I was modeling at the Dallas Creative Arts Center last week, and the last pose of the day was a 30 minute seated position. As often happens in seated poses, more of my weight was on one side, this time on the right. As a result, blood flow to my right leg was constricted. By the end of the pose, I had lost feeling in my right foot. The end of the pose was a relief, but I remained on the platform with my leg straightened and stretched out away from me. The artists, who had been busy cleaning up and putting their things away, expressed concern that I seemed to be unable to get up.
"If I tried to stand up right now," I explained, "the blood would rush back into my foot too quickly, and it would feel like thousands of pins and needles sticking in the bottom of my foot. Keeping my leg horizontal like this helps the blood flow back gradually, without that painful sensation." And so I pass this tip on to the readers of this blog. I stayed on the platform for another four or five minutes before I stood up, retrieved my robe, and started getting ready to leave.
