   
An arch is a load bearing structure that holds something up over an open space. Flat feet— feet without arches—provide little support to the body that rises above them. The body has a number of arches that help to bear and transfer weight through the bones. The body is a machine designed for all of its interlocking parts to work together, and when any part doesn’t work, the whole will be affected.
The arches of the feet are spring arches that are meant to rise and fall with each step held together by an interlocking array of ligaments and muscles. This spring in our step is essential to cultivating good movement patterns that involve the whole body working together as a cohesive unit.
We are all born with flat feet. Â When we begin to crawl, stand and walk the feet begin to work in a new and different way building muscle tone through the foot and lower leg. The arches of the feet will be formed in childhood based upon the demand of the of the lower leg muscles. In adults with flat feet, the muscles of the lower leg fail to develop the necessary tone to lift the bones of the arches into a normal weight-bearing position.
The arches of the feet are categorized as flat, normal and high. The human foot is one of the wonders of nature. There are a great many shock absorbers in the body but it all ends in the foot and the quality of the arches of the feet determines how well we transfer weight through the whole body.
Most people with flat feet think there is little option when it comes to changing them. I am here to tell you otherwise— flat feet don’t need to stay flat. You can build the arches of your feet.
There are many grades of flat feet ranging from a slightly collapsed inner foot to something resembling a puddle spilling onto the floor. The flatter the foot, the more work involved in bringing tone to the muscles that will hoist up the arches bit anything is possible.