Most people give their feet about as much thought as they give the inside of a shoe, which is to say very little, until a long day of standing, walking, and being crammed into footwear leaves them aching. Yoga teacher Hannah Brown built a 2021 video around that neglect. Her premise is simple and a little contrarian: you do not need a studio, a bolster, or a single piece of specialty equipment to release tension in the feet and calves. You need a few things most homes already contain, a willingness to touch your own feet, and a slow, attentive pace. What follows walks through the sequence she teaches, what each step is doing, and why her approach of moving slowly and paying attention matters more than the gadgets.
Whatdoyouneedforafootreleaseroutineathome?
Brown opens by treating her shopping list as part of the practice. "You're going to need a couple different props, and these aren't our usual yoga props," she says at the start of the video (0:01). Her kit is a tennis ball, or a lacrosse ball, or a massage ball if you own one; a dish towel or hand towel folded to whatever height you need; and a broomstick. The broomstick is the strangest item on the list, and she is candid about it. "I just twisted the end off of my broomstick so that this can roll a little bit" (0:43). A wooden dowel is the ideal, she admits, but if you live in a small apartment without spare lumber, a broomstick does the job.
The choice of props tells you something about the philosophy. Nothing here is expensive or precious, and each object is chosen for a specific job: the ball for a small, dense point of pressure, the towel for creating a ramp or lift under the foot, the broomstick for a longer rolling surface. The equipment serves the body's sensations rather than promising a result on its own.
Howdoyoustartafootstretchwithoutprops?
The routine begins on the floor, on hands and knees, with no props at all. The starting position is a tabletop, with the tops of the feet resting on the ground. From there Brown asks for something specific: "I want you to think about tucking your toes under" (1:37). For a more intense version she suggests spreading the toes wide and bringing the pinky toe down toward the mat. She is clear that for people whose feet spend all day in shoes, this alone can be "a heck of a lot of a stretch."
If that is not enough, she offers two progressions. The first is to walk the hands back toward the feet and lower the hips toward the heels, which "brings a bit more pressure into your feet." The second is to come up to kneeling. Throughout, she is careful to keep the effort soft. "If you feel like your shoulders are coming up towards your ears and you're gripping your jaw, that might just be adding tension elsewhere" (2:48). The stretch is meant to release tension, not to create new tension in the neck and shoulders while you chase it. She puts it plainly: "find your edge, find your limit, and honor it" (3:07).
Timing is modest. She suggests holding for a few breaths and notes that in yin practice, holds can run "up to like a minute and a half." When you come out, untuck the toes, tap the tops of the feet on the mat, or return to kneeling with the toes untucked, which she says can feel nice too.
Howdoesafoldedtoweldeepenacalfstretch?
The second movement moves from the feet into the lower leg. Brown credits the idea to Katie Bowman, whose work on feet she recommends, and she names Bowman's book as a resource. The setup is a standing lunge-like position. Step one foot forward, place a folded towel on the floor, and rest the toes of the back foot on it, letting the back heel sink toward the ground. Pressing forward through the front leg brings the stretch into the calf, which she says you will "feel for sure."
The towel is the adjustable variable. Changing the distance between your feet or adding a fold to the towel raises the intensity, and the toes-on-towel setup lets the ankle move into a range that a flat-footed stance does not. The key adjustment is patience: sink the heel slowly rather than forcing it.
Where Bowman's idea becomes genuinely useful is in its placement. Brown describes setting the towel "in front of your kitchen sink or some other place where you stand a lot" (5:00). The point is to remove the sense of an appointment. "It doesn't feel like this big task you have to accomplish," she says (5:11). You can get a calf stretch while doing dishes, or while watching television, which is an honest reflection of how most people spend their standing time.
Whyrollatennisballunderthearchofthefoot?
The third movement is a self-massage with a tennis ball. Brown places the ball on the floor, stands up, and sets the ball under the ball of the foot, "just a little bit lower than kind of your toe knuckles." She suggests holding a wall for balance. She starts with the heel down and rolls the foot side to side, then adds wiggling and spreading of the toes. Then she rolls the inner arch back and forth along the ball.
Her instruction on pace is worth taking seriously. "Go as fast or as slow as you'd like," she says, but "generally I prefer slow because you can be very aware of it, know what's happening, what's feeling best in your body" (6:43). The lesson is that the ball is an instrument of attention as much as pressure. Brown also sets a modest bar. "This doesn't need to be the deepest massage you've ever had," she says, "just a nice little release."
