Calcaneus

The calcaneus is the bone in our heal. I was introduced to it in my 200 hour yoga teacher training class.

My mentor said that, as a general rule of thumb, when correcting asana stances, you start with fixing the feet and that would likely address the other issues in the body. When I have issues in my body, or see issues in other clients' bodies, I analyze how we can fix the feet and see if that leads us in the right direction. It usually does.

I break down the idea of using foot strength by focusing on nine different areas of the foot: the heal, outer, middle, and inner side of the pad of the foot, and the five different toes.

Previously, I had focused on finding the balance of weight from one side of my heal to the other side of the heal. Recently, I was watching my knee as I did this motion, and I noticed my kneecap started to point in the direction it needed to go. Then, I played around with the idea of keeping my foot still but focusing on allowing just the calcaneus to adjust (carefully) beneath my body.

That was the trick that I seemed to have been overlooking during my practices. When I practiced with my calcaneus shifting to a different direction, it alleviated pressure off my knees. I could also feel it building strength from my foot and up through my body.