You’ve got questions, we’ve got answers!
Resident MBA Yogi, Amy Secrist, is available to answer questions, give insight and guidance, and help you feel great about your yoga practice. You can email your questions to Amy@mindbodyalign.com or message us on Facebook or Instagram #AskAYogi @MindBodyAlign
Question: My feet hurt like crazy by the time I get to balancing poses. Is this normal?
Amy: Yes, it’s totally normal for your feet to feel sore after practicing standing poses
… especially if you’re new to yoga or just starting back up again after a break. The main reason for this is fatigue. Just like any other group of muscles, the feet get sore if we use them in a different way. For instance, when you start walking, jogging, running or training for an event, or when you add a new exercise to your lifting routine or CrossFit sequence, you definitely feel it the next day, right? The feet respond a little quicker on the yoga mat mainly because, well, shoes. If we wear shoes more than we go barefoot, we’re not stretching or strengthening all the muscles of our feet; instead, the shoes are doing all the work of supporting our entire body while our feet stay cooped up.
When we shed our shoes and step on the yoga mat, we’re allowing our feet to stretch and strengthen, grasp and ground, root and reach. Just one more reason yoga is awesome! For more on giving your feet some love, check out this article by Power Vinyasa Flow yoga teacher, Zainab Zakari, and keep on yoga-ing — your feet will thank you.
You can also join Amy for practice at the Butterfly House on Mondays and Wednesdays at 9:30 am. Learn more here.
Amy Secrist has been practicing yoga for 16 years and has studied under renowned teachers Tim Miller and David Swenson during her training at Yoga on High in Columbus, Ohio. Amy is steeped in the physically demanding discipline of Ashtanga Yoga as taught by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, which focuses on cleansing and healing the body by linking one posture to the next through a strong and purposeful breath. While Ashtanga is the foundation of her practice, Amy explores and teaches gentle Hatha, Vinyasa Flow, workshop-style classes, and Yoga for kids.
Her approach to teaching is individualized as she addresses the needs of each student in the class. She encourages everyone to question, experiment, and take ownership of their yoga practice by deciding what works best for them. As a teacher, Amy is direct and easy-going, challenging and supportive, contemplative and practical.
Amy has also studied and practiced the art of reading and writing at The Ohio State University and The Bread Loaf School of English (at Middlebury College, Vermont). She holds a BA and MA in English with a focus in writing. She cites the two most influential classes during her studies as Critical Theory with JF Buckley and Poetry Workshop with Paul Muldoon.