Canyoumassageyourfeetwithyourownhands?
The fourth movement requires no props. Brown asks you to spread the toes wide, then interlace your fingers between them "like a zipper or like you're holding hands with your feet." She is blunt about the prerequisite: "It just requires you to not be foot phobic. If you really hate touching your feet, this is probably the wrong video for you" (7:02). The motion she describes is a slow, deliberate wedge, with the fingers pressing in and the toes moving around as if you were at a salon. Over time, she suggests sliding the fingers a little further in. When you are done, sweep the foot off and let it go.
This step is the one most people will skip, which is precisely why it belongs in the sequence. It asks you to give your feet the same plain attention that the rest of the routine asks you to give your calves and arches.
Doesabroomstickrollworkbetterthanaball?
The fifth movement uses the broomstick, which Brown describes in familiar terms: "we're going to use it pretty similar to the tennis ball." The dowel goes on the floor, and you stand with one hand on a wall for balance. Position the toes so they sit along the edge of the stick, roughly at the lowest knuckle. Spread the toes and press them as if they want to reach the floor, widening through the forefoot until you find movement.
From there she advances the roll gradually, "maybe just rolling forward, pressing your foot down a bit," and then moving the stick about half an inch toward the heel and repeating the toe-spreading. The sequence continues the whole length of the foot until you reach the heel. Brown compares the slow back-and-forth to rolling a rolling pin. Because the broomstick is longer than the ball, it covers more ground in a single pass, which is why the progression moves from ball to stick rather than the other way around.
She closes the segment with a practical bonus: if you want, sneak in another calf stretch, hand on the wall or leaning forward with a chair in front of you, the same way you did with the towel.
Howdoyoukeepyourfeetlooseduringtheday?
The last part of the video is about what happens after you stand up. Brown suggests small habits that keep the feet from being forgotten. Even in shoes, you can lift your toes, spread them wide, and set them down one at a time. You can try to wiggle your feet or toes throughout the day. If you are at home and not required to wear shoes, take them off, or your slippers, and move your feet around.
This is where the routine connects back to her original complaint. "If your feet have been feeling tight, you wear tight shoes all day," reads the video's own description, and the daily habits are the answer to the all-day part. A ten-minute session helps; small movements repeated through the day are what keep the feet from tightening back up.
Wheretogofromhere
If you want to try this, start small. Pick two movements that feel good, probably the towel calf stretch and the tennis ball roll, and do them while you are already standing at the kitchen sink or watching TV. Add the tucked-toe position on the floor before bed. Save the finger-interlacing massage for when you have a few spare minutes and feel comfortable with the idea. Keep the pace slow, keep the shoulders and jaw soft, and stop short of any sensation that feels like pain.
Brown's own closing line gets the spirit right: she hopes your feet are feeling brand new, and she invites questions in the comments. The video is a reminder that tension in the feet is rarely dealt with, and that a few ordinary objects and a bit of attention can make a practical difference.
Video source: Hannah Brown, "Foot Stretch | Release Tension in Feet + Calves," published September 13, 2021.
Hannah Brown is a Peterborough, Ontario Thai yoga massage practitioner and yoga and pilates teacher who offers slow, accessible bodywork and classes in person and online.
Hannah Brown uses a tennis ball or lacrosse ball, a dish towel or hand towel folded to different heights, and a broomstick with the end twisted off so it can roll. She says a wooden dowel works ideally, but a broomstick is a fine substitute if you don't have one.
Step one foot forward, place a folded towel on the floor, and rest the toes of your back foot on it with the heel sinking toward the ground. Pressing forward through the front leg brings the stretch into the calf, and you can adjust intensity by changing the distance between your feet or adding a fold to the towel.
Brown says she generally prefers a slow pace because it lets you be very aware of what is happening and what feels best in your body. She describes the ball as a gentle release rather than a deep massage.
Yes. Brown's first movement starts on hands and knees with toes tucked under, and her last self-massage step uses only your hands, with fingers interlaced between spread toes. She notes that the hand massage requires you to be comfortable touching your own feet.
Brown suggests holding for a few breaths and mentions that in yin practice holds can go up to about a minute and a half. She emphasizes finding your edge and honoring your limit rather than pushing into discomfort.
Brown suggests lifting your toes, spreading them wide, and setting them down one at a time, plus wiggling your feet or toes throughout the day. When you're at home and don't need shoes, she recommends taking them off and moving your feet around.
