Over the years I’ve taken several workhops and read many books on how to fix your gait (how you walk/run) to correct several injuries I’ve had to my lower leg—including being hit by a car in a crosswalk.
This video highlights some of my favorite exercises I’ve learned that can be done from anywhere.
The first is from an Aston Patterning workshop that trains your body how to transfer weight from one leg up through the pelvis to the other leg. I always liken it to feeling like you have a slinky momentum as you walk. I’ve noticed that those with plantar fasciitis, tight feet, even bunions and Morten’s neuroma don’t fully roll through their midarch when they roll through their foot. It’s more of a heel-toe clomp. This simple exercise can help your body improve balance and change that pattern.
The next couple of exercises are from a workshop I took with James Earls who wrote a book called Born to Walk. They emphasize a fascial spring to walking and really hone in on the rotation aspect of walking. This is another plantar fasciitis thing—that gait pattern can often be more of a waddle instead of there being a subtle twist of the upper body on the lower body with each stride.
Lastly, we look to deepening the feeling of that twist with a connection to the diaphragm. This is a good, little balance challenge.
I recommend doing these on a longer walk or a run to let your tissues get into the flow and so that the new pattern can set into your tissues.
