticed a bunion thats flared up over the last few days it was painful and red now no pain or redness..but i will learn this❤
This was soooo amazing wow wow wow thank you !!!! Huge!!!!
my pleasure!
This is fantastic. I have been told to have surgery on my feet for years now and despite running I avoided that so far with toe spacers and exercises for my feet. But this is taking the latter to a whole different level. Definitely a follow for this! Thank you!
I noticed while doing this exercise along with my foot, my neck loosened up considerably.
Interestingly in reflexology the base of the toes represents the neck.
I will definitely use this simple exercise again and share it.
Thank you!
Thank you!
@teresa6635 - thank you very much for your comment reminding me about the reflexology & connection between toes & neck.. I was surprised how stiff my toes are doing this video exercise, but have an old whiplash injury, "too straight" neck & degenerating C4+5.. & it's hard to do neck massage for oneself, but I was forgetting I can do it via my toes! ~Very grateful (& for this video /channel) ~🙏 💖 😀👣
This same point is what I heard loud and clear. 1981 whiplash, my car was hit in the front by a car turning across my path, resulting in hyper mobile neck, and now am praying more toe and foot manipulation might soon keep me from the regular chiropractics. Thank you!
That is really interesting. I have done reflexology study too. I shall be paying attention to my neck when I do this sequence.
These movements are so very beneficial for my often painful hammer toes! The practice makes me feel more securely in contact with the ground, and I think it will lessen the likelihood that I might fall. Thank you, Taro
Love this Taro. I feel the tingling and more circulation. i practice this every evening and use a bit of magnesium footcream. I have several pair of toe shoes also. Complete comfort. Thank you. 😊
I'm astounded - it did feel different!
I have been using toe separators for some months and barely seen any changes, s will definitely give this a try.
I can feel that my foot seems to be more relaxed and, somehow, can touch like grabbing the floor better. Thank you 😊
This was awesome! I've been lucky enough to be barefoot most of the time for close to a year now, spending a lot of time hiking or jogging in the woods. I could really feel this along the fascial lines running up, especially the first part where you rotate the finger inside the web of the toes. Thanks for the introduction to Feldrenkrais, too! Gotta start learning about that now lol
I LOVE this, thank you so much! Wish I found it a while ago, but better late than never. In the last 2 years I have spent a lot of $, time and energy going to "experts" to "fix" my back and foot issues. I really should have known better because I've always had to figure things out on my own. Providers just don't have the time. In addition, each one has a different opinion depending on their own biases, how they were trained and, most importantly, what's in their best financial interest. I got very discouraged and decided I was done chasing this crazy illusion that only keeps our healthcare system broken and stupidly expensive.
I came across this video when looking for hammer toe exercises. The Feldenkrais method appears to be a cousin of massage therapy and chiropractic adjustments. I have watched several videos just prior to this, and I find this more complete. I will be trying asap! Thank you.
Absolutely feel expansion in my right foot. You are brilliant and I thank you and am grateful!!!
nice!
WOW! I've been having foot spasms and balance issues They are TOTALLY gone in one session!!!!!!
This exercises are spot on and effective. I learned them from a yogi too. However wearing toe spacers is also good to do daily I wouldn't say to stop using them. Combining the use daily toe spacers wear and practicing exercises is the path to happy feet. Thank you
made it while you showed and even my neck felt the reliefe...and my feet felt very relaxed. Thank you very much❤
I had an ankle joint replacement 6 months ago and parts of my foot is still quite stiff. These exercises will help me restore alignment and balance, thank you !
One word: Fantastic!!
I’m happy to have discovered this video. I had been looking for a way to improve my foot flexibility after an injury to my big toe 2 years ago. After doing the exercises just now, my feet already feel better and more ‘alive’ - as if they are waking up. I’m planning to do these exercises every day for the next while and will track the improvements. Thanks so much! :)
great! giving your attention to your body can make your body feel more alive like you wrote, and help you become more aware of your body! That's how you retrain your nervous system:)
Thank you i felt relief straight away luv n light x
I can feel the difference! And I can feel great pain and some kind of energy starting to move in my body while I’m putting fingers between toes… it hurts as f**k, but in the same time it’s releasing and making me feel more relaxed so that I can even take deeper breath. Beautiful feeling, thank U ❤
We enjoyed this exercise, even following it for the first time, not even doing it for ten times each, my wife felt a big difference when she stood up, so we are hoping to make this part of our daily routine, thanks Taro!
glad you enjoyed this exercise! your feet and toes have very different sensations afterwords, right?
