Revive and Strengthen Achy Feet in Seconds by Walking on These Spiky Balls

I was once working at the front desk of a Pilates studio when I saw one of the instructors using the Yamuna Foot Wakers. The little spiky half balls looked painful, yet inviting, so I gave it a try and instantly fell in love. I’m not gonna lie—walking on it does hurt a bit—but in a good way. After a long day on my feet, I can feel the spikes getting into my foot muscles, breaking up tension, and leaving me with more-relaxed arches and heels.

Yamuna Foot Wakers — $68.00

Although the Foot Wakers provide immediate relief, they’re also great for long-term foot health, explains Yamuna Zake, a body sustainability instructor and creator of Yamuna, a wellness-focused brand and teacher training company.

“My whole body of work is really to help people problem solve in every part of their body,” says Zake. Over time, she realized just how crucial the feet are to overall body alignment. “I began to really take apart the feet, anatomically, how the feet, each part of the foot, transfers weight to other parts of the body. And I started to look at all the people that would come to my studio and I would look at their problems and I would realize that they were standing on their problems. All their problems, anywhere else in their body, translated to the feet.”

How Foot Wakers work

She created the Foot Wakers to help treat and train the feet. With the knobs, “you’re stimulating reflex points. The foot is the end of the line for circulation. When you work on your feet, it pumps the venous blood flow back up. So that’s really important for getting rid of stagnant energy,” says Zake. This increased circulation can lead to “improved foot function, greater mobility in their feet, and the education on how much more movement their feet can have.”

As nice as it feels to just walk around on these half balls, they’re much more effective when used with guidance.

“It’s like anything—without education, it’s just a prop,” says Zake. “So I really worked hard at the education and really continue to.” The Foot Walkers come with a DVD that guides you through different activities that help you work through your feet. You can also learn about different exercises in Zake’s book, The Foot Fix ($18).

“Part of what people learn when they go through either The Foot Fix or the education with the Foot Wakers, is that they realize that most women, in particular, tend to walk heel-big toe,” says Zake. “And so when you walk heel-big toe your whole life, that’s why you create your bunion, that’s why you create plantar fasciitis, and that’s why you collapse your arch. The minute they realize that they don’t use the entire outer foot and the whole ball of the foot itself, it’s a big revelation.”

If you’re ready to experience the magic of the Yamuna Foot Wakers yourself, add them to your cart ASAP.

Want to be the first to hear about the latest (and greatest) SHOP product drops, custom collections, discounts, and more? Sign up to have the intel delivered straight to your inbox.