If there’s one thing marriage has taught me, it’s you can never TELL your husband what to do. I’ve asked him to do yoga with me, drink a green smoothie, or cut back on sugary carbs, but I might as well have asked him to wear a tutu and furry boots to the oil field – not happenin’.
This guy, however, wears a tutu with confidence. Bob Carey wearing a tutu for breast cancer awareness – The Tutu Project.
I’ve backed off the nagging and have done my best to lead by example; crossing my fingers he might decide some stretching would be good for him, or a few greens wouldn’t make him less manly. After months and months of hard work, we’ve finally had a break through folks! Miracles really DO happen!
Chase has had issues with his shins for as long as I’ve known him. Every night after he plays basketball, he comes home, jumps in the shower, and plops down on the couch to ice his shins. He takes Advil before he plays and when he gets home. With an elk hunt in his near future (and lots of hiking!), HE decided maybe some stretching would be good for his legs.
I work hard for MONTHS trying to talk him into yoga, but leave it to hunting season to change his mind… I give up.
After showing him some stretches, we discovered his feet are tight, his ankles lack flexibility, and his calves/achilles are achey. Sing it with me! The foot bone’s connected to the…leg bone; the leg bone’s connected to the…
There have been two stretches in particular that Chase has really latched on to. I think it’s because he can do them while watching the Outdoor Channel. However, if you ask him – he’s not doing yoga. He’s just sitting on his feet.
I tried to get him to demo the poses for you. Not his idea, so it’s not happenin’. You’re stuck with me again.
Thunderbolt Pose/Diamond Pose
Thunderbolt Pose is a traditional yoga pose that is often used for meditation and breathing exercises. It stretches and strengthens the tops of the feet and ankles, opens hip joints, stretches quadriceps muscles, helps keep knee joints healthy, encourages proper alignment, improves circulation, and relieves tired legs.
- Begin kneeling on the floor with your hips and butt lifted off of your legs. Bring your inner knees, thighs, and feet together. (Place a folded blanket beneath your knees, shins, and feet if you need the extra padding to feel more comfortable. Press the tops of your feet firmly on the floor, making sure even that little pinky toe is rooted into the floor.
- Bring your butt down to your heels. Make sure to keep your feet and thighs touching throughout the pose.
- Sit up straight and draw your shoulder blades down and back.
- Hold the pose for a few breaths or up to several minutes.
Broken Toe Pose
- Start on all fours (table top position), curl your toes under making sure to even get that little toe under (I have to reach back and flick my little toe forward, that thing is tiny!).
- Slowly lower your hips toward the lifted heels, rest onto your heels and mounds of your feet. You will feel a super duper stretch in your feet. If needed, bring your hands to the floor or blocks to take off some of the weight.
- Hold the pose for a few breaths or up to several minutes.
This pose stretches the soles of your feet, the muscles and tendons between the toes, and lengthens the plantar muscles on the sole of the foot.
Now for the real miracle – My basketball playing husband came home this week and said “I don’t know if it’s the stretches I’ve been doing, but my shins didn’t bother me tonight?!” I’ll take that as a win.
Next up – greens.
To have blog posts sent directly to your email, please click on the “Follow” button under Follow Blog via Email at the bottom of this page.
The Farmer’s Daughter is now on Facebook! Go “like” the page to see all the blog shenanigans.
Leave a Reply