Fix the Foot and Fix the Rest of the Body  by Molly McDonald

The IET team attended a course back in May that would expand our knowledge and ability to help our clients more then we would have imagined all through natural 3D movement techniques.  That course was level 1 and 2 Anatomy in Motion (AiM).  The 2 weekends each consisted of hands on training and knowledge that included a greater understating in human movement anatomically, 3D stretching, gait phasing and how to get the body to find its center with a return of full mobility.  What your feet do or more specifically don’t do affects your movement all the way up to your head!

All 4 of us walked away after the first night blown away with amazement!  Hands down this is one of the best courses I have taken and learned from.  Gary Ward, the founder of AiM was an awesome instructor along with Chris Sritharan, David Mc Gettigan, Karen Lacey and Robert Kavanagh who were all are very knowledgeable and were there for us to learn but really grasp and understand the information presented.

I look at the body in a totally different way…starting with the foot!  That’s right- look down and take a good look at your feet…think of all the work they do for you each and every day.  Think of all the injuries you have ever had and how your body has been able to adjust to keep you out of pain…good chance it all leads back to your feet!  And if they didn’t start the problem, they can fix the problem!

Most of us are living with some kind of body ache or pain, of course all on different scales.  Our bodies are natural compensators, so when we have an injury to the body it will naturally find a different route to still allow you to be functional and move…the body is amazing!!!  BUT over time when your body keeps acting in a compensatory state real pain and injuries are going to occur.  That’s where we start looking at the body and asking the question; “What is your body not able to do? Or why is it not moving properly?”

AiM taught us to look at the body as a whole but starting with the foot.  If your foot is locked up and isn’t able to do what its suppose to, through all our gait phases, then the rest of our joints up the body aren’t going to be able to do what they are suppose to do…chain reaction…thus in turn a compensation pattern and over time pain.

We have been seeing instant results with our clients when using the AiM techniques.  By giving support to the foot and showing the foot that it can do what its been avoiding (that could be supinating, pronating, inverting, everting, just to name a few examples) the brain will perceive it can do the movement its been shifting you away from.  By using foam wedges and putting your foot into the position its avoiding, the brain perceives its touching the floor and doing what its been not able to do, while moving thru a 3D stretch… that way when you go and walk the brain has the perception that the foot can do what we just “showed it”.

AiM has been a great addition we have added to our toolbox here at IET.  Its helping our clients get out of pain, move better and get stronger!  Like I said, the past 3 months we have seen instant results with our clients, from the youngest 9yrs old to our oldest 84yrs old.  The body can heal itself!  Looking at it as a whole from the foot up to the head, we understand what it needs thus show it that it can do it!!!

Move Better ~ Feel Better ~ Perform Better