This is Part 1 of the 7-Part Gentle Rewilding series!

We’ve been tamed, y’all. Modern life molds and changes our bodies, minds and spirits. Much of our modern domestication is just fine: I’m glad we use forks and don’t spit inside and don’t drink milk straight out of the carton (oh wait, I do that). But some of our taming is worth questioning and unwinding. This series is an exploration of ways of reconnecting to our human design with gentle rewilding.

Gentle Rewilding

“Rewilding” is an approach to ecological restoration focused on increasing biodiversity and restoring natural processes. An offshoot of this ecological movement is “human rewilding,” which aims to restore more diversity and adaptability of human life. This type of rewilding can include nature-centered fitness, survival and foraging skills, and connection with ancestral practices.

My introduction to human rewilding was through the work of Tony Riddle who calls himself a Natural Life-Stylist. I learned exercises from him that I’d never seen before (and I’ll share my versions of some below) but as a 59-year-old movement teacher, his physical feats are pretty extreme. Running marathons barefoot, climbing frozen mountains and diving into glacial pools aren’t anything I’m interested in. But waking up my body in ways that align with its design and potential? Supporting my body so it’s more adaptable and resilient? I’m all in for that. I call my version Gentle Rewilding.

Feet are the Foundation

Feet are the foundation of most human movement and of my work as a mindful movement leader and guide.* The longer I guide movement experiences for myself and others, the more I understand that strong, mobile, flexible feet are at the root of comfort, balance and adaptability in movement and in life.

Almost all of us have had our feet bound in shoes (often shoes with a heel and often too small) since before we could walk. Most modern shoes act as a “cast” holding our feet still and stiff. This “casting” combined with walking almost exclusively on hard, flat surfaces, has compromised the dexterity and responsiveness our feet are designed to have.

The human foot is a miracle of 26 bones, 33 joints and hundreds of muscles, but if it’s held in shoes that don’t allow much movement, the foot’s abilities atrophy. Imagine, for example, a foot that is accustomed to being encased in shoes and walking on hard flat surfaces. It may do fine navigating movement in those circumstances but what happens when it steps on a hard hickory nut, lands oddly on a root or gets caught on a curb? That foot won’t have many options for movement, recovery or adaptation and is therefore more at risk for injury.

“Barefoot” Shoes

Biomechanist and author, Katy Bowman is a strong advocate for giving your body nutritious movement … and nutritious footwear. Since reading her book, Whole Body Barefoot years ago, I go barefoot or wear “barefoot” or zero drop shoes almost all the time.

Shoes with no heel and soft soles take some getting used to and it’s best to move into them slowly. It’s worth investing in the transition, though since re-acclimating our feet to move with the surfaces underneath them rewards us with more responsiveness, resilience and balance. (Even or perhaps especially if you have a foot condition which makes barefoot shoes untenable, investing in other foot care is worth doing! See more below!)

After two significant foot injuries and nearly six decades in this body, I find that my feet thrive best when I offer consistent care and attention. Although I lead barefoot classes and wear barefoot shoes, my feet need daily tending.

Tony Riddle, extreme badass that he is, teaches what he calls “Toe-Ga” to increase foot dexterity. I’ve adapted some moves from him and from my own practice to create Gentle Rewilding Toe-Ga.

Gentle Rewilding with Toe-Ga

1. Hold Hands with Feet. Wave & Flex/Scrunch.

One of the repercussions of wearing restrictive shoes is that the toes, which are designed to move independently just like fingers, get smushed together. Spreading the toes with your fingers is a great way to open up the joints, reduce friction between the toes and expand mobility. Start by sliding just the tips of your fingers between the toes and move up to the base of the fingers. Then move your hand in a gentle wave motion then flex and scrunch.

2. Trigger Arch Massage.

Hook your index and middle fingers around the top of your big toe and pull down gently like a trigger. Use your thumb to massage the arch from heel to ball. While you’re at it, any foot massage anywhere that feels good is always a bonus!

3. Cherry Picking.

With your feet in the air, imagine they are picking cherries off the tree: spread and reach with all your toes then scrunch them to grab the cherries. You can also do this move with more weight in your feet from either sitting or standing, “grabbing” the floor or a towel.

4. Big Toe Up, 4 Toes Under.

Using your hand, gently pull up on your big toe and pull your 4 toes under. I like to roll slightly toward my little toe here to give the outside top of my foot a stretch. Go easy here to give the skin and joints time to adjust to this (likely) unfamiliar position. When you feel comfortable using your hands to manipulate your toes, you can do this on the floor to add more weight onto your toes. Either sitting in a chair or standing, stretch your big toe up and tuck your 4 toes under. Go slowly and gently as you do micro movements.

