Toe Cramps and Yoga Sandals

The other evening, during one of our private yoga classes, my sister complained that she was having toe cramps. It had come on suddenly while she was doing a pose. I read that the usual culprit that causes toe cramps is ill-fitting shoes that are tighter than they should be in the toe area. Toe cramps tend to come on when feet have been confined to shoes for hours.

To alleviate toe cramps, you can do special exercises designed to strengthen the muscles. Try standing on tiptoes and raising your body up and then down repeatedly, using your toes to support you. Hold each position for five seconds. Another good exercise is to pick up marbles with your toes and relocate them to another spot on the floor.

Lila mentioned to us at the class that there are yoga sandals available in US which are designed to spread the toes apart like when they put those toes separators between your toes during pedicure. I surf the net and found the website Yoga Sandals Footwear which sells the yoga sandals which are NOT for wearing during yoga practice.

The yoga sandals use four toe separators to space each toe from its neighbour and the resulting separation opens up the bones in the feet and helps those bones become mobile. As the foot bones regain mobility, balance, body alignment and improved posture is restored, often resulting in reductions of leg, hip and back problems. It has received testimonials from pleased customers and podiatrists, doctors and chiropractors are using the sandals to help their patients improve posture, relieve hip and back problems and with other various foot disorders.

The yoga sandals are suitable for everyday wear and I find a few designs of the sandals quite nice. Wonder when these sandals will be available for sale in Malaysia!


Meanwhile, if you are interested to get a pair, you can always order them online – a pair cost about USD30 but the online store is having a super sale clearance section - up to 50% off for some of the sandals.