What Nobody Tells You About Breakfast (and More)
The authors of The New Health Rules share a few easy, unexpected habits to adopt in 2015.
By Frank Lipman, MD and Danielle Claro
Honor Thy Feet
They're the command center of the body. Be nice to them. While you're doing dishes or chitchatting on the phone, roll a tennis ball under the bottom of one foot, then the other, for five minutes each (or to really spoil yourself, use a foot roller). Doing so ungrips all the tiny muscles that hold up your frame all day and has gentle trickle-up benefits for your entire system. Minimize the number of hours you spend in torturous shoes. High heels don't just hurt your feet; they affect the body all the way up—knees, hips, spine, neck (and then your brain and mood, because if you're hurting, you're cranky). When you take off a pair, always take two minutes (literally two minutes) to stretch yourself back into shape; stand on a step with just the balls of your feet and let one heel lower down for a deep calf stretch. Hold for a few seconds, then switch feet. Repeat 10 times.
Published 01/09/2015