If you struggle in yoga class with finding stability in poses, it might be because your feet are flat!
Flat feet can be a liability when it comes to practicing certain poses in yoga. Feet with no arches can make it harder to balance, cause pain in the ankle joints and midfoot, and are less supportive than feet that have graceful arches.
But you’re not alone—statistically, an estimated 20—30% of the general population have feet with no arches.
What are arches good for?
The purpose of the foot’s arch is to act as a spring and give buoyancy and energetic lift to the body. It gives you a greater ability to balance because it evenly distributes the weight of the body across the sole of the foot. It keeps the ankles from collapsing inward and correctly aligns the bones of the lower leg and knee.
If your feet are flat, all is not lost, oh, yogi! You can develop foot strength and flexibility with a few simple foot exercises done consistently.Â
Here are 5 simple daily exercises to help your feet get happy again:
Do this daily.
If you experience cramping, rub your feet out or roll around on a tennis or lacrosse ball and try again the next day. Don’t give up—cramping means that these muscles are weak and this exercise will help strengthen them.
Conclusion
We all have little challenges in yoga but flat feet do not have to be one of yours.
You can gently strengthen your feet and develop a greater sense of balance and buoyancy by utilizing these simple techniques and awarenesses in your life and practice. As in all things yoga, consistency in key.
Many of our students have been successful with building up an arch and feeling much more stable and aware in their poses. You can too!
We always love to hear from you…leave us a comment to share your experience with flat feet. Thanks!
This blog is a labor of love and is offered in service of the yoga community and its amazing teachers. Comments are appreciated…let us know your thoughts and share your experience with our readers!
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Admittedly, I never thought about the arches (or lack thereof) contributing to balance. Makes absolute sense though. I just showed these exercises to my husband. He has perfectly flat feet and could really use the help. Love ya, Ru!
These really work, Chantel…we’ve had a lot of students actually develop something of an arch in their feet by doing these exercises consistently. We can’t really make that claim cuz it’s anecdotal but nevertheless. 😉
Let me know how your sweetie does with them…love ya back!
I have flat feet, so this is such a perfect post! It’s funny I often pick things up with my feet, maybe somehow my body knows that’s helpful:) Thank you for the great tips!
It’s funny how much wisdom the body has, isn’t it, Tarah? But then I don’t need to tell YOU that…preaching to the choir. heehee
Thanks for stopping by!
Thanks to both Rupali & Tania for these important yoga tips.
I have flat feet and that’s probably why I have troubles with certain balancing poses. Never had thought it was from my flat feet, will be doing these feet practices.
Thank you so much for these useful info to improve my practice.
Much Makalo,
Yvonne
Hi Yvonne! There are additional things that can make it harder to balance (like, just not trying it often enough) but flat feet can be a major contributor. My brother has flat feet and it’s always been challenging for him to balance on one foot.
Let me know how it goes, k? xoxo
I LOVE your tips!
I was told to always wear orthotics, then I discovered that barefoot walking helped more! The class I took in yoga anatomy stressed starting with the feet, developing the arches with similar exercises you have mentioned, and I use them in my classes. I only wear orthotics when I have to walk for a long time on flat surfaces. Actually, wearing Birkenstocks all one summer caused my metatarsal arches to collapse once I switched to flat boots and was Christmas shopping in a huge mall. I had no support of my own – ouch!
Thanks so much for your comments and sharing your personal experience. It means a lot to hear it from someone who has actually had to suffer through the pain of fallen arches. Hopefully you’ve built them back through your yoga. Keep up the great work!
I’m a flat feet ,and today i saw your exercise jst start today …we see what will happened ……..very hopeless
Don’t be discouraged, Sujeet! Trust, and put in the work consistently and you’ll see results. Honestly, we have seen very flat feet transformed by using these exercises.
Let us know how it goes.
I started practicing traditional yoga about a year or so ago, occasionally using Instructional videos to help me out. I always opted for the easier videos, nothing with one-legged poses! One legged poses have always left me frustrated. I was a cheerleader all throughout my youth, and usually being the smallest, I was always the top girl. Even then I struggled balancing in my one-legged stunts and usually wound up, embarrassed, falling to the floor in front of crowds. About a week ago, I participated in my first bikram yoga class. For those of you who may not know l, bikram is a practice of yoga that takes place in a heated room and uses 26 specific poses and two breathing excersises. My first class was incredibly frustrating and EXHAUSTING! My legs felt like noodles. The flexibility came naturally, but when I went into the one-legged poses, my ankle rolled, my arches fell, my knee would collapse and my legs would be shaking as I struggled to balance. After a few seconds I would drop to both legs and give up. I have been going consistently for a week now and every class I struggle to maintain balance throughout my arches. My instructor usually notices I am struggling and will tell me to push down through my toes and keep my weight in my heels. I have been recently trying to turn my foot in slightly pigeon toed, as this feels most normal to me, and it sometimes helps me to balance better, but I fear I am developing bad habits! I want to regain my arches, but man am I struggling!
