You Were Trained to Look Up. Start Looking Down
In a recent article on Men’s Health Magazine (May 2026) I read something that immediately caught my attention:
Chris Paul one of the most accomplished NBA players of all time said, “Your feet are literally your foundation, you could have a dope house with artwork and pianos, but if the foundation isn’t good, the house is going to crumble.” Paul came to this observation at 40 years old after playing decades of basketball.
He started focusing on his feet only recently, once he realized that high intensity weights were not enough, something had to change, his approach had to evolve if he wanted to stay relevant in the game! He shifted his attention to alignment, mobility, joint mechanics from the ground up! Starting at the feet!
Our clients can’t wait 20 years to “evolve” and to make that change that allows them to “trust” their bodies and live pain free. We need to initiate that change. And the good news is that it is simpler than it sounds.
Most Pilates instructors are trained to read the body from the spine down, we prioritize the core, but the foot hits the ground first, and everything above it is a response to that contact. Here is my suggestion: Every time a new client walks in, observe the way they stand and walk because that’s what gives us most of the information we need! As they stand in front of you telling you about their day, look down! How are they standing? How are their feet positioned? What do you see?
We can “read” the feet for hours! The feet tell us many stories but there are 3 things that we should always look at because they carry with them many repercussions . These 3 observations will help us solve situations that often felt out of reach, and get to the solution a lot faster!
Overpronation: are your client’s feet “falling in”? Is the medial longitudinal arch missing? This situation creates stress, compensations and overuse in two directions: in the body above and in the forefoot! A collapsed foot opens the door to forefoot pathologies like bunions and Morton’s Neuroma and also creates a sequence of reactions above: internal rotation at the leg and femur, knocked knees, pelvic anteversion and low back compression due to an increased lordosis.
Weak and tight toes: Did you know that toe strength is one of the most important factors to prevent falls in the elderly population? The small intrinsic muscles of the foot, which are also referred to as the “core of the foot”, are fundamental to allow stabilization and micro-movements. The power house of the foot contributes to a stronger and supported arch structure (that by the way is fundamental for the overpronation issue #1) and also has a major role in toe reinforcement so that we have a more powerful push off when we walk and we can avoid falls that can lead to far greater consequences in the elderly: hip replacement, loss of independence, increased fear and isolation.
Lack of proprioceptive awareness in the foot: How many times do you see strong clients practicing beautiful Pilates but being completely unaware of the feet? Can you picture the feet of many Pilates clients while they do the abdominal series on the mat? Toes curled, ankles twisted and energy that dissipates instead of being channeled in the right direction! The feet are very rich in nerves endings that communicate with the brain! The central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord) set up our posture according to the information received by the eyes, the internal ears, the TMJ and the skin of the feet (peripheral nervous system). The cleaner this communication is, the better posture we have. I find this very fascinating! The more we work on awareness and proprioception on the feet, the smarter they get! Let’s give them a chance.
“There are 2 paths to proceed and both are more accessible than you might think.”
Groundwork: for those clients whose feet require a little more attention or if you don’t work on the apparatus but only on the Mat, add 5 minutes of focused foot activation exercises: place your feet flat on the floor and looking at them try to splay the toes. Then start wiggling the toes as if you were playing the piano (I call this “Playing Mozart” :-) and then (this is the hardest part) try to lift only the big toes off the floor and then alternate by lifting only the 4 lateral toes. This is just an example of foot activation that would be very helpful in the context of a Mat session and specific foot pathologies. Another recommendation is to end the session standing so that the client can incorporate the work of the Pilates Mat in the upright position: calf raises, balance exercises, 2X4, calf stretches…. Alternate these exercises at each session until you find what your clients need the most.
Integration: every single time our feet are in contact with the foot bar, the jump board, the paddle, the blocks and even the straps, not only are we doing specific foot exercises, but we are also connecting that work to the body above! When you are doing leg springs on the Cadillac, don’t just “place” the feet inside the loops, but do it with purpose! If your goal is to open up the back ask for the feet in a praying position (with the soles touching), if instead you want more inner thigh connection, request a specific intention of pushing the inside of the foot (the medial arch) into the strap! Did you know that we have 8 different inner-thigh muscles? As we change the foot position from parallel to maximum turn out during our leg circles and frogs we can hit them all! We often rely on what is more comfortable and avoid what is challenging for our bodies. Hint: that’s what we should be doing instead!
We just broke down a new way of approaching the work: three observations about the feet and two paths to bring that knowledge into your sessions. As you start observing your clients’ feet, proceed with groundwork, integration or a mix of both depending on what you see. Your elderly clients will move with more confidence and prevent falls. Your athletes will add longevity to their performance, just like Chris Paul did. Your clients with bunions, ankle sprains and chronic lower back pain will start getting results that nothing else could deliver. I’ve been focusing on this part of the body for more than 10 years and what I see, every time an instructor makes this shift, is the same thing: they stop guessing and start seeing. That is the moment everything changes. Starting tomorrow, look down.
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Ilaria Cavagna has spent nearly three decades teaching movement. What sets her apart is not what she adds to Pilates but what she refuses to leave out: the feet, the foundation everything else is built on.
A former competitive gymnast and performer at the 2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, Ilaria trained under Romana Kryzanowska in New York City and has studied under Guy VOYER DO since 2009. Her methodology brings together Pilates, ELDOA, and myofascial stretching in a way that gives instructors a completely new way to read the body and understand why their clients move the way they do.
Through FEET | NESS she certifies and trains instructors who want to teach with more precision and reconnect with the depth that drew them to this work in the first place.