You Can Rebuild Arches of Feet with Yoga

Trish Corley Author

The arches of the feet provide support and resiliency. They are part of posture which is always changing.

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Can you rebuild the arches of feet with yoga?

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What have you been told about the arches of the feet? Is it possible for the arch of a foot to increase or change shape by practicing yoga? If yes, why does it even matter?

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Let’s first take a look at the anatomy of the foot and the associated arches.

The foot is a complex mechanical structure of the human body composed of 33 joints, 26 bones, and more than a hundred muscles, tendons, and ligaments that all work together to bear weight, allow for locomotion, and transmit force.

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The foot has three arches:

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1. The Medial Longitudinal Arch

The medial longitudinal arch runs along the inside of the foot, from the heel to the ball of the foot. It is the highest arch and the most significant weight-bearing structure in the foot. The white line in the photo represents the medial longitudinal arch. 

2. The Lateral Longitudinal Arch

The lateral longitudinal arch runs along the outside of the foot, from the heel to the ball of the foot and parallel to the medial longitudinal arch. The lateral longitudinal arch is not marked in the photo.

3. The Transverse Arch.

The transverse arch runs across the foot, from the outside to the inside, just behind the ball of the foot. The red line in the photo represents the medial longitudinal arch. 

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Why are questions regarding the possibility of rebuilding or changing the arches of the foot so prominent? My guess is because the arches play an important role in improving biomechanics. This does not mean that people with lower arches or “flat feet” are unable to perform regular or even very high level physical activities. However, optimal alignment of the arches can lead to mechanical advantages.

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The arches function much like a spring. The arches bear the weight of the body and absorb the shock that is produced with walking and other human activities including running. 

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When a foot has optimal aligned arches, it has the ability to spare energy and therefore have a positive impact on the foot’s mechanical function and evolution. The metabolic energy saved by the arch is largely explained by the passive-elastic work it supplies that would otherwise be done by active muscles. 

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If an arch is too low (or even too high) mechanical advantage declines. More muscular output is needed to push the foot off the ground with walking, running, jumping, or even transitioning from one yoga pose to another. A well aligned arch also provides more stability with static standing, especially on on foot!

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The principles of Optimal Postural Alignment are aimed at creating aligned arches to create efficient posture. Many people to have "pes planus" or flat feet. That is, there arches (especially the medial longitudinal) are low. Is there anything they can do? 

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Let’s go back to the original question: Can you rebuild the arches of feet with yoga?

There are two key factors that determine the shape of the arches of the foot.

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1. The first key factor that determines the shape of the arches of the feet is the bones. The foot/ankle consists of 26 bones and each of the these bones has a specific shape. The shape of each bone plays a role in creating the overall shape of the foot including the arches. If you build a cabin out of logs, the shape of the cabin is highly influenced by the shape of the logs. The same is true for the foot.  

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Though bony changes can occur in adulthood, the shape of human bones are typically determined by age 18 - 22. In consideration of typical aging adults, we cannot expect the bones of the foot to significantly change shape or influence the overall shape of the foot.

That’s okay though. Remember, the shape of the bones is only one of the two key factors that determine the shape of the arches of the foot.

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2. The second key factor that determine the overall shape of the foot and it’s arches (and in some cases the lack there of arches) is the soft tissue structures. There are many soft tissues throughout the foot/ankle. The ligaments, muscles, tendons, and fascia are amongst the most important soft tissues that influence the arches. All of these tissues have one thing in common. They connect from one bone to the other.

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Ligaments connect one bone to the another. While ligaments are important for holding bones together, they do allow for movement and help to control the amount of movement available. They are much like the screws that hold the joints of a puppet together. They allow for a precise amount of motion between the bones. The length and extensibility of the ligaments influences how the bones of the foot align with each other and therefore impact the overall shape of the arch.

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It is generally understood that while ligaments may become “over lengthened”, they do not generally “recoil” back. An injury to a ligament may alter the way the bones are held together, and therefore the shape of the arch. In such a case, it is unlikely that any amount of yoga or exercise will change the ligament enough to change the shape of the arches.

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We can, however, rely on the muscles to help rebuild arches with yoga (or other therapeutic exercises).

Muscles contract (See “Muscles Contractions in Yoga") and demonstrate highly adaptable qualities. 

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It is the muscles that play the biggest role of all soft tissues in being able to change the shape of the foot and the arches.

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Muscles attach from one bone to another. When they contract, they pull on the bones and create movement. The movement of the bones causes a change in the shape of the overall foot and therefore the arches. Some of the muscles that influence the arch of the foot are considered intrinsic foot muscles. These are the muscles located in the foot. There are also extrinsic muscles. The extrinsic muscles originate on the shins bones and travel down to attach to foot bones. See image A above where the intrinsic and extrinsic muscles are labeled. 

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Additionally, movement of bones outside of the foot may influence the arches. For example, a change in the position of the pelvis or spine can cause a change in the shape of the arches of the feet. Therefore, the muscles that contract and pull on the pelvis or spine, can also influence the arches.

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The arches are just one aspect of overall posture of the body. Posture is not static. It is always changing. In short, the arches of the foot are not static either. They change with movement! With the right training for optimal posture, the arches, just like spinal curves and shoulder position, can change.

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A regular yoga practice can, therefore, rebuild the arches of the feet provided there is a focus on optimal alignment of the feet!

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What is that optimal alignment and how do you know which of the many muscles to focus on?

Optimal alignment occurs when the bones of the body are aligned in such a way that the least amount of energy is required to maintain the position. Here’s the good news for you if you’re a yoga teacher: You don’t need to know all the muscles of the foot and body in order to teach your students how to contract them. You can help students find optimal postural alignment of the feet with just a handful of consistent cues to the bones!

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If you learn how to cue the bones to move into Optimal Postural Alignment, the arches will begin to take optimal shape. With repeated practice, the muscles will adapt and the nervous system will be retrained. You may even have students tell you, 'before yoga I my feet were completely flat, and now I have an arch!'

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As Angela Hovsepyan  (PT, DPT) points out in a recent article (1), "research demonstrates yoga as an effective intervention in improving static standing balance; however, studies are limited in examining its effects on the height of the medial longitudinal arch."

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While more research is needed to provide scientific evidence of yoga changing the shape of the arches of the foot, I cannot ignore the increased arch in my foot after several years of yoga and that of many students who have pointed their increased arches out to me. 

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In conclusion, the arches of the feet do play an essential role in yoga practice. By aiming for optimal postural alignment of the bones, the muscles and other adaptable soft tissues can influence the position of the bones and therefore rebuild the arches of the foot.

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If you are a yoga teacher and want to learn more about the anatomy and what cues to use to help your students rebuild the arches of the foot, the Yoga Anatomy School’s Foundations course is for you!

Module 3 of Foundations covers details of foot and ankle anatomy, the arches of the feet, and optimal postural alignment of the feet!

Yoga Anatomy School offers online and in person courses to make learning anatomy easy and practical!

All 14 modules of the Foundations Course are available inside the Yoga Anatomy School Membership!

Categories: : Yoga Anatomy, Foot & Ankle