@@TaroIwamoto Yes, quite a different sensation! I couldn’t do it as I have a recent problem, - it feels like there’s a small ball-bearing under the pad of my middle toe, very painful to walk on, don’t know what it is, will have to pop down to the Pharmacist for a check-up!
@@TaroIwamoto Does it have to be the index finger? Can I use other finger instead? I have pain on my index finger
@@artwatch-y9j yes you can use other fingers:
I have had two broken feet and surgeries bitched and redone on one foot and other needs surgery. This was incredible. I feel so lucky to have run across this video.
Thank you! I hope this will continue to improve my feet- have had so much trouble!
This was sooo relaxing! Our body is a temple ❤ thank you for sharing
Amazing video.. I cannot believe the change I feel in my feet in my first time doing this.. Simply cannot thank you enough.. Thank you !!!!
my pleasure!!
I've had problems with my feet since the death of my brother. Didn't have any privious trouble before. Will give it a go. Blessings
I felt much more grounded in my right side after doing this. I could balance longer on my right foot. Can't wait to see the full results after doing this on my left side. Thanks!
wonderful! thank you for sharing your experience here!
Very good! I studied foot reflexology and learned these techniques. Thanks for the reminder....These are excellent.
Thank you. That worked !
Brilliant!! Thank you
I have plantar fasciitis in both feet (more prominent in the right foot). Most mornings I wake with stiff achy feet and poor dorsiflexion. I tried this foot drill and was shocked by how relaxed and loose my feet felt and improved dorsiflexion range of motion improved just after 1 min with each foot! I will be adding this to my morning, bedtime, and post daily 5-6 mile walk routine. Thank you!
Great thing to do while watching youtube..thank you
Enjoy!
Thanks for your presentation. I will definitely follow them than going for thumb separators.
O M G!! I have happy feet now!! My ankles and toes are very stiff and this helped immediately!!! Thank you so much! Cant wait to do this every day and feel the change!! Feels soo good!
I have some ankle pain that im trying to work out and i think this will help!! Feels good already!! Thank you!!
I've been doing this for years without realizing (never watched any videos of it either, this is the first one), and while it felt good I thought nothing of it. Now I'm convinced it was the body somehow making me do it passively.
Wow!!! Love this exercise!! It really makes a difference!! Thank you 🙏
this is powerful. upon standing i could feel the difference right away. when i put more weight on the one i didn't fix, it concentrated alot of the weight on the side of my feet...making me feel like losing balance. while for the other one i just fixed, it was centralised. another thing i noticed is that the toes individually adjusted themselves on their own to distribute the weight. i could see each toe press down. it was a sight to behold. it also felt a bit weird because i am not used to feeling each toe do its own thing at the same time. while the other toe that was not fixed was completely stationary like a block of wood. very easy to do and very effective. thanks.
great! i just want to remind you that nothing is broken, so nothing you need to "fix". but our nervous system and body have the ability and capacity to improve, so you just improved how your nervous system interacts with your foot on one side, and you can do the same thing on the other side, but again nothing broken, nothing to be fixed. Enjoy improving your relationship with your body:)
Thank you for this video. I have arthritis in my toes and I have just done this with you and feel so relaxed. I am certain it wil be something I do before bed every night and first thing each morning before my yoga stretches. I have tried toe separators with some success but this technique is something much more sustainable and can be done anytime to ease aching toes and feet. Thanks again Taro Iwamoto
I’ve never seen …. Fantastic my feet hurt can’t wait to try this !
Thank you ❤ These stretching exercises, massages for the feet are wonderful. VERY HELPFUL. MARVELOUS ❤
😊 When you stood up you could actually see the difference in your feet.
As a dancer, my feet thank you!!!! 🦶🏻🦶🏻🦶🏻🦶🏻
This video is a life changing! 😮
Thank you very much for the explanations and the video. May I ask if you recommend any particular type of footwear for when we go about our daily activities and for sport/cross training?
Some of my toes are webbed as much as 20 to 30 %. It’s hard to separate those, but the others, It feels really good. Pilates is also very good for the feet.