5. Big Toe Under, 4 Toes Up.

Now do the opposite: tuck your big toe under and stretch your 4 toes back with your hands. Apply gentle pressure to give your toes new sensations and stretch without forcing or pulling. Again, as you get comfortable with using your hands, you can add more weight by doing this in sitting or standing.

Decades of stiff shoes and hard walking surfaces have left many of our feet weak and deconditioned. It’s never too late to introduce more mobility and strength into your feet with Toe-ga and if it’s appropriate for your body, spending more time barefoot or in barefoot shoes.

Let your feet gently rewild.

* I’ve written about feet many times, including here and here, if you’d like to read more on our fabulous feet.

My high school history teacher, Mr. Gross called me Lady Godiva. Which, looking back, probably wasn’t 100% appropriate. To be clear, the nickname was in reference to me sitting “side saddle” in my chair, not my lack of clothing.

In school, I was the kid who “sat funny.” I was always getting called out for arranging myself at those uncomfortable all-in-one school desks in unconventional ways. I’d sit cross legged or with one foot on the chair seat or some other arrangement of limbs that was not normal and somehow was deemed distracting.

While it annoyed the bejeezus out of my parents and teachers, sitting funny was a little bit genius. My body was onto something. Human bodies aren’t designed to sit still in the same position for hours and hours.

Our bodies are designed to move. And sit on the floor.

For more than two decades, I’ve led hundreds of bodies in movement. The sore low backs, tight hips, and tender knees I see all the time often lead back to our chair-sitting lives. Even for folks with a regular movement practice—but who also sit in their cars, at their desks, at the dinner table and on the couch— experience the impact of chair sitting. Especially as we enter our 5th, 6th, 7th decade and beyond, it’s worth questioning how much we sit in chairs.

If someone were to ask me what to do about this accumulation of body discomfort and dysfunction, I’d say there is one movement that makes the difference: sit on the floor.

Adults often think that sitting or moving on the floor is kids’ stuff. Kiddos can squat and crawl and sit and play on the floor with complete ease. It’s almost a sign of being grown up when we stop doing that. And therein lie the cranky backs, slumped shoulders and sticky hips.

If you were going to do one thing for your body, I recommend spending some time on the floor. You can set up your home work station with a low table or the seat of a chair. You can watch TV or scroll your phone sitting on the floor. You can play with your pet or kid on the floor.

It doesn’t have to be fancy or one more thing to do and it doesn’t have to take a lot of time. Just give your body some different positions to be in on the floor. Unlike sitting in a chair, your body will signal you to change positions more often when you’re on the floor than when you’re on a comfy squishy chair!

Importantly, there are lots of ways to do this. If your spine tends to round forward when you sit on the floor (usually due to tight muscles in the front and weak ones in the back), sit on a cushion or two. If it feels more relaxing, lean against a couch or a wall.

If your spine rounds forward when you sit on the floor…

Sit on a cushion to lift your hips and lengthen your spine!

Everybody knows criss-cross-applesauce — the classic cross legged seat — but here we’re going to explore beyond that. Play around with your Today Body and see what it tells you both while you’re on the floor and when you get on your feet again.

Beyond criss-cross-applesauce:

Creative Floor Sitting Positions

One Knee Kneeling

My heel is close to my body but if that doesn’t feel good, shift it forward!

This position is particularly good for improving ankle mobility. You can see here that when my foot is under my knee, I need a deep ankle flexion. If that doesn’t work for you, move your foot out further in front and gradually move it in. The foot that’s under you can either be long with toenails down (shown here) or tucked under. Both positions are good for feet and ankles.

Mermaid

Let the knees fall to one side to give the hip joint a different orientation than chair sitting that invites more mobility.

Mermaid with Tail Unfurled

And when knees want to shift out of mermaid, you can unfurl one leg…

V-Sit

...or two!

It is not an overstatement to say that one of the keys to living independently is our ability to get up and down off the floor. Sitting on the floor is one way to practice that essential movement on the regular.

I call my classes Nourishing Movement for a reason. Dance and exercise are great but dynamic living is more about incorporating movement into everything we already do.

Let’s start a revolution of people who Sit Funny.

P.S. If you’re interested in more about how to incorporate more everyday movement, you can check out these resources which all inspire me:

Juliet and Kelly Starrett just published their latest book, Built to Move (can’t wait to read it) and here they are interviewed on Ten Percent Happier.

Katy Bowman is my go-to when it comes to organic, throughout-the-day movement. She’s got books and a podcast and all the things here.

Recently, I discovered the “rewilding” work of Tony Riddle and he has introduced me to a number of movements that I’d never experienced before.

My YouTube Channel also has a library of Movement Snacks – short tastes of movement you can weave into your day!

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