Such a common issue, Katie! Lifting up through the arches is one part of balancing. The other part is continuing that lift all the way up through the pelvic floor, creating a lock known as mulabandha, and continuing that as you also draw up and back behind the navel, creating a lock known as uddiyana bandha. I hope this makes sense. The Bikram method doesn’t really talk about the bandhas but those who practice Ashtanga are very familiar with them. Try that and let me know how it goes!
Wonderful! Arched feet are much graceful.
It’s true that there’s an certain esthetic to them, Darryl. But flat feet are cool too. 😉
My instructor shared this with me since I have pancake feet (as in, “flat as a …). The foot exercises are great and I’ll be starting most of those today.
However, since I’ve had total knee replacements in both legs, my doctor doesn’t advise deep knee bends as in tiptoe pose, heroes pose, etc. Any advice for people with replacements practicing yoga?
Hi Kelley! I hope these exercises work well for you. Your feet definitely play a part in knee health so that’s a bonus, given your history.
My best advice is to be patient with yourself. Knees are such a vital part of quality of life and need extra care if they are compromised. Move slowly into and out of your postures. Never rush your knees. This is actually a good thing anyway as it will require you to be even more mindful.
Back off when you need to when in a pose and then move back into it. Strengthen the surrounding muscles to help stabilize them but also work your range of motion daily so you maintain what you have.
I’ve seen great recovery with knees and yoga! I would also suggest looking into the Fascianator method to work on any pulling on the knee caused by imbalances in the fascia of the quads, hamstrings, inner thighs, etc. I know the originator of this method and he really knows his stuff. Find him on FB, YouTube and his website.
All the best to you, keep up the good fight! 🙂
I have slightly flat feet. Hope these moves would help. But i have uneven shoulders too thus, i went to doctor and he says i don’t have scoliosis. So how can i cure them at home? Please help me find the best exercises for this problem.
Hi Samuel! Lots of things can cause one shoulder to be higher or lower than the other shoulder, not just scoliosis. Generally, it can be corrected with some patience and finding a good bodywork practitioner. General doctors are not good resources for this kind of thing. I suggest seeing a chiropractor or someone who can do some myofascial release work on you. Thanks for stopping by!
Hi, I have been practising yoga now for about 6 months and love love love it! I have flat feet and absaloutely no balance what’s so ever!! Would you recommend that I wear my inner soles trainers when doing poses like tree pose etc to help me actually be able to do it? Thankyou for the excercises I will definitely try these!
Aloha Billy. So glad you’re enjoying your yoga practice. Flat feet are not uncommon, which is why this post is so popular! Do the exercises consistently and along with your yoga practice, you’ll find you get better at standing and balance poses. I would not recommend wearing shoes/arch supports for your yoga practice. Keep practicing and you’ll find your balance improves and your feet get stronger. Mahalo.
Hi, Thankyou! I will keep practising, xx
My feet are completely flat and can actually flex the opposite direction.. there is no stability in my ankle due to a genetic condition. I used to love yoga classes but was constantly singled out for my feet and ankles in front of the class so I’d shakily try to stay in alignment, but it wasn’t always possible which I could tell frustrated some instructors, and me explaining my condition was just an excuse. It became frustrating and embarrassing for me, so now I just practice at home alone everyday. Sometimes I just want to focus on my breath and go through the motions, not worry about my troublesome feet. But maybe I’ll try these exercises and it’ll help and I can get more confidence to go back to classes! I miss the community.
Aloha Nicole. Wow, I’m sorry you have had some negative experiences in yoga classes. I give you credit for sticking with yoga! There are a few things that come to mind, including doing foot exercises like the ones in this post. Your feet will get stronger which will improve your standing poses. You may never get an arch in your feet, but strong feet are healthy feet.
Another tip, whether in class or at home, would be to have a wall or chair nearby to assist you when doing balancing poses and even standing poses. Having that security may give you more room to challenge yourself a little at a time and build more strength in the entire body.
As for going back to class…when that is possible I’d suggest you speak to the teacher ahead of class or even email the studio/teacher and explain your genetic condition and how it affects your stability. Mention that in the past you’ve been singled out in class and that it made you feel unwelcome. The community aspect of yoga is one of the biggest draws for us to keep practicing! Having that available to you and your unique feet is good for all involved.
And there’s a deeper practice that you will find beneficial to help build stability, improve our focus, raise our energy, and more—uddiyana and mula bandha. We offer an extensive self-paced course if you’re interested in going deeper. Check that out here: https://www.blissfulyogini.com/online-course-on-the-elusive-bandhas/
We all have our challenges in our body and practice. Welcoming all of it into our practice allows acceptance and growth to happen.
Thank you for sharing your experience with us, Nicole. Update us on how the foot exercises work for you. Happy practicing!