I know, I know, the last couple of blogs have been a bit deep. Seriously though, couldn’t we all do with some more balance in our lives?

Just wanted to share another fabulous Brisbane company that is doing their thang and doing it well. Mary Ryan is fast becoming a Brisbane institution and I love them!

Great coffee, great books, great staff. What’s not to like?

And just for the record, I reckon books are one of the best presents you can give. Personalised, beautiful …….and that smell………

Now take that body and add a pair of traditional high heels. Move all the weight forward, throw the spine out of line and squash up the diaphragm. How does that sound now? Poorly fitting and poorly designed shoes can change the entire balance of the body.

Balance is a bit like breathing. Seems kind of dumb to even talk about breathing. Everyone knows how to do it, right? You just breathe in, then you breathe out. Nothing to it.  Except that now, most people agree that breathing is the basis of our whole wellbeing. It is one of the most fundamental building blocks to our health.

Balance is the same because, everyone assumes that as long as you are not falling down all the time, you have your balance sorted. If you can stand upright, you must be balanced.

Except there is overwhelming evidence to suggest that the way you are positioned on the earth can affect everything about your body, from your breathing to your bones.

Our feet are precision instruments, with each one made up of 52 bones, 66 joints, 19 muscles and a complex network of ligaments, muscles and nerves. Conventional science has identified that the hands, feet and lips have more nerve endings than the rest of the whole body put together.

Many eastern traditions have long acknowledged the power of posture to improve health and wellbeing. Disciplines like Yoga and chi gong regularly focus on centering and grounding exercises designed to reconnect the body with the earth’s energy flow.

And yet every day, people buy – sometimes at enormous cost- shoes that are literally making them unhealthy. Some studies indicate that more almost 9 out of 10 women wear shoes that don’t fit. Fashion can be a culprit as can be buying a pair you love even though they aren’t really your size. But often it comes down to a lack of knowledge about feet, how they are different and how looking after them can be one of the most powerful things you can do for your health.

As a podiatrist of more than fifteen years, I saw the effect of poorly designed and poorly fitted footwear on hundreds of clients. I saw corns, calluses, structural damage and other disabling foot problems. But I also started to notice that poorly designed and poorly fitted shoes can also affect overall health and happiness..

Next time you are in bare feet walk, out onto the grass, close your eyes for a moment and think about how you feel. We are creatures of the earth and from the earth comes much our energy.

Over the last fifteen years, the health movement has undergone enormous growth and change. No longer is it good enough for us to get sick and then wait for the system to fix it.

And increasingly it is no longer good enough to ignore our connection with the ground and imagine it doesn’t matter.

And if you are reading this thinking “yes, but, I don’t want to look like someone’s Nana…..” think again. The days where you could have comfort or style but not both have long gone.

Companies like Earth, Think! And Birkenstock know how important shoes are to your overall wellbeing. They know a person has more nerve endings in their hands, feet and lips than in the rest of the body combined. And they knew that shoes that are designed right and fit right, can help your posture, your breathing, your balance and even your sense of grounding.

And they look fantastic.

In stillness, be like the pine

In movement be like clouds and water

Now I’d like to see anyone doing that in dodgy high heels!

Sometimes size does matter

This is one of those things that everyone assumes you know how to do once you are an adult. Like lighting a campfire and removing red wine stains from a white silk blouse (that you borrowed from a friend but that’s another story). But what do you do if you were away the day they did shoe fitting 101 in high school?

You go to our blog of course. Because, we know that lots of people don’t know how to get shoes that fit properly. So read on and learn…

We’ve have had lots of people contact me and come into the store wanting to know more. It seems we have struck a chord by suggesting more attention needs to be paid to how we connect with the earth and how good footwear can improve posture, wellbeing and balance. And it’s not just diabetics who can benefit – everyone operates better when they are working from a solid foundation.

So, I am going to focus on how to make sure your shoe fits.

1. The first (ahem!) step is to find a good shoe shop. Someone who stocks loads of good quality brands and who is happy to spend time with you to make sure you get what you need.

Once you’ve done that, make sure you have plenty of time.  Getting the right fit needs a bit of thinking about. If you only have 10 minutes, by all means check out the styles on display but wait until you can really concentrate before you start trying shoes on.

2. Before you head into the shop, take a good look at your foot. What kind of arch do you have? Is there any particular place that regularly gives you pain? Are your feet narrow or wide? Once you know what the issues are, you will be in a much better position to let someone else help you.

3. Don’t get hung up on your shoe size. Remember, it is just a number and really doesn’t mean anything. A size 36 in one brand, might be bigger than a 38 in another. The thing that matters is whether it fits your foot.

4. Make sure the foot fits comfortably within the rim. If you can, take the insole out, put it on the floor and put your foot on it. Does your foot fit  with a comfortable space around the edge?

For diabetics, it is particularly important to check that there is no stitching on the inside of the shoe. As we discussed in the last column, diabetes can sometimes result in a lack of feeling in the feet, so you may not even be aware that your shoe is rubbing on your feet and doing damage.

5. This is a good time to ask yourself some questions. Will this shoe do the job you need it to? Is it the right colour. Is it comfortable? Does the whole base of the foot touch the ground the way it was designed to, or if there is a heel does the shoe provide extra support and padding?

6. Walk around the store to see if the shoes are comfortable. Never buy shoes without trying them on and don’t assume they will get comfortable with wear. Don’t let anyone tell you the shoe will stretch. Good shoes fit properly when you buy them

7. And the really big news is this. The days when you had to suffer ugly shoes just to be sensible are GONE. There are dozens of companies like Think! Earth, Birkenstock, El Naturalista who know how important shoes are to your overall wellbeing. They know a person has more nerve endings in their hands, feet and lips than in the rest of their body put together. And they know that shoes that are designed right and fit right can help your posture, your breathing, your balance and even your sense of grounding.

And they can do all that and still look great.

Sally Mcgregor is a podiatrist who owns and runs Children of the Revolution, a shoe store specialising in Intelligent Shoes. She is passionate about helping people to be healthy from the ground up. You can find out more about Sally at www.childrenoftherevolution.com.au