Every mile you walk puts stress on each foot. When you pound your feet on hard surfaces while playing a sport or wear shoes that irritate sensitive tissues in your feet, you may develop pain in your heels. A sore heel would get better on its own without surgery if you give it enough rest. However many people tend to ignore the early signs. The problem will only get worse and may even become a chronic condition , leading to more problems. So if you feel that your heel is hurting , see your doctor right away.
Conditions that cause heel pain generally come under two category. For some the pain is felt beneath the heel, while it is behind the heel for others. Treatment for this includes complete rest to your heels, certain stretching exercises , pain-killers and wearing the right foot wear. Yoga is found to be highly beneficial in such cases.
Virabhadrasana
Technique
- Stand in Tadasana as in Step 1 illustrated in the above picture
- Raise both the arms above the head , stretch them upwards and join the palms.
- Inhale deeply and spread the legs apart sideways by 4 to 4.5 feet
- Exhale, turn to right , simultaneously turn the right foot 90 degree to the right and the left foot slightly to the right. Flex the right knee till the right thigh is parallel to the floor and the right shin perpendicular to the floor, forming a right angle between the right thigh and right calf.
- The face , chest and right knee should face the same way as the right foot, as shown in the picture. Bend the head up, stretch the spine from the coccyx and look at the joined palms
- Hold the pose from 20 seconds to half a minute with normal breathing
- Repeat on the left side , reversing the processes.
- Exhale and come back to Tadasana.
In this pose , the chest is fully expanded and this helps in deep breathing. It relieves stiffness in the shoulder and back , tones up the ankles and knees, and cures stiffness in the neck. It also reduces fat around hips.
"This is a collected article from Sri Swami Vivekananda Yoga research Foundation . Simple yoga books are available at the institute. Our sincere thanks to Dr R Nagarathna and Dr H R Nagendra for sharing the